# Capture habit The capture habit is the habit of putting things in writing as soon as you can: an idea, something you learned, something you said, a decision, an action you need to take. No matter what, no matter where, no matter how. It's one of the first things I teach in [[Knowledge Management for Beginners]], because the rest of a knowledge management practice depends on it. You can't organize, connect or reuse what you never wrote down. The long-form versions are [[The Capture Habit]] (my 2022 article, also at [[The Capture Habit (Article)]]) and [[Knowledge Worker Kit - 04.03 Developing the Capture Habit]]. ## Why Writing is a fantastic way to avoid forgetting, and to allow yourself to forget. If you try to keep something in your memory, chances are that you'll forget it over time. Once it's written, it stays there, and you can get it out of your head because you know where it is. Finding it back is a different problem. But it's a better problem to have than forgetting. That idea comes from [[Getting Things Done (GTD)]]: capture everything, and get it out of your head. Each "I need to call this person back" that stays in your mind is an open loop pulling at your attention (cfr [[Open loops]]). Once it's in a system you trust, your brain can remain at peace. It also makes you reliable. I write down the actions, next steps and decisions from meetings, on paper or on my reMarkable tablet. People know that I'll come back to what was said, because it's in my notes. ## Where it fits in my learning path When I teach knowledge management, I follow this order: 1. Clarity about your goals and priorities, so that you know what's worth capturing 2. A system: a place you trust, where every capture ends up (cfr [[You need a capture system]], [[What a capture system looks like]] and [[Idea capture system]]) 3. The capture habit, starting with journaling (cfr [[Journaling]]) 4. Then the rest: the action system, the [[Zettelkasten method]], etc. (cfr [[Combining PKM methods into a system]]) I start the habit with journaling because it's the simplest place to begin. You have one place to capture (today's daily note) and nothing to decide in the moment: no new note, no metadata, no links. You capture now and organize later, during your [[Periodic reviews]] (cfr [[Why use daily notes as your capture system]]). Once capturing has become automatic, you can add the other systems on top. In the [[Obsidian Starter Kit]], that first step is the [[Obsidian Starter Kit - System - Journaling System|journaling system]], and [[Fleeting notes]] give you another inbox for raw captures. ## Capture what matters, with its context Capture what matters. Not everything. Be selective and filter the noise out, or you'll end up hoarding information (cfr [[Collector's fallacy]]). Capture the context along with the information. Ask yourself: "Why did this come up?", "What does this relate to?", "What's the next step?", "Where did I discover this?". The answers help you find the note back later, and get back into the mental context you were in when you wrote it (cfr [[Saving and restoring mental contexts]]). What you capture then becomes a task, feeds a project (cfr [[Slow Burn Method]]) or turns into [[Atomic notes|atomic notes]] that you connect with other ones. ## References - Knowledge Management for Beginners, Module 06 (PKM Recommendations), lessons 05 "Why you need a capture system", 09 "The capture habit" and 16 "Journaling" - David Allen, Getting Things Done (see [[Getting Things Done (book)]]) - The Capture Habit (2022): https://www.dsebastien.net/2022-11-14-the-capture-habit/ - Capture Habit (Concepts): https://concepts.dsebastien.net/concept/capture-habit/ ## Related - [[The Capture Habit]] - [[The Capture Habit (Article)]] - [[Knowledge Worker Kit - 04.03 Developing the Capture Habit]] - [[You need a capture system]] - [[What a capture system looks like]] - [[Idea capture system]] - [[Why use daily notes as your capture system]] - [[Journaling]] - [[Getting Things Done (GTD)]] - [[Open loops]] - [[Collector's fallacy]] - [[Fleeting notes]] - [[Slow Burn Method]] - [[Combining PKM methods into a system]]