Transcript
Speaker: Engineering work moves quickly. Meetings end, decisions change, projects stretch across months, and people move between roles. In that environment, relying on memory alone can make important reasoning disappear.
Speaker: In this episode, we'll talk with Michaela Sinclair about a deceptively simple professional practice. Taking notes.
Speaker: We'll look at notes as decision records, team, infrastructure, thinking tools, and even a way of documenting your own professional development. So I have with me today, Michaela DD Sinclair, one of our alum. Welcome. Thank you so much. it's so Good to be back, actually. We're so happy to have you back. It's been a while, so would you like to introduce us to what you've been doing since you graduated? For sure. so I graduated in summer 2021. As soon as I graduated, you know, the good old job search happened. And I was tutoring for about like six months or so from K to 12, math of all sorts.
Speaker: And after that, I got adopted by my first company, Bernhardt. um now called infra um And recently. earlier this year i started at hfa which is an architectural engineering firm and then both i worked as a mechanical designer so i work in the hvac field I design ductwork, design piping, um do the low calcs. All the things that MEs are like, are classes that are kind of tailored towards. Yeah, I'm doing right now. Awesome. It's a good time.
Speaker: Well, when I asked you what you might want to talk about, you immediately mentioned notes. Why is this something you think engineers have to take seriously? Oh my, communication? is actually a stronger skill to have in engineering. I know a lot of people don't. Their first thought isn't communication. It's like technical heavy. But without the communication, I mean, you're just smart in a chair, to be honest. um And so you have to be able to reflect and assess and also communicate your great ideas or your questions properly so that someone else can actually translate that and help and know how to rebuttal. And so notes helps with that. Discern that, keep pins on what to follow up on and things of that nature and so much more. So I think it's very important. I've seen some other engineers not take notes and, you know, people have left. and they were like, what project? What are you? You don't want to say that to your client, you know? Oh, right. And so so you want to be, you know, put together and professional. Ensure that you can take care of your clients. So notes are just instrumental. to everything we do.
Speaker: Do you think your school practiced? really informed your note -taking skills as a professional engineer. 100%. I would say Georgia Tech. If you know, you know. It's not for the weak. So you have to keep up with your nose. I mean, I still have my nose from Georgia to Tech still. like in a A trunk. um Because it's like, I mean.
Speaker: You do learn how to take the most important tidbits. questions. I mean, down to color coding. But that may be the type A in me. But, you know, like just to discern what you want. Right. Yeah. Well, let's dig into what makes professional notes different. What kinds of things are worth documenting in engineering work?
Speaker: I would say, sounds cliche at first, Location and date. Because you will get upset once you're referring back and you're like, where was I? Why was I thinking this? Who was I meeting with? so First line. Date, location, purpose of meeting. And then after that.
Speaker: Or before that. My tip. If you can prepare for the meeting, take notes beforehand because then you can annotate live during the meeting. And so it's not all at once because you want to listen into the meeting or a conversation and you want to be present. And you don't want to keep.
Speaker: scrambling um and looking hurried, so... yeah essential things there questions, notes of deadlines, even small things like... Personally, when I'm meeting with a client, I'm able to join those meetings and I see nonverbal reactions to certain things or like preferences. I like to take a little side note of that of like, oh, I noticed that they enjoy when we communicate in these ways. So let's ensure that the rest of the team knows this so that we can all be on one accord in this way.
Speaker: And that's another tidbit, sharing your notes. So you want to write not only for yourself, but for others. Okay. What separates useful documentation from simply writing down everything that was said?
Speaker: Mmm. That's a good question because that's an ongoing thing. depending There's some fresh environments where you've got it down and then you meet someone new or you're in a new situation. You're like, I have no idea what you're talking about. This is all new to me, which happens. um and so One thing I've learned to do over time is.
Speaker: Note. I'm confused. I will write the word. I will literally say question mark. What is this? I'll come back to it, but I'll gather everything I can while I'm there. But you don't want to take too much time, like I said, on getting fixed on something you don't know or you're unsure of or anything like that. Just take a little side note of. Okay.
Speaker: I don't know what this is. Is it important to the meeting now or conversation now? Go ahead and ask. If not. research later, you know, and so I tend to write those explicit notes. To see. What needs to be done, follow -up actions.
