How you ever had a really great idea for your church or youth group and then couldn’t remember it? How about trying to remember what was said to someone in your last counseling session? Or what about agreeing to someone’s request and then later that day spending time trying to remember what they asked you to do?

We have all been there before at one time or another. Working in ministry means we will have a lot on our plates and that our day can have drastic changes. You may start your day with a funeral and then end it with a wedding. In the midst of those days, we need to develop a personal system of taking notes to help us stay on top of our busy schedules and keep our sanity.

Taking notes will really make your day. Why? It helps you remember. It shows that people’s requests are important. I would tell people that asked me to do something that if I didn’t put it into my PDA, I would forget what they asked me. It was true. I worked in a school, on a church bus, had a youth group, organized the yearbook staff, was vice president for a sports league- my days were quite full. If it went into my PDA, I usually remembered it. Now, I’m on the phone talking with hundreds of people a day. My mind cannot keep up with the many conversations I have in one day. Taking notes has helped me save my mind and my time. It will also help you to be an effective and more productive preacher.

Many of the successful people I have met in my life are note-takers. They each had their own note taking system from a pen and paper to a voice recorder to a PDA. They had learned that they could not always depend on remembering; that it was better to have a note about it. If we learn to take notes, our days will be better for it.

I’d like to give you a couple ideas to help you start your own note taking system. Keep in mind, you may have to try a few out in order to find the one that works for you. Some of the ideas I will mentioned I’ve talked about before, but I believe it is important to share them again here.

1. 1.Pen and Paper - This is a tried and true method of taking notes and that is why I have it listed first. While some people like to keep it basic with this system, I’d like to take it up a notch. I’d recommend using a Fisher Space pen for writing consistency and the Pocket Mod for making a piece of paper into a technological wonder.
   

2. 2.Jott - This service makes your voice your pen and your cell phone your paper. Well, sort of, Jott transcribes your dictations and will email, text, message them to you or someone else. It’s a great way to send a reminder to yourself.
   

3. 3.Use a desktop calendar application - At work I use Sunbird (mainly because I’m stuck with Windows XP) and at home I use iCal (my favorite calendar app). However, you may like Outlook, Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, or another program and/or web service. Use these programs to keep notes from meetings, for upcoming events, and other appointments you have. I do this at work and it’s a great way to remember phone conversations that I had. It’s taking some getting use to, but I’m getting use to being more detailed.
   

4. 4.A notes application on your smart phone - I love my notes app on my iPhone as I use that program for a lot of things. From shopping lists to reminders to myself to sermon notes, I have found many uses for it. If your smartphone has a notes app, use it. It’s with you most of the time anyways. Notes on a smartphone take no time at all and with my iPhone I can email them to me or someone else very easily.
   

If you have note taking tips you’d like to share please do so in the comments below:

Here’s one last tip on taking notes (a simple formula for success):

Now -        Take notes right away.

Organize -Go over your notes at the end of the day to organize them.

Transfer - Transfer important notes to your new paper, PC, PDA, etc..

Evaluate - Evaluate your notes what is important, what needs to be

                 done, what needs to be eliminated.