Introduction
Today I want to write about note-taking.
I've always had this sense that I take notes in order to forget things.
Rather than trying to retain information, I prefer to just move it into a note-taking app and get it out of my head. It makes me feel lighter — and that's been my style for a long time.
It was something I did purely on instinct, but recently I came across a concept called "cognitive offloading," and it made me think — maybe my instinct wasn't so off after all. Writing this one down as a note to myself.
What Is Cognitive Offloading?
Cognitive offloading refers to the act of delegating part of our memory or thinking to external tools, reducing the load on the brain.
A 2011 study by psychologist Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues found that when people know they can look something up on Google later, they tend to remember where to find the information rather than the information itself. This has been called the "Google Effect."
Writing things down in a note-taking tool might work in a similar way — the brain treats it as information that's been handed off to the outside.
"Forgetting" often gets a bad reputation, but the brain has limited resources, and trying to remember everything comes at a high cost. The way I think about it: note-taking apps are the external hard drive; my head is the CPU. It's a division of labor.
My Own Experience
This is just from my own experience, but when I make a habit of moving tasks and things I'm curious about into a note-taking app right away, my head feels clearer. The nagging sense of "wait, what was that again?" fades, and I find it easier to focus on what I'm actually doing.
There are things I genuinely need to remember, but most day-to-day information falls into the category of "fine to forget — as long as I can find it when I need it." That's the role notes play for me.
Things I'm Careful About
That said, offloading too much can quickly lead to a state of "I have no idea where anything is." Here's what I try to keep in mind.
Decide where things go and set some management rules — If finding a note takes more effort than it's worth, the whole system falls apart. It helps to decide in advance where and in what format to save things. In my case, Notion is my home base for pretty much everything, but I use Logseq for daily task lists and Obsidian for quick, unstructured notes. I also consult ChatGPT and Claude fairly often, and since I sometimes want to look back at those conversations, I tag threads with UIDs to make them easier to retrieve. None of this is strictly necessary, but having some kind of management system that fits your lifestyle makes a real difference — at least for me.
Sometimes, deliberately don't take notes — For things I actually want to remember, I try not to write them down immediately. Instead, I let them sit and solidify in my head first. Holding back from reaching for the notepad — that pause — seems to help things stick. (This does run counter to the "move it out right away" approach, so in practice, I find myself making a quick judgment call whenever I encounter something: do I note this down, or do I try to remember it?)
Review your notes regularly — Notes that just pile up and never get looked at aren't really offloading — they're just neglect. There's a reason you took the note in the first place, and forgetting you ever wrote it defeats the purpose. I try to set aside time once a week — usually Sundays — to skim back through things.
Conclusion
"I take notes to forget" sounds a little strange when you say it out loud. But in terms of not spending too much mental energy on retention, I think it's actually a pretty reasonable approach.
Learning the term "cognitive offloading" gave me a bit more clarity on something I'd been doing all along without really thinking about it.
Thanks for reading!