How to take quick notes during a lecture on a Mac
For a name, a date or a question you do not want to lose during a lecture, open the NotchStar Quick Note, type, and move on. It saves as you type, so there is no save step and nothing to switch to. It is a scratchpad for fragments, not a replacement for your main notes.
Steps
- Open the notch and choose Quick Note.
- Click into the text area. The notch takes keyboard focus while you type, and gives it back when you leave the tab, so it does not grab your typing at other times.
- Type the fragment. A short habit helps: start each line with a marker such as Q for a question or T for a term, so you can sort them later.
- Move away. The note stays. Open the notch again later and the words are still there.
- After the lecture, select the text, copy it and paste it into your notes app, then clear the note for next time.
How to use it well
Use it for the things that interrupt your thinking: a reference the lecturer gives, a deadline, an author name, a word to look up. Save the long form notes for the app you already use. If you are reading slides and want to remember a link, copy it. Clipboard history keeps your last 50 copies, so you can come back to the link after the lecture without writing it down.
If the lecture has a break and you want to time it, start a countdown in Timers. That is a separate tab, so the note is untouched.
Limits you should know
- One note, plain text. There are no folders, titles, formatting, images or attachments.
- No sync. It lives in NotchStar’s preferences on your Mac. Back it up yourself by pasting it somewhere else.
- No search inside the note beyond what a normal text field gives you.
- Typing noise. If you are in a recorded online lecture with your microphone on, keyboard sounds can be picked up, so mute first.
- Not for sensitive text you would not want a person looking over your shoulder to see, since it is visible whenever the notch is open.
If you want something more
A scratchpad is quick because it is small. If you need linked notes, handwriting or sharing, use a full notes app and keep Quick Note for the fragments that would otherwise sit on a sticky note. The Quick Notes page lists the limits in one place.
