Whether you're looking to do well in school or reach the top in your professional career, effective note-taking is a valuable skill for retaining, remembering, recalling and recalling information. If you follow these simple steps and tips, you'll not only learn how to take notes, but you'll also learn how to take notes that can help you apply your knowledge and save material.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Getting Ready
Step 1. Gather materials for taking notes
This may sound trivial, but it's important to have note-taking materials neatly stored and ready to use before a class, meeting or course begins.
- If you take notes using paper and pen, make sure to bring an A4-sized notebook with lots of blank pages and two different colored pens. If you are using a laptop, make sure your laptop battery is fully charged and your seat is near a power outlet.
- If you wear glasses, make sure you take them with you in case your teacher or professor writes important information on the board. If you bring your glasses, be sure to take a small microfiber cloth with you so you can clean your glasses if needed. Also remember to sit in a part of the room where you can see and hear the speaker clearly.
Step 2. Enter the room ready
Before you enter a class, lecture hall, or meeting room, be sure to review your notes from the previous meeting. This will get you catching up and ready to continue from the last note.
- If you are asked to read a book in preparation for a particular class, make sure you do so. This will help you understand any themes, concepts or ideas your teacher or lecturer might present in class. It is a good idea to outline a section, article or chapter from a book before taking a class. Write your description on one side of the paper so you can add class notes on the other side.
- Remember the old saying "If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail".
Step 3. Be an active listener
When taking notes, many people make the mistake of simply writing down every word, without really understanding what they are hearing.
- This is a mistake. If you don't try to understand the topic while you're in class, you're missing out on valuable learning opportunities.
- Therefore, you should try to absorb the information the first time you hear it, so you don't have to try hard or risk confusion as you review your notes.
Step 4. Take notes by hand
While it's practical to take notes on a laptop, research conducted by Princeton University shows that people who take notes by hand can retain information better.
- This is thought to be because laptop users tend to type what they hear word for word, without actually processing in the brain what was said.
- On the other hand, note takers cannot write fast enough to accurately copy each word, so they are forced to read longer material to retrieve the most important and relevant information.
- In conclusion, you should take notes by hand whenever you can.
Step 5. Don't be afraid to ask questions
When you come across something you don't understand, don't just write it down and convince yourself to think about it later-ask the teacher or professor for an explanation.
- Think about it-if you find something confusing at the time, you'll be twice as confused when reviewing your notes later.
- Don't be afraid to ask the teacher or professor to repeat their explanation-especially if you think they said something important.
Method 2 of 3: Make the Best Notes possible
Step 1. Focus on key words and concepts
The most important change step you can make to improve your note-taking skills is to focus on only writing down key concepts and words.
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Know the most relevant information.
Write down the main words or phrases that are most relevant to the topic at hand-things like dates, names, theories and definitions. Only the most relevant detailed information needs to be entered. Get rid of all the extra words and unnecessary details-if that's what you want, you can read a printed book.
- Think about what you want to save. Why did you take this class? Why did you attend the seminar? Why did your boss send you to a conference? Even if your instincts tell you to write down everything you hear or see, remember that you're taking notes in order to learn something from them-you're not writing a novel.
- Prioritize any "new" information. Don't waste time writing down information you already know-it's a waste of time for you and a waste of your time. Focus on writing down any new information that hasn't been studied before-this will make your notes very useful.
Step 2. Use the "question, answer, proof" method
This is a very effective way of taking notes, as it will keep you reading the material as you write it down and will allow you to explain the topic in your own words. The technique of paraphrasing information has been shown to help students understand and retain memories of material more effectively.
- Instead of copying information sentence by sentence, listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and try to understand the material. Once you've done that, formulate your notes into a series of questions based on the material, then fill in the answers yourself.
- For example, if the question is "What is the main theme of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?", the answer could be "More than a tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet is about the consequences of holding grudges."
- Then behind this answer, you can provide evidence of your conclusion by referring to specific examples from the article. This strategy allows you to record all relevant information, in a concise and easy-to-read order.
Step 3. Use shorthand
On average a student writes 1/3 words per second, while the average speaker speaks at 2/3 words per second. Therefore, developing your own shorthand system can help you write more efficiently and avoid falling behind.
- Try writing things like "ak" for will, "bs" for can and "d/" for with. Write the word "and" with a plus sign. Also try to abbreviate long words that occur frequently throughout the course or course-for example, instead of writing "popular sovereignty" 25 times throughout history, write "ked pop."
- Of course, it's very important that you be able to interpret your own shorthand later-if you think you're going to get into trouble, try writing the key on the back of your note. You can look back and write long versions of the words after the lesson.
- If the speaker is still speaking too fast for you even after you've done shorthand, consider bringing a tape recorder to your next meeting-this will allow you to listen a second time and fill in any gaps in your notes.
Step 4. Make your notes pleasing to the eye
You won't feel excited to go back to looking and studying your notes if they look messy, untidy, and hard to read, so it's important to keep them looking good! Here are some tips for making good-looking notes:
- Always start with a new page. Your notes will be easier to read if you start your notes from a new, blank page for each new lesson or topic. Write the date in the upper right corner and write only on one side of the page, especially if you have a heavy-ink pen.
