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Most people do note-taking in a passive way.
Traditional note-taking methods mostly feel like information storage. You spend so much time organising, categorising, and filing rather than the real work of exploring & working with ideas.
It's why so many fail when it comes to building a meaningful note-taking system that you'll actually want to use.
Because our ideas aren't passive.
They shift, evolve, and often connect in ways we don’t see coming.
And it's why I abandoned traditional methods for a new way of organising my notes that has helped me take more notes, remember & connect with my ideas and build a library of ideas that have been actually useful.
This step is deceptively simple but so often overlooked: review your notes before connecting them.
I used to stash quotes and highlights into my system, thinking I was doing the right thing.
But it wasn’t until I started writing about those notes that ideas actually began to click. That’s when I truly started building my own knowledge, not just collecting information.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “This takes forever!” And, yeah, it does. That is the point.
We live in a world where information comes at us fast, and we feel like we need to process and file it all ASAP to make room for more.
But trust me—this is a trap. Slow down you crazy child!
Spend time with your notes. Write about what they mean to you. Trust me, this is the first step to a deeper connection to your ideas.
Want my 5 question framework for developing your unique ideas? Check out this article on finding ideas no one else is talking about.
Once I’ve reviewed and reflected on a note, the next step is to find where it connects. This isn’t a passive process—you need to actively look for links between your ideas.
I simply ask - is there another note that this idea connects to.
The good news is that you've probably already found a connection when you were writing about your idea.
This isn't about forcing connections. Our brain naturally makes them.
So when you have that moment of 'this reminds me of this other thing' that's your connection. Capture that & connect those two notes together.
And sometimes that means a note sits unconnected for weeks or months. That's OK too. Trust the process. Eventually two notes will click together... and that's what I call a cluster.
A cluster is just a group of connected notes around a bigger idea.
Connecting two notes is the first step. Once I have that initial connection between two notes, more notes get drawn into the cluster.
And this isn’t just a mindless “throw it in the pile” situation. I’m intentional about the order of my cluster notes. I think of it like creating an outline for a bigger idea, where every note has a place in the sequence.
Think about it like this - when you put a book in an exact place in the bookshelf between two other books you easily remember where it is.
It's the exact same method in our notes.
This type of organisation creates an even greater connection with your notes. You see our digital systems make it so easy to just connect a note to to a category. Which is efficient for filing, but not so much for creating meaningful connections.
But when you have to find a place for your note to fit into the cluster you form a much deeper connection.
And here is the best part. You don't need to do any kind of periodic review when you use this kind of system. The system becomes its own natural review process.
Every time you add new notes you are naturally reviewing your notes. You're always in your notes and looking for places to connect new notes into them.
And that's good news for anyone who has failed to setup a good review system.
In a world where information moves fast, it’s tempting to move just as fast filing and storing all your notes away. But your ideas deserve more than just to be stored—they deserve to be explored, connected, and put to work.
So, slow down. Spend time with your notes. Connect them. Let them grow into clusters. And watch how this changes the way you think, create, and remember. Your ideas deserve it.
