Quick notes are big business.

It turns out that not everyone is all that good at listening and writing at the same time.

With Evernote last year reaching a valuation of $1 billion, making it worth more on paper than The New York Times (though Evernote’s CEO, Phil Libin, calls such a comparison point “not very useful”), it was only a matter of time before it got some major competition. (Oh, and for you analog folks, Moleskine has an IPO on the way.)

That, and more on note-taking and creativity, in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Google’s Evernote competitor: Days after it was leaked to the public a little early, Google’s new organizational tool, Google Keep, just got launched in the wild. “With Keep,” the company explains in a blog post, “you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.” Watch the video above to get an idea of how the Android-only app works. Could it sway Evernote users away? Perhaps not, but CMSWire notes that “it still provides a useful way for Android and Google users to keep a track of things.” Have you tried it yet? Let us know how it’s working for you.

Improve your note-taking skills: Trying to take better, more useful notes while you’re in meetings? According to Quartz writer Anna Codrea-Rado, there are some things you should keep in mind in the process, including when to take them, whether those notes should be paper or digital, and how they should be structured. “The typical meeting format of continuous talking and simultaneous scribbling might not be ideal for optimum note-taking,” she writes. “It turns out that not everyone is all that good at listening and writing at the same time.” How do you take notes, and do you doodle?

Create a great creativity room: Freelance writer Deirdre Reid didn’t get a chance to stop by ASAE’s creativity rooms during last week’s Great Ideas Conference, but a recent #assnchat session inspired her to get thinking about them. Perhaps her biggest idea is simply making more room to use them. “I know we’re at conferences primarily to meet and deepen relationships, oh, yeah, and to get an education too,” she writes, “but I wouldn’t mind a bit more downtime or white space, even if it means extending the conference. I hate having to skip a session just so I can go for a walk while it’s light out.”

What gets you thinking in a bigger-picture way? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

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