When I work my side project I keep all ideas and tasks scribbled randomly on a page in a notebook. If I try to organize those pages or keep tasks away from ideas on a different page I just crash. I have to be sure not to try to organize any of it. I barely use the lines and just cram in little blocks of text wherever I feel they should go in the monlment. I flip back through the pages and have a record of what needs done, what I have done, and the things I need to do or think I need to do.

This somehow enables me to chew through a tremendous amount of work compared to projects at work that are rigidly organized. Sometimes I will write down a huge list of tasks, never look at them again, work for a few hours, and check my notes to find that I can cross them all off.

I have tried using the tools we typically use at work like Jira or Azure Boards. Total waste of time that stifles the mind.

Sometimes I can come up with great ideas while I’m not working on anything and therefore I’m not equipped to properly store them or efficiently vet them. I’ve been spending my spare time on improving my note taking process and organization.

Knowledge management feels like the western frontier of tech in some ways. Lots of wins can be had if you get it right and it’s often up to the note taker. Tools alone can’t solve the problem for most, at least not yet. Hasn’t stopped many from trying though.