Taking Notes on the Quest for Good

I’ve always envied people who can quickly remember things. Fast recollection of names, dates, addresses, schedules, and meeting outcomes is an impressive accelerator. Remembering the details is a constant struggle for me. Lacking a total recall ability, taking physical notes is the only way that my brain can keep track and process the things happening in my world. 

Early in my career I remember colleagues commenting and poking fun at my compulsive note taking, writing everything down from work instructions to how to configure an early version of a local area network that we used to process refugee interviews in Abidjan, West Africa back in 2003. I have a few of these humanitarian response notebooks in the archives. They contain gear lists, travel planning, and notes from too many coordination meetings that happen between humanitarian responders in a disaster response setting. 

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