I single table 5.50's and 11's and note taking helps me alot, as it forces me to pay attention to every hand. I rarely see the same players later, but in my opinion if taking notes wins you even one hand per SNG it's worth it.

I try to get the most out of every SNG I play. For me, this means actively thinking about the hands that I'm not involved in and trying to put players on a range of hands. I'm guessing that most of the posters here don't do this until the bubble because they are advanced enough to multi-table.

I'm a bit of a plodder, though, and I suspect it will be quite some time before I move up or multi-table.