[Old man yelling at the surf]
Notes:
I toss my notes in a shoebox and stick the shoebox in a cupboard. [1]
Eventually, I stumble on the shoebox, look at the notes and throw them out.
Ideas:
"Idea" is a four letter word.
I start on the thing I am thinking about or I let it go.
Ideas that I am not acting on aren't worth holding onto.
Knowledge:
I remember where to look should it be useful.
Or I Google it again.
---
None of this was true when I was younger.
Back then, I behaved as though my notes and papers would go to an archive in a prestigious museum. As though ideas were valuable and rare. As if there was a multiple choice test on the-material on Tuesday, the 25th.
I made these things ends in themselves.
Now I just make stuff instead of taking notes.
This makes it clear whether or not an intellectual interest is an entertaining rabbit hole or something I can act upon.
The hard part is to accept that there are many many interesting things that I can't participate in. Like compiler internals, space exploration, and DIY sawmills.
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34880402
[1]: Boxes are better than notebooks and file folders. Each of which is better than bits.