How to Take Smart Notes

• The quality of your writing and thought is dependent on the rigor and structure of your notetaking before you need to write the paper, blog post, etc… or apply thinking from your research.
  • “To sum it up: The quality of a paper and the ease with which it is written depends more than anything on what you have done in writing before you even made a decision on the topic. But if that is true (and I wholeheartedly believe it is), and the key to successful writing lies in the preparation,”
• Simplifying the structure of taking notes, organizing todos, etc…allows you to focus on the actual task instead of the process by which it gets done.
  • “If you can trust the system, you can let go of the attempt to hold everything together in your head and you can start focusing on what is important: The content, the argument and the ideas” - “Having a clear structure to work in is completely different from making plans about something.”
• The goal of our systems should be to create new insights from existing data, research, experiences, etc…
  • “All that means is that a system is needed to keep track of the ever-increasing pool of information, which allows one to combine different ideas in an intelligent way with the aim of generating new ideas.”
    • “Most people try to reduce complexity by separating what they have into smaller stacks, piles or separate folders. They sort their notes by topics and sub-topics, which makes it look less complex, but quickly becomes very complicated.”
• We have to use our tools and systems regularly, putting everything into them so that nothing is forgotten or neglected. We also need to revisit them to make sure we are getting into the right habits.
  • “Everything needs to be taken care of, otherwise the neglected bits will nag us until the unimportant tasks become urgent. Even the best tools won’t make much of a difference if they are used in isolation. Only if they are embedded in a well-conceived working process can the tools play out their strengths. There is no point in having great tools if they don’t fit together.”
    • “And this is the other insight of David Allen: Only if you can trust your system, only if you really know that everything will be taken care of, will your brain let go and let you focus on the task at hand.”
• It’s more important to create an environment where you don’t have to exercise willpower than to use willpower.
  • “Studies on highly successful people have proven again and again that success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place”
• You absolutely have to externalize your ideas, rather that’s Twitter, a blog, etc….
  • “If there is one thing the experts agree on, then it is this: You have to externalize your ideas, you have to write. Richard Feynman stresses it as much as Benjamin Franklin. If we write, it is more likely that we understand what we read, remember what we learn and that our thoughts make sense. And if we have to write anyway, why not use our writing to build up the resources for our future publications?”
• Simple, unique ideas are the best
  • “We tend to think that big transformations have to start with an equally big idea. But more often than not, it is the simplicity of an idea that makes it so powerful (and often overlooked in the beginning).”
• Create notes that you will find easily again, not by topic.
  • “In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon it again?” - “Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, never by looking at the note in isolation.”
• Not having notes in an easy to recover system limits your thinking by time or project.
  • “without a permanent reservoir of ideas, you will not be able to develop any major ideas over a longer period of time because you are restricting yourself either to the length of a single project or the capacity of your memory.”
• You never know which ideas will stand the test of time and it’s impossible to know right away.
  • “That is why the threshold to write an idea down has to be as low as possible, but it is equally crucial to elaborate on them within a day or two.”
• [[PN: We have to work in a way that creates feedback loops that are short as possible.]]
  • “Having a learning system in place that enables feedback loops in a practical way is equally important. Being open for feedback doesn’t help very much if the only feedback you can get comes once every few months for work you have already finished.”
• Always read with an eye to connect things to ideas you’re already thinking about.
  • “After finishing the book I go through my notes and think how these notes might be relevant for already written notes in the slip-box. It means that I always read with an eye towards possible connections in the slip-box.””
• [[PN: Learning isn’t gathering knowledge, it’s connecting knowledge]].
  • “If we practice learning not as a pure accumulation of knowledge, but as an attempt to build up a latticework of theories and mental models to which information can stick, we enter a virtuous circle where learning facilitates learning.”

References: How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers Amazon

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