I find it very acceptable and I appreciate when someone carries a small notepad (not a phone/tablet) with a physical pen to take notes. I do a lot of the times. However, here is the trick that works for me when you have none.
At the end of the meeting, the key thing is the actionable item (todo) -- say that out aloud. "So, my to-dos are this, that and this one. And you will be handling the other, and another." Say it a few times or even a few more times while adding to your calendar/notes (digital or otherwise) after the meeting.
Most of the times, you never needed to take the entire meeting's notes.
Do you have some good ones that you would recommend? I often type copious notes and I think there may be some value in the very act of the typing, but if something works really well, maybe I can change my approach.
On one "prepackaged" end the scale, MS Teams has an option to transcribe meetings. On the "Local" side, I've had success using Whisper.cpp to transcribe my own voice recordings.
At the end of the meeting, the key thing is the actionable item (todo) -- say that out aloud. "So, my to-dos are this, that and this one. And you will be handling the other, and another." Say it a few times or even a few more times while adding to your calendar/notes (digital or otherwise) after the meeting.
Most of the times, you never needed to take the entire meeting's notes.