Speaker: Well, speaking about following up, when you look back at notes weeks or even months later, what information tends to matter most? Like I said, top 10. Okay. Location date and who you're talking to.
Speaker: Project, what is the what is the point? Why are we meeting? What is the project about? yeah What are core needs? so that I mean, when it comes to communication, that tells you the two most important things, purpose and audience. Correct.
Speaker: Yeah, and that's from there you can kind of discern. all the other things. Like at my company now, I mean, I would say we do a really great job collectively taking notes um as a culture. So even in our emails, we're like tracing emails from projects as they're going on. like And so that way, if someone leaves, again, it's archived already. um So even those little notes you have maybe with a manufacturer rep or the client.
Speaker: whomever is really helpful. to be able to refer back to that later Do you think that there are any specific situations or are there any specific situations that come to mind that you think maybe new engineers tend to take too few notes during?
Speaker: Yeah, I would say. Sometimes during... um During a meeting, you get off track. And it's kind of like take a PowerPoint, for instance, people just want to write down whatever the PowerPoint says, essentially. Right. um But it's the in -between gaps that you really want to get.
Speaker: Because how I see it, it's like you you can get the major things later. No problem. Most people gather that you want to get the gaps in between a flag book. Why did she say that? Or, you know, right. That's curious. You know, anything like that where it's like you feel like you're missing information. I would take notes on.
Speaker: But a lot of the time some some folks Have to be told what notes. to be taken if that makes sense so again i bring up the powerpoint where it's like okay we're talking about i don't know the industrial revolution and you have this slide and you write down all the dates and such But... I don't think folks give themselves the space to inquire about what they need to know from that information that they're seeing.
Speaker: And that's essential because that comes in handy more than you realize. Yeah. down the way When you're an engineer and you're you're thinking about the fact that you need to to take.
Speaker: fairly detailed notes and to document your reasoning because someone later is going to want to know why. And that someone might be you. Correct. Or that someone might be someone else. Or that someone, you know, maybe... be Some sort of legal entity, you know? Or even teacher. Right.
Speaker: So how do you distinguish between something that is just a discussion that you're having with your colleagues and something that needs to become a part of the record? Mmm, good question. When it gets to the point of like, oh, we didn't consider that or.
Speaker: Oh, I actually wonder what that is. That's when it's like, maybe we should take note of that and follow up, you know, which has happened. We've been in a meeting off topic on a project. And then someone was like, oh, by the way, did we ever get that form that we needed? It's like, oh, no. And then why? When do we need that? You know, like, so we need to backtrack now. Right. um And it flags something. so It happens pretty...
Speaker: organically in terms of when you know. And I do. Also, I mean, students can do this now. I would talk to like veteran engineers now. to get their tidbits on like that feeling. Because that's something that I'm grateful for my mentors kind of ah pushing is that you won't know everything.
Speaker: Ever, really. um So you got to keep asking questions and learning. one of the things that we've been talking about a lot and our design courses is traceability yeah and how your decisions and your reasoning need to be traceable up and down. the decision line from your client to manufacturing. Correct.
Speaker: What about good documentation is supporting that? traceability aspect. Mmm. I would say you're just... People...
Speaker: Phil. affirmed when you have some kind of reasoning Even down to... I don't know. I just saw this and I saw this book. i thought was I thought this information was valid, so I used this. That's better than saying, I don't know.
Speaker: i just I just thought it was good. You know, which again, a golden rule. My mentors told me of like, I'd rather you literally confess. Like I got it from my friend, Tommy. over just saying i don't know i don't know where this logic came from because that's We don't know. We can't go anywhere from that. you know right logic is like the engineer's bread and butter correct we need it like you know that's our data like how do we move forward now because Yeah, so it's essential to at least
Speaker: Even if it's messy, I don't know if anyone out there, I... I'm a recovering perfectionist. And so sometimes notes, I try to get the perfect notes. quote unquote There are no perfect notes. It's actually better to be.