- Make sure your writing is easy to read. Taking notes will be a waste if you can't read them back at a later date! No matter how quickly you write, make sure your writing is small, neat and easy to read, and avoid cursive writing, if possible.
- Use wide margins. Line each page with a pen and ruler, so you have a wide margin on the left side of the page. This will prevent the page from becoming too full and will give you room to write down additional information as you review your notes.
- Use symbols and diagrams. Symbols such as arrows, dots and squares, as well as diagrams, graphs, and other image aids are often great ways to relate and remember key concepts, especially if you are a visual learner.
Step 5. Color code your notes
Many people find that adding color to their notes can make the information more readable and easier to remember.
- This is because color stimulates the creative side of your brain, making your notes look more interesting and thus easier to remember. Color coding helps you to associate colors with memory, allowing you to recall the contents of your notes with minimal effort.
- Try using different colored pens for different parts of your notes-for example, you might write questions in red, definitions in blue and conclusions in green.
- You can also use colored markers to mark important words, dates and definitions. But don't overdo it-lest you focus too much on coloring your notes instead of actually studying.
Step 6. Make notes based on the printed book
After the lesson or course ends, you may want to supplement your notes with information from a printed book. Taking notes from a printed book is another skill worth mastering.
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Review material:
Before you go straight to reading the material, review the material first to understand the essence of the discussion. Read the introduction and conclusion, headings and subheadings, and the first and last sentences of each paragraph. Also look at graphs, illustrations or diagrams.
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Read the material actively:
Now go back to the beginning of the material and read it carefully from beginning to end. When you've finished reading the paragraph, go back to the beginning and mark the most important words, concepts, or quotes. Look for visual cues in the book itself-things like bold or italics and the use of color or dots are often used to mark important passages.
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Make a note:
After you have read the text carefully, go over it and make notes of the information you marked. Try not to copy the material in full sentences-this will just be a waste of time-and write in your own words, if possible.
Method 3 of 3: Reviewing Your Notes
Step 1. Review your notes later
Reviewing your notes after class, or later in the day will help you retain information much more effectively. You don't have to study it very carefully-just take 15-20 minutes to re-read it every night.
- Fill in the gaps. Take your review time to include any additional information you can remember from the lesson or course.
- Make a summary. Another effective way to keep your notes memorable is to summarize the information contained in your notes at the bottom of the page.
Step 2. Test yourself
Test yourself for understanding the material by going over your notes and trying to explain the topic to yourself-aloud or silently.
- See how many details you can remember, then read the notes again to review any information you may have missed.
- Explain the material to a friend. Teaching or explaining material to a friend is a great way to test whether you understand the topic thoroughly, and whether your notes cover the topic in full.
Step 3. Memorize your notes
You'll realize the benefits of taking good notes when it's time to take an exam and you'll have to memorize all of the material. If you've been consistently reviewing your notes for 20-30 minutes every night, you'll find that remembering becomes a lot easier. Here are popular memory techniques you can try:
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Sentence-by-sentence method:
If you have to memorize a lot of writing, one good technique is to read the first sentence a few times, then try repeating it aloud without looking at the page. Read the second sentence a few times, then try repeating the first and second sentences aloud, without looking at the page. Keep doing this until you can repeat the entire text without looking at the page.
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Story method:
This method does this by turning the information you have to memorize into a simple story that is easy to remember. For example, if you want to remember the first 3 elements of the periodic table (hydrogen, helium, lithium), you can use the following story "(H)ane and (He)ri go (Li)vacation". The story doesn't have to make sense-in fact, the more ridiculous, the better.
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Mnemonic Tool:
Using mnemonic tools is a great way to remember lists of words in a specific order. To use the mnemonic method, simply take the first letter of each word you need to memorize and make short sentences starting with those letters. For example, to remember the EGBDF scale, remember "Every Good Boy Does Fine".
- For more detailed instructions on memorization techniques, check out this article.
Tips
- If the speaker repeats the explanation more than twice, chances are, it is an important matter and deserves attention.
- If you are reading a book for English literature, make sure you have sticky notes, as they may not be allowed to be crossed out. When taking notes, make sure you write in each sticky note how the reader feels when the author uses a certain type of language. The author always uses parables, especially in Shakespeare's plays. Take notes and enter your personal response.
- As you take notes, make sure you underline any important words that may come up on the exam.
- Be sure to have separate notebooks or pages for each subject, and don't forget to add labels.
- Write notes in different words. This will help the conversation enter your mind.
- If your school allows, you can use a variety of bright colored markers. That way, when you see those colors, you'll want to see them again. But don't mark everything with a marker! You are not participating in a coloring contest.
- Take advantage of software, such as Evernote or Microsoft Office OneNote, to organize notes.
- You can also record course content in your classes using various applications, if your school or college allows it.
- Although computers make it easier for us to take notes, try to take notes by hand. Research has shown that handwritten notes can help you remember effectively (as well as increasing your writing speed).
- Make sure you can understand your own notes for test and exam preparation.
Warning
- Don't be distracted by anyone other than the speaker.
- Bring separate sheets or sticky notes in addition, and number each sheet, to mark the corresponding sheets.
- Check with your teacher or lecturer before turning on the recording device.
