There are a few things that seem to hold true across many facets of life.

One of them is taking notes.

Whether or not you work in a business or are an artist, if you’re in class, a meeting, or just taking walking around, a notepad is essential for getting anything done.

That’s because there’s one massive weakness every human shares.

We forget things. CONSTANTLY. All of the time.

One time, I even completely forgot about an article I published.

If I can’t even remember something I wrote, how can I possibly remember anything that I think.

At least the important stuff that is. That’s why you need to write it down.

When you hear people talk about the founders of Airbnb, one quote always comes to mind (for me at least):

“No one ever worked harder during YC than the Airbnbs did. When you talked to the Airbnbs, they took notes. If you suggested an idea to them in office hours, the next time you talked to them they’d not only have implemented it, but also implemented two new ideas they had in the process.

– Paul Graham

This shows how important note taking is.

There’s a complete sentence devoted to the fact that they took notes.

While this example is clearly related to business, the concept of taking notes is universal across life.

Just as an example, think about being creative.

You have SO many thoughts, every single day. According to the all mighty Google, each of us has over 6,000 thoughts per day.

Most of those thoughts are probably garbage. (No offense)

There are a few diamonds though, and those are the ones you need to write down.

Creativity can’t be forced, and it isn’t time bound. Sometimes, it just happens.

So don’t forget that notepad.