Speaker: I don't want to use the word sloppy, but just... organic, just natural, whatever comes natural to you. Like write down your thinking process, sketch even. Sometimes I sketch until I'm like, oh, that does make sense. And then I can write again, you know, until I work out in my brain or when I feel overwhelmed, I do the same thing. I just write and then I find the answer and I'm like, oh, let me ask this question or.
Speaker: Oh, I did say I'm gonna do that. Let me go back. and look into it, you know? all right awesome Let's talk a little bit about notes as team infrastructure. Yes, yes. So how do notes change once you think of them as something that supports an entire team?
Speaker: Normally... I will use the example. because like capstone like You're in meetings, maybe so -and -so was out or... not paying the most attention, getting to know your teammates is essential too, you know, to see like, okay, you pick up this and I just kind of naturally pick this up.
Speaker: Personally, I like to write notes of... You know, let's say the electrical engineers kind of got called out in a meeting, but I know one electrical engineer is in there and. He's a little tied up with the project right now. So he's in the meeting. He's present, but may miss some things. I'm going to also write down like.
Speaker: uh so -and -so said to do xyz i'm gonna follow up with him be like hey we may need to coordinate this or just hey heads up they did mention this and they said something about lighting so you may want to Contact them. um And so it's really beautiful for coordination. Sometimes when we're in a meeting of like a...
Speaker: let's take a bathroom for instance in my case that's where like mechanical and plumbing we We cross paths. And so we have to coordinate on. Okay, they only gave us... one chase about this side. That's really tight. How are we going to get, how am I going to get my duct work in there? how Are you going to get your pipe fit in there in this one area? Now we have to coordinate and we may go off and scheme by ourselves and then come back and compare notes, you know?
Speaker: So what happens then when critical project knowledge exists only in one person's memory? That sometimes, I mean, we've gone as far as calling the person to be like, hey, can you please forward any emails? Do you have a drive or anything? You never wanted to get to that point. You know, ideally.
Speaker: you know, someone is even I don't even say thinking of leaving, but... even like detached from a project. Like I. I'm on the healthcare team. So that's my primary team. But this year I also helped out our restaurant team. Right. And so.
Speaker: there were things where I'm just kind of like jumping into it I have no context or anything and their notes came to save the day for me of like why do y 'all do this why is your template like this why do you what like why did y 'all make these design decisions And how do your clientele work?
Speaker: So actually on the restaurant team that I was on temporarily, someone did leave. um and they hosted a lot of knowledge about a lot of clientele or anything luckily he takes phenomenal notes um and so he had folders he had his own drive that he'd been collecting on his desktop he pretty much shared it with the whole team so now we all have context he even went down to like giving recommendations of i would talk to so -and -so to carry this on because they have a little more context than anyone else you know so
Speaker: stuff like that, you want to be able to smoothly pass it on. you know especially when it's like a critical client like specifically for those clients that That gentleman had... very powerful clients for the company. So you want to stay on track. You want to stay.
Speaker: again just take care of your clients you want to be able to do that without Istanbul. Right. You never know when a handoff is going to need to happen. never Usually through no fault of anyone. Like, you know, accidents happen. People have to take breaks or maybe someone gets a promotion and they're moving up. You have to hand it off. And so having that note enables either you as the ah the incomer to.
Speaker: actually sort survive the project or you as a person who is leaving, not burning the bridge with the client because you left the project. Yeah. That, and you make a good point, even with transitioning roles. to allow the person to actually transition into that role instead of kind of balancing both, because that could be very stressful.
Speaker: In your experience, how do teams sort of decide where notes should live and like who's responsible for maintaining them? Mm. In my company, like again, Stellar, when I came in on my first day, They have...
Speaker: a distinct way they would like their folders to be the names of it we're going to keep that um outside of those parameters The team is now like, okay. Again, we have healthcare, care restaurant, XYZ teams. Healthcare care team, we're used to certain annotations, you know, because we need to communicate to our client in this way. So to stay consistent.
Speaker: And in the perspective, if a newcomer came and it's like lost in the drive, you know, so like. We try to keep design things together, calculations together. That goes in the design folder because we're designing. Or if we get paperwork for clients, we have a client folder. Everything client related goes there. you know um
Speaker: And we do also do a great job of pinging in our like team chat or email of like, hey, I moved this document here. Just FYI, you guys, you know, and that also helps call out like don't put in that folder, put it in this folder. And so, again, going back to just communicating. Which can be a little intimidating and scary for folks because, again, perfectionist or you don't want to give the bad impression of like.
