How to Digitize Meeting Notes (Without Distraction)

Typing during a meeting feels productive. You're capturing everything word-for-word, building a complete record. But research shows you're actually retaining less.

When you type, your brain goes into transcription mode. You're focused on getting the words down, not on understanding them. Handwriting is slower, which forces you to summarize and process as you go. You remember more, and your notes end up being more useful.

Plus, there's the social dynamic. People open up more when you're not staring at a screen. They feel heard. Pen and paper signals attention in a way that typing never will.

If handwriting is so great, why doesn't everyone do it? Because paper notes are a pain to deal with afterward.

They sit in a notebook that you might not have with you when you need them. They're not searchable. They don't sync with your task manager or project documentation. You can't share them without taking photos and hoping people can read your handwriting.

So people default to typing, sacrificing presence for convenience. But it doesn't have to be either-or.

Here's a workflow that gives you the best of both worlds:

During the meeting: Write by hand. Focus on key points, decisions, and action items. Don't try to capture everything—that's what transcription mode is for. Engage with the discussion.

After the meeting: Take 30 seconds to photograph your notes. Use an app like NoteThisDown to convert them to searchable text automatically. Your handwritten notes land in Notion, fully readable and ready to reference.

Total time added to your post-meeting routine: less than a minute.

When you digitize meeting notes later, you want them to actually be useful. That means writing the right things down in the first place.

Focus on:

• Decisions made (and who made them) • Action items with owners and deadlines • Key discussion points that led to those decisions • Questions that came up but weren't resolved • Your own thoughts and reactions

Skip the preamble, the small talk, and the stuff that's already in the meeting agenda. Your notes should add value, not duplicate what everyone already has.

The real power of digitizing meeting notes comes from being able to find them later. Not just "somewhere in my notes app" but actually searchable.

With NoteThisDown, your notes go into Notion with the date and any tags you set up. Three months from now, when someone asks "didn't we talk about the pricing change back in February?" you can search and find it in seconds.

This turns your meeting notes from a write-once-forget-forever archive into an actual knowledge base. Every meeting you attend adds to your searchable record of decisions and discussions.

The hardest part isn't the technology—it's remembering to take the photo after the meeting. Here's what helps:

Keep your phone on the table during meetings. When the meeting ends, the phone is right there as a reminder.

Process notes before you leave the room. Don't wait until you're back at your desk with twelve other things demanding attention.

Make it part of your meeting wrap-up ritual. Meeting ends, quick photo, done. It becomes automatic after a week or two.