I have a few Emacs org-mode[0] files in a git repository. I have one for work, one for personal projects, and one for home stuff. Works great for me.
I often take notes during meetings. The trick is to maintain eye contact with whoever you're speaking to so they know you're paying attention to them, not working on something else.
Sometimes I'll just bring a notebook and my pen, but I will generally put those notes into my org file afterwards.
I also track every project I work on in org-mode, with lots of TODO entries. Without it I have a pretty hard time staying on track.