Speaker: I don't know what I'm doing. which is okay but it's always okay to ask if like i'm not sure because sometimes I mean, it turns out to some things that's been pitched of like, oh, we didn't even think of that. Let's actually sit down and strategize on what will work best for the whole team. Yeah. and So it's always good to just put it out there. It oftentimes doesn't matter what is chosen as long as the team agrees on the information architecture so that things can be found. Correct. Yeah. It's like as long as we know, we will get the work done.
Speaker: Thinking about notes is more than documentation, though. Thinking about notes as a thinking tool. Yeah. As a note lover, perhaps, if like if you don't mind, yeah um how has writing things down changed the way that you think about a problem?
Speaker: Oh, it's changed mine. So... I get excited for this by the way because it's really a reflection tool. You know, it's professional. Mental and emotional. And that way they all intertwine. I don't think folks...
Speaker: credit that as much but a lot of things intertwine um while you're doing the work you're also like okay Where are we going from here? Why did I think that? I like to... I got this from... um the vice president of engineering at my last company.
Speaker: Marquis. literally journals every day at the end of the day of like, this is what I got done. At the end of the day, um sometimes he'll add how how I felt about that. I like to add how I felt about things because they also determine.
Speaker: how I need to grow. you know and so like tomorrow i have my mid -year review and my notes came in handy of like okay i got through this project but i noticed i was struggling here here and here or like my gaps in technical knowledge was here and also i felt a little insecure about my approach here like how can i buffing this? How can I grow from here? And I can have that conversation with my director rather than.
Speaker: you know everything kind of feeling blindsided or you know, you don't quite remember what you felt then or what you experienced then. Cause you go through some, I mean, you're seeing things every day, you know? And so it is nice to.
Speaker: just have a reference of like oh yeah even if it's patting on your back or like this and this is a
Speaker: growth spot right yeah so i kind of get the same feeling sometimes about writing something down makes it clear yeah sometimes i'll like go to ai because i want to like use it as a sounding board and talk something up but by the time i finish writing the prompt i'm like oh this is what Now I get it because I actually took the time to write it out. Exactly. Exactly. That's why I go back. I'm telling you, I scribble even if I don't have the words because that's a stopping point for some people. I even scribble.
Speaker: I credit my mom with that until. the words come out like especially when it comes to feelings about your professional self you know that could be a very touchy thing How can you use notes to track open questions or risks that are easy to forget? You remember you have so much else going on that requires your immediate attention.
Speaker: That goes from the blurbs, like I brought i brought my planner.
Speaker: i have I've met so many alumni who everywhere they go, they have a notebook. Yeah. ah One of our alumni, every time I meet him, he has, is it says like engineering. ah notebook too on like under his arm and he's always taking notes see you know literally by my bedside at all time i have a notebook in every room in my house essentially like because i get random ideas or random thoughts or like you know you'll think about a problem for a while you're like oh yeah and then you get it and you got to jot it down right then or else you could lose it because again you're doing so much other things and so um
Speaker: Yeah, for open questions. that kind of takes some time to chew on or think about. um I'll jot down everything that comes to mind right then. Anything. Even if it doesn't completely make sense to me. Just like...
Speaker: jotting it down what was the question what sparked this And then... I have bookmarks on my planner, but like bookmarking it so I actually come back to it. Yeah. You know, some kind of indicator, whether that be like tabs, um post tabs or whatever. And those are really helpful. or I even set an alarm. I live by my calendar too.
Speaker: set an alarm of like hey look back at this And she wanted more. So yeah, it it helps with accountability for sure. And throughout Mod Planner, I literally have that and I have color coded. To tell me what's up.
Speaker: Do you have any other particular habits that you would recommend, especially you're thinking about students and. Our students. Oftentimes, I see them when they come to class and they don't have paper or pens or pencil. Everything is done on the laptop. So if you're not practiced in taking notes, what kind of habits would you recommend people start?
