I am trying really hard to take notes digital: With my iPad or my Mac, in Markdown, in funky pants notebook and scribbling apps, in outlines … and I still fail most of the time. Taking notes with pen and paper, maybe with a little sketch noting, still works best for me. I also think it is not only more polite in meetings, it also increases my focus since there is no email or Twitter app a gesture away in my notebook.
Some of you may be familiar with Patrick Rhone’s Dash-Plus System, Bullet Journal– which comes with a great website and tutorial video – takes a similar approach to pen and paper note taking and list management, but adds a few more helpful aspects.