Steal Sam Altman's Genius Note-Taking Method (Pocket Notebook Power!)

This YouTube video details the YouTuber's adaptation of Sam Altman's pocket notebook system. Inspired by Altman's method of using a small, easily-tearable spiral notebook for quick note-taking, the YouTuber experiments with different notebooks and pens to find a compatible system, ultimately integrating it with their existing note-taking workflow in Notion. The video showcases the YouTuber's process and offers recommendations for similar notebooks and pens. The YouTuber demonstrates his note-taking process using the pocket notebook, showcasing how he captures information from podcasts and books. He highlights the use of the notebook as a commonplace book, recording quotes, ideas, and book advice. The demonstration shows how he uses single-sided note-taking for easy page removal and indexing. The YouTuber attempts to replicate Sam Altman's system using a Lochby pocket journal but encounters challenges due to the journal's design. The spiral binding prevents easy page removal, and the pen holder doesn't accommodate his preferred pens. He explores alternative pen options and discusses the limitations of his chosen journal for this specific note-taking method. The YouTuber shares his experience using the pocket notebook system over a week, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks. He discusses the advantages of using one side of the page for easy page removal and indexing. He adds a sticky note to track his progress and quickly locate the last page used, improving the overall efficiency of the system. The narrator uses a three-notebook system, one of which is a horizontally-oriented notebook placed under their keyboard. This is the same brand as the smaller pocket notebook they use, inspired by Sam Altman. Altman's method involves a small pocket notebook filled with notes, which are then ripped out and transferred to a larger system (like Notion). Both methods involve multiple notebooks, but Altman's focuses on quick capture and transfer, while the narrator's seems more integrated into their workflow. The narrator's system is inspired by Altman's but adapted to their own needs. do you take notes during the week that you reflect on or is it just on your hand? yes, no, I'm a huge nuttaker.01:13oh, tell me about that. there's all these fancy notebooks in the world. you don't want those. you definitely want a spiral notebook because one thing that's important is you can rip pages out frequently and you also want it to lie like flat and open on the table.01:26and if you open pages, you want them to be able to lay like this, whatever. you definitely want to be able to rip pages out. I'm a big believer of like, I take a bunch of notes and then I like clearly like rip them out so I can look at multiple pages at the same time.01:40and I can like crumple them up and throw them on the floor and I'm done like when our house cleaner comes in on like a whatever. there's just these pile of crumple papers that I'm like type my notes, whatever on the floor.01:51you definitely want like a kind of paper that is like good to write on, which is a feel thing, but most papers terrible to write on. you want a hard front and back to the notepad, and you also want to be in the confidant pocket.02:06I was about to say that. I think the Uniball micro 0.5 pen is the best pen overall, but the muji 0.36 or 0.37 in dark blue ink is a very nice pen for other reasons.. so those are the two I would use, but I think this kind of notebook and one of those two pens is the right answer.02:27and how many notes you're writing per day on that thing? I go through one of these like every three, two or three weeks. oh wow, so you're taking a lot of. well, you can see how much I've ripped out.02:36like this used to have like a hundred pages in it. so that's how you think about it. so you're gonna basically take the notebook and then you rip out the pages and you don't have completed notebooks. I don't have completed notebooks. The narrator chose a notebook with a craft cover, allowing for labeling and customization ( ). The paper quality is described as excellent, even suitable for watercolor and sketching ( ). In comparison to other papers, the narrator notes that many are terrible to write on, emphasizing the importance of good paper quality ( ).