Speaker: That's a really good question because I am a strong believer you do. pen and paper it just changes everything because it translates to your brain it stamps itself in your brain more because it's like kinetic right and also you're looking at it you're having to think about it you're having to write and see it so it's like all attached and sometimes when you're just doing things on your ipad or laptop I mean, think about scrolling on Instagram or TikTok or whatever. You're just kind of... Doing it, you know, like you took the note and you're like, okay
Speaker: And it's closed. So I would encourage um new note writers to use pen and paper. Do it once a week. Like you use a Sunday. Just like, what do I want to get out of this week?
Speaker: What did I accomplish last week that I'm proud of? What am I grateful for? Like you can, it could be one thing, one sentence, start small. Give yourself grace. Or even throughout the day, if you want to daily practice.
Speaker: Whether you're in your class or... eating dinner with the friends or whatever and you have a random thought like just train yourself to be okay writing things down without judgment and so I think that's a good practice just to get comfy with it. And also...
Speaker: Take time to appreciate your handwriting too. I know that sounds really... weird, but the more you're I guess tantalized by yourself in that way, the more you're encouraged to actually write too. I think we can also sometimes get in our heads a bit on relegating notes to a certain
Speaker: certain part of the process like um oh i'm an engineer i just i take notes after the engineering zone i take notes after lab whereas it notes don't have to be relegated to just that part and in fact it can be really beneficial for you yeah to think of it as an ongoing process exactly no that was well said it truly is i mean even going through life you never know what's going to surface um and again
Speaker: You can't be your professional self without your... Personal just. yourself You know, so you got to get to know yourself better, understand even interactions like sometimes after I interact with folks, I take. ah like a little note of like
Speaker: oh that felt good what felt good about it like xyz and this helps inform future things that i may not be aware of yet but it's good to note you know i still look back at some old journals that i have that i'm like i was thinking about this this young oh wow that's kind of crazy and it gives context you know uh it really informs my present and future
Speaker: I spend a lot of my time in my role helping students if they're like applying to graduate school yeah or they're applying for fellowships or something. And a lot of those come with some sort of personal statement. And sometimes I have students come in and they're a bit worried about that because they didn't start as an engineer or maybe they weren't always interested in engineering or something. And I'm always OK with that because it's not about where you started in these documents. It's about how you're communicating the arc and the trajectory. that you have followed yeah and the fact that that trajectory makes sense for the person you are slash becoming will become in this role yeah exactly no seriously and that's what
Speaker: Again, i where I started, where it's like sometimes engineers take for granted the communication or even the social side. of engineering. I mean, very important. The soft skills, quote unquote. um The professional skills. Yeah. the The hype of the very... Professional skills, essential skills, I should say. Yeah, like... They they carry you far, you know, so.
Speaker: Getting admitted to Georgia Tech. We had to do that, right? Like, I don't want to just see your technical side. Like, who are you? ah As a human, like, how are you contributing to this space? Right. You know? And... You should never be ashamed of your story. It got you to where you're at. And so even practicing writing to embrace that, if that's hard for you, to reflect that.
Speaker: Or practicing talking about it because yeah you know the question that every job interview is going to ask, tell me about yourself. yeah And that's not supposed to be, you know, just like a chronology or whatever. Tell me about yourself is asking you, give me the arc. Give me the trajectory. Why do you make sense yeah for us right here in this moment? How are we aligning? yeah How are our two arcs basically aligning together? A hundred percent. Yeah.
Speaker: Have your notes ever helped you prepare for an interview or performance review? 100%. I do. intention Like I said, i say I like to take notes before I go into talks.
Speaker: And so like specifically for interviews. which helped me on my my first interview when I got out of college, was like, okay, I feel weird. I was tutoring.
Speaker: I had an interesting college experience. you know um I took a break from college for a while, worked with a chiropractor, came back. tutor like i was doing random jobs in between which kind of looks scattered to some But like you mentioned earlier, to piece together the story makes it more full and understandable to others of like, oh, wow, you persevered through or you were already this was always your goal.
Speaker: But you sidestepped and you gained from this and you're applying it now. Like that is really rich to be able to do. Right. And so before i interview, I'll write down like. what I gained from my experiences, like.
