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title: Idea Capture Inbox
created: 2024-11-18T09:18:12
modified: 2025-11-12T20:16:12
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> _Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down. ― Hector Berlioz_

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≈ Scratch Space/Tab/Note

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# Rules

* Write down ANYTHING that comes across your mind. Never miss writing down or document a good thought/task/note. Nothing is too big or too small. Nothing counts other than what you capture.
* Always carry a **A7 tear-off notepad (pocket notebook)** and a **0.5mm mechanical pencil (soft 2B leads)** with me.

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# Why?

* The cost of digital storage is very cheap.
* Our brain is made for generating/having ideas, not keeping/holding/storing them. (我們的大腦是用來作出思考和判斷的，它並不擅長用來儲存信息。)
	* ~~Keep X in mind~~, ~~Remember X~~
	* 藉由隨時將想法、心情寫下來（或存放在任何可信任的外部系統），清空/梳理大腦 (Brain Dump / Cognitive Offloading)，才能處理當下的思考與判斷，並檢視自己的「迷思 (myth)」和「盲點 (blind spot)」

# How?

* In 📥 \& Out 📤 Paper Tray
* Quick Note
	* Informal sketch (by giving barely enough details to allow you to readily reconstruct the whole thing later on, don’t care about the format)
	* Only write down “keywords”, not “sentences”
* Core Concept: Keep the process low-friction or even frictionless

# What?

* an incomplete (or otherwise unsatisfactory) argument for a problem that you are working on
* an embarrassingly wrong piece of work
	* It is good to make a note of mistakes that one should avoid in the future (as an [Anti To-Do List](variants-of-to-do-list.md))

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# [Brainstorm/Insight Notebook by Tim Ferriss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFdR8w_R1HA)１

* For thought-dumping (interesting goals and ideas)
* Multiple passes and constantly ask what did I think was important or cool through different times, so you’re not just spewing onto the page and then forgetting it
	* 1st pass: when you first took notes
	* 2nd pass: maybe a week or a month after the note was taken; underscore ideas you find interesting at this time
	* 3rd pass: maybe a quarter after; encircle ideas you find interesting at this time

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[Note Taking](note-taking.md)