Just curious here --

Do you make mindmaps or do you jot down your notes in a notebook... or what?

mindmaps don't work for me. I'm too linear. Therefore outlines work. But...

I have the greatest success with just typing into a clean document. I separate each thought with some space and just quickly type them in. Then I go back and organize later.

I use notepad and later put the thoughts I want to keep into a word document.

Cool.

Actually, I thought handwriting out
your notes would be better...

Stronger neuro-logical imprint... which
is what Gary Halbert talked about

Maybe so, but if you're doing this as a business, IMO time is the most important factor and I type far faster than I write. I don't much care how my notes are neurologically imprinted... as long as they get printed where I can access them again.

I have a large notepad on my wall I use to make mindmaps all the time. I also use it to plan out businesses, as well as about everything else.

I'm thinking about getting one of those large dry erase boards that Yanik and John Reese use. (custom built to your size).

Of course if you really want to go all out... have your walls painted in the dry erase stuff like John Reese's war room. One day I'll have that done.

Like Vin, I'm generally too linear for mindmaps. That and I never seem to start with a big enough piece of paper. I think in sentences, not fragments, and I HATE to miss a thought. So my little branches are more like thick paragraphs all over the place.

I have a very strong hand/brain connection, so I usually start by writing notes down by hand and going off the notes. I often start a letter by writing some bullets (helps me uncover hidden points, including things that can be turned into a headline or subhead), then taking my notes and turning them into the roughest of rough outlines. Then I just work on the pieces-parts. I wish I was one of those "write the headline first" people, but alas, I'm just not.

I am a self-indulgent nerd when it comes to old-skool tools, so, despite the fact that I go through reams of them, I take notes on the spendy, creamy, altogether heavy Levenger letter pads.

I like onenote

But sometimes, I just highlight stuff with a yellow marker so I can find it later. But my wife keeps complaining about all the yellow stuff on the monitor.