Speaker: why did i like those spirits and what i didn't like because recruiters also like to hear that of like okay, why didn't you like that? You know? um So in your job, if you don't like something, how will you handle it? And it's like, okay, well, I handled it here in this way. Did I like it? No, I would change this. So moving forward, I'm doing this. That's impressive to even talk about. You reflect it and you're able to grow. That's really nice to see a worker do that, you know? Because things are going to.
Speaker: yeah Things are bound to change. And people's roles shift. Correct. I think it's kind of how we started this conversation is how you can end up somewhere you you didn't expect, but taking your notes can help you track what you what you liked and what you didn't like and how that's helping you evolve into doing the kind of work that you find most fulfilling. Exactly. Exactly. And then. I mean everything from there is just a sweet story.
Speaker: happily ever after so i know the question the students are going to ask when they hear this okay and it's going to be How do I do this without creating more work? That is, fair no, that's a very valid question. Very valid. Okay, so...
Speaker: You have to call yourself out. You have to call yourself out for those empty spaces that you don't call empty. but The scrolling, the scrolling. I'm pretty bad at that. Yeah. I was like, I know it's like, no, don't take it away, but that's exactly why you should take it away. You know? So like, okay. In between classes, you know, you just kind of post up on tech green and you just scroll. have your scrolling delights so instead of maybe scrolling for 15 minutes I'll compromise with you. Scroll over.
Speaker: five minutes, 10 minute journal. Or if that ratio is crazy for you, 10 minutes scrolling, five minute journaling. Whatever works and like it's a good start because I also understand. We're collectively going through a dopamine crisis. so you know, take in.
Speaker: those moments where You claim that you're busy, but you're not. You're not. you know This isn't pertinent to what you're doing. I would. Pitch out the Eisenhower matrix.
Speaker: If you've ever heard of it. It's important, non -important, urgent, not urgent. And you put it into quadrants. Call yourself out in a healthy way. Constructor criticism. And that's what really helps it reinforce the point that.
Speaker: Notes don't have to be paragraphs. They really don't, yeah. It can be you making this quadrant for your week. Correct. Yeah, whatever format. And that's a good point there. Find your form. What works? Because for me, I was trying to go by the books. You know, I've been to many a talks. about ah many of ways to organize.
Speaker: great tools to think about, but ultimately pick something that encourages you to continue this good habit. And so if you're forcing something that doesn't feel good and now it feels like work. Maybe pivot and try something else, you know? So what would be your advice about routines? Mmm.
Speaker: you Would you recommend a routine or is a routine going to make it seem like it's too much work? No, I think routines are delicious. The older I get too, I understand the... importance of routine is giving grounding in times where things are deemed to be chaotic like At my job.
Speaker: Things can be sailing smooth. You know, we are in gentle waters. And it just takes one call or one email that can pivot everything, you know? And so. Knowing that, OK, at the end of this, I am going to have my nighttime wind down, you know, like at this hour. So I'm cutting it off. I'm not overworking or I will journal no matter what at this time. You know, everything after that just kind of has to move around. like a rock in a stream. yeah How do you get to the place where you can journal without judgment?
Speaker: Mmm. Let's practice. That's practice. You have to move through discomfort, even if you're cringing and your fingers start curling. take a break get markers out like even use oil pastels whatever format actually feels good and playful like I do tell people to tap into their youthful self there where it's like as kids I love kids. They're just like, so.
Speaker: okay i'll try it you know like if they fall they get back up and i think as we grow up we kind of lose part of that He had ebbs and flows. Yeah. I agree. my history professor in college, we had
Speaker: I'm old enough that we had like the blue book, green book exams. And he was like, you will be writing in pen. Like there's no pencil. And that just, I hated it because one, I'm dyslexic. So I'm really like self -conscious about my spelling. yeah And then two, like, you know, I like to go back and and revise and and stuff. yeah And he's like, I don't care about that. Like I am old. I have bad eyes. I want to see the black ink on the white page. yeah And um once I got to graduate school, I finally just had to break myself of writing a pencil because. Yeah.
