Noting My Impressions

As usual, I've been taking notes in Conference. The benefits of doing this are obvious. When I review my notes later during these next few months, I'll have some idea what my impressions were as I watched these Conference talks.

However, I think there is also a trade-off to taking notes. As I typed my notes, I tended to focus more on the words that were being said than on the messages that were being shared. Sometimes, I would hear a quotable line and focus on copying it down, missing whatever the speaker said next.

There has to be a better way. In previous Conferences, I've made a point to only take notes on my impressions and feelings about the talks, not any of the words or quotes from the talks. This makes sense to me because my impressions are fleeting; I need to record them quickly, or I'll lose them forever. Meanwhile, if I want to quote the speakers later, I can do so using the written text of their talks rather than using my own faulty notes.

So, for the rest of this Conference, I'm going to try to focus my notes on my impressions and leave the quote-copying to other people. There may be a few quotes worth noting, but I'll mostly want to focus on recording my own impressions so I don't lose them. Besides, I think I'm having a problem where I can't see the forest through the trees. I'm focusing so much on the words that I'm not sure I'm getting the messages, so I'll try to focus on the messages for the rest of Conference, especially the messages the Spirit sends to me directly.