Ask HN: How do you take notes?

Creating a Mindmap is what works best for me.

I started on paper, but there are superb pieces of software for this as well.

iThoughts HD on iPad is excellent. Not sure if they have a desktop client. If desktop is a requirement then check out MindNode which is also very good.

I've found that learning a new (programming/scripting) language benefits from solid note taking. I'm very low tech with this: pencil and notebook.

Any time I hit something that seems both non-obvious and reasonably important, I write it down. When I make the notes clear and half-way organized, they end up being more useful than the original reference, since they're quicker to read and tailored for what I care about.

Early on in learning Objective-C, for example, I was getting caught on one wtf after another, not really grasping it. I decided to take it from the top with my notebook and jot everything interesting down in note form.

No kidding, after about ten minutes of this I looked from my notebook to my screen, where source code from an OSS OS X project was sitting, and it was like the climax from The Matrix – I, quite instantly, understood everything. Where once there were blocks of inscrutable code, now I was just reading, and comprehending, a story.

So that's great if your brain works like mine. Why is it your notes are so hard to look through?

I'm in college at the moment, taking a "Computer Systems" course. The last project involved reading a disassembled "bomb" and "defusing" it by figuring out what inputs it wanted.

Like danilocampos said, the solid state notes were the key. Having a physical copy of what was on the stack and watching it change made the assignment so much easier.

Like (it seems) most other here, I use text on paper. I write notes hierarchically, (sub)headings etc. Note that YMMV. How people remember stuff varies -- writing is how I learn.

I do the same when planning/thinking (code, todo, what to pack for a trip, etc).

I need the pen/paper because they "disappear" and don't take attention from my thoughts. It was like that all my life, until I read the rave reviews and learned Org mode in Emacs.

First, I thought "This was stupid. I've put lots of hours into learning Org mode; it would be minutes for a GUI app." Then I realized that I jotted down notes in Org mode as easily as when taking notes on paper! A big win, e.g. for backups and search.

Still, I must write notes on paper to remember facts. Org mode only works for organizing and exploring thoughts. (Too many years with a pen, probably.)

Edit: I might add: For me, the single most helpful thing to learn is to disconnect from the net.

I used to email myself links to articles and HN discussions...which got totally lost in the avalanche of email my inbox gets. I started a posterous account so I could email myself stuff like that and actually have some hope of finding it again. If I want to add some kind of commentary (aka "notes" to myself), I can add it to the email before hitting 'send'. Most of the time though, I just put in a title and link to the article and/or HN discussion -- and sometimes other specific things that led to which I want available and grouped with this stuff.

I'm sure there is lots of room for improvement over that. But, so far, for me, that's a huge improvement over my previous method.

Good luck with this.