Speaker: pencil just you know it's more work than a pen it truly is the the ink is literally flowing out of the pen all you have to do is barely Put it to the paper. except And the pencil has to be. actively pressed into the paper. Good materials study there. No, it is. no But I finally, you know, got to this point in my studies where I was like,
Speaker: I am who I am. I don't care. This is what works. Exactly. And it takes, time again, I can't. i can't say enough give grace to yourself and i can preach more about this i don't if I said this before I've been more hypocritical like I would have been a hypocrite because I was not the best at giving grace, but that is essential as you go through any journey, I would say. But especially when you're trying something new that's a little uncomfortable, like give yourself grace. Okay, you missed on your routine. You didn't work out that day or you didn't journal that day.
Speaker: Oh, you ordered takeout that day, but also because you were tired. Or it is. Not to make excuses, but just to... Try again the next day. I like the two day rule of like, I'm not going to go two days past what I said I would do for myself. So it gives me some comfy space for the unknown. You never know.
Speaker: And so, yeah. Yeah, and starts start small is okay. 100%. Even if it's on a post note. Yeah.
Speaker: One thing that I always recommend is someone gives you a handout right on it. Yes. They're they're basically giving you the shorthand version of the notes. But just as know you were saying, like there's a sort of meta note taking that can be really valuable. Not just this was the information, but here's here's what made the sense to me. Here's how it made sense to me whenever I understood it. A good example because in class, you know, you're getting thrown definitions all the time, right?
Speaker: Remember this, remember that. like i I'll write the definition that is stated to me, but also. Take some time after like five minutes or so. Okay. Say the word again. Do it. Can I recite the meaning? Do I understand the meaning? Like, and then write down how I.
Speaker: I see it. Like, what's my definition? Yeah. So essential. essential to put things in your own work pen to paper
Speaker: if If a student wanted to start and they wanted us to start small, like maybe just one small page a week, the recommendations are Eisenhower Quadrant. Yes. Probably decisions that you made that week and why you made them. Yeah, yeah. Open questions, I think, is a big one. Yes. Jot them all down. And maybe commitments that you have. Yeah, those are essential. Anything that's like priorities. But that goes on. I always put that under Eisenhower matrix. You're going to have to face those. Okay, so that that can be assumed there. yeah But also, I think what's really important, you know.
Speaker: getting into the idea of mapping your arc is accomplishments. Yes. Or lessons learned that week. Yes. Yes. Like. Big on lessons learned. And big on accomplishments. I would say top two.
Speaker: I think humans tend to skew toward the negative more like, you know, because it feels more real. Like it's like, oh, no, this has to be real because you told me this very strongly. So but the good is so good, too. We deserve that. So, yeah, pat yourself on the back because only you also understand the magnitude of what you did. You know how it echoes into.
Speaker: further behaviors or things that you've been through so Give yourself credit. And give yourself room to grow. In that, like... Again, as small as...
Speaker: Even napkins, like I mentioned, I like to jot on nap napkins, you know. Be okay with just jotting something down and just leaving it. You know, it's okay. It's a good practice. Anything you have to do to get yourself there.
Speaker: I say do it. If it's healthy. Before we wrap up, there's one more thing I have to ask about. I think I would be remiss if I did not. So professional boundaries. As an engineer, yeah is there anything that should not be written down?
Speaker: Oh yeah, anything where it's like... Of course, the obvious is like, oh, we're signing an NDA for this. Or... This client. Depending on the client. maybe not write it down in certain locations you know that's not your personal notebook correct maybe in the joint drive where it's protected by these parameters. So you got to know where to place the notes because you do need notes. But yeah, when it's more confidential, it has to be housed differently in a different. space.
Speaker: um So I wouldn't put that in your personal journal. Anything that can be kind of taken off the street, someone can pick it up and be like, oh. i didn't know ge you know like you don't want to give the secrets yeah but it's okay to write them down if it's internal I would say, yeah. okay Yeah those are fine. You need those.
Speaker: okay yeah In business. Don't be afraid to take notes as long as you're storing them in the appropriate place. Correct. Okay. mm -hmm Let's wrap it up then with some reflective closing. Yes.
Speaker: What's one note -taking mistake you see early career professionals making? Not taking notes, I would say. Okay. You're not going to lie. What about people just like, I have a good memory. I'll i'll remember it. Oh, see, yeah, that's exactly that. Like, yeah, I would say that.
Speaker: Cause I mean, confidence, love it. But... Understanding humans, we are human. We're going to forget some things and the game telephone is a great demonstration of that. So you may remember parts of it, but not like the intricacies that. come in handy later like oh i didn't remember that you know so i would encourage It's a humbling experience as well. Just to jot it down, it never hurts. You know, it's not hurting anybody.
Speaker: Just bring a notebook, even if you... Never touch a notebook during a time. Bring it just in case. you know um I have the little dolly tree. Clients love to see you show up. Ready to take notes. Oh, that's the most.
Speaker: That's the biggest tip I've gotten through my life, too, because I've been in a lot of professional spaces with. like big names where I'm like, you know. You don't have to go out of your way to impress anyone. It's just showing that you care enough.
Speaker: of what they have to say, what they want from you. That's with the journal and pen. symbolize of like no i take this serious and you will be listened to it we'll make sure we get this handled Just by that.
Speaker: As a a note lover. How has writing notes... change the way that you understand your career. Ooh, that's a really good question. I didn't expect me to be in this industry, you know? And so that took a lot of reflection for me too. It was definitely. One um where.
Speaker: I saw myself I took industrial design as well so I was kind of in the in -between of It's like social engineering almost or product design and things of that nature. And so journaling for me has been really good with like, okay, at first.
Speaker: I felt like, oh, i'm I'm not honoring myself by doing this, but. The challenge was I challenged myself to stay open to the opportunity. There's a reason. There's always a reason behind everything. And to flow with that. And so.
Speaker: to even reflect on that through my journey. has been essential of now I've gained a strong love for the industry I'm in and a lot of respect for a lot of what people do that you don't even think about on a day to day.
Speaker: week to week, month to month. I mean, like you really don't think about, but there's someone thinking about it, designing it, ensuring that it's taken care of. Yeah, it's changed. my perspective on a lot of people in a lot of industries a lot of roles and it makes me feel more proud of the role i'm in and how i contribute as well so again it gives you that boost day to day i mean you when you work it's most of your life so Do you want to maximize what you're doing?
Speaker: Right. So when we're taking notes. We are preserving what happened, but we're doing more than that too. Yes. We're going to talk about... what decisions were made, what remains unresolved, what others need to know. So we're really creating a record that can grow over time. And from talking with you today, I really, it didn't occur to me, but it's really clear that Taking notes can give you more confidence. Oh, 100%.
Speaker: Like you feel. Think about if someone put you on a speech on the spot. You have no idea what... they're talking you know like if someone was like talk about the old of automotive industry i Would suck. I would be like, I love cars. Do you?
Speaker: Toyota, you know, like it would it would be subpar. But if you're prepared with notes or whatever, you know, like it helps. I don't know. Like even the little things of just like. I have been put on the spot on speech before and I was like, can I have five minutes? You know, and I took five minutes to just jot down like raw thoughts, like what am I thinking? And even seeing it, I was like, okay, I want to put this first. I'm going to mention this first because this weaves into the rest of the speech and I can kind of get away with this. And after that, I also know how to communicate with the person who put me on spot.
Speaker: please don't let this last longer than two, three minutes. Cause I don't have anything else past that, you know? Right. And so um to demand that space um is also essential. not It's just a really revealing activity. So you know what you need? um when you need it, where to go, who to talk to. I mean. So much. yeah yeah It's the engineer, your logical reasoning, why you have. these
Speaker: conclusions why you have these claims which i i think works just as well on the the technical or design side as it does the personal side and you know why you find, why you...
Speaker: want to be a part of a certain project over another or why you have certain boundaries whenever it comes to work. Yeah. Exactly. It's... It's the golden ticket, I would say. So I do encourage everyone to just dabble into it. Even if it's short -lived, it's not your thing. I respect it. But...
Speaker: I do encourage. Just give it a go for a week. Give it a fair chance. Okay. I'm convinced. I'll try it. I'm i'm not a journaler, but I will go home and I'll try it tonight. Wow. I love that. Thank you so much for joining us. No, thank you. I had a great time. Really appreciate you. Thanks.
