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How to Take Smart Notes

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Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#11

Post by jacquesm »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #8
cek wrote: post #2

Interesting the first few principles are not about note-taking, but writing in general. If you believe in the power of the written word to drive clarity (e.g. as in Amazon-style 6-page narratives), these principles are gold: Principle #1: Writing is not the outcome of thinking; it is the medium in which thinking takes place Principle #2: Do your work as if writing is the only thing that matters Principle #5: Standard…

Principle #1 is too extreme. While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways. Parts like "If you want to learn and remember something long-term, you have to write it down" depends so much of context. Again, writing down does help me to commit things in memory, but for some information, audio is…

There is this tendency to reduce everything to simple rules that are simply wrong. Nuance takes more effort to put into words and to understand. And so we end up with these 'soundbite' bits of wisdom that are worse than nothing at all.

Writing something down requires clarity, and clarity can be gained in many ways. Writing something down that isn't clear yet will result in (hopefully) spotting that lack of clarity before you press 'send' or 'publish'. But that doesn't mean that all for stuff that ends up written is happening while writing it down and without a very good idea of what you are trying to communicate beforehand you'll end up with bad writing.

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#12

Post by clSTophEjUdRanu »

glenstein wrote: post #9
cek wrote: post #2

Interesting the first few principles are not about note-taking, but writing in general. If you believe in the power of the written word to drive clarity (e.g. as in Amazon-style 6-page narratives), these principles are gold: Principle #1: Writing is not the outcome of thinking; it is the medium in which thinking takes place Principle #2: Do your work as if writing is the only thing that matters Principle #5: Standard…

I confess I'm having trouble understanding what principle #2 means. I would appreciate it if someone who read that and responded with a feeling of 'yeah that definitely makes sense' could elaborate.

I took it as meaning elevate the importance of notes. Don't just haphazardly scribble, put high effort and thought into your writing.

One of my professors did this. His notes looked as if they were literally fit to print exactly as is. He would do multiple drafts of his own notes.

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#14

Post by class4behavior »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #8
cek wrote: post #2

Interesting the first few principles are not about note-taking, but writing in general. If you believe in the power of the written word to drive clarity (e.g. as in Amazon-style 6-page narratives), these principles are gold: Principle #1: Writing is not the outcome of thinking; it is the medium in which thinking takes place Principle #2: Do your work as if writing is the only thing that matters Principle #5: Standard…

Principle #1 is too extreme. While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways. Parts like "If you want to learn and remember something long-term, you have to write it down" depends so much of context. Again, writing down does help me to commit things in memory, but for some information, audio is…

You should first read the actual explanation of the first principle. It is not what you've understood it as.

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#16

Post by simonh »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #8
cek wrote: post #2

Interesting the first few principles are not about note-taking, but writing in general. If you believe in the power of the written word to drive clarity (e.g. as in Amazon-style 6-page narratives), these principles are gold: Principle #1: Writing is not the outcome of thinking; it is the medium in which thinking takes place Principle #2: Do your work as if writing is the only thing that matters Principle #5: Standard…

Principle #1 is too extreme. While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways. Parts like "If you want to learn and remember something long-term, you have to write it down" depends so much of context. Again, writing down does help me to commit things in memory, but for some information, audio is…

> While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways.

This is an article about note taking, not taking showers or going on hikes, or thinking in general, so I think trying to interpret its points outside that context is unreasonable. I think you’re imposing an unreasonably literal an exclusive interpretation of the point. The author doesn’t say it’s the _only_ medium.

On definitive tone, would the article really be clearer if it constantly went off on digressions about non-note taking contexts to every single point? I see criticisms of articles like this here all the time and it’s really tiresome. If every article linked here was full of caveats and digressions on every last point, they would be unreadable. I’ll take a succinct, opinionated expression of someone’s experience and point of view over a rambling exploration of every last facet of a topic any time.

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#17

Post by LeoTinnitus »

bfishadow wrote: post #4

Is there an app for that? Seriously.

For tasks, I use TickTick. I know it works for Windows, MacOS, and Android and it has been a godsend for me. The premmium features seem nice and I'd maybe one day pay for them but it's totally not necessary.

If you're looking for notetaking and documentation of stuff then I wouldn't really know where to start with that.

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#18

Post by jvanderbot »

Simply keeping a list of ideas has made a huge difference for me. Instead of feeling distracted by an idea when I should be focusing on something else, storing it somewhere means I can come back to it. Reviewing the idea list inspires me and gives me something to do when I'm bored. Finding articles or papers related to an idea, or capturing random thoughts about it is as easy as dumping it in a folder (eg in Dropbox ) that is numbered by the idea. Appending the number to notes or file names makes it easy to find information as well.

I read an article that inspired me to write down every idea no matter how silly, and to try to work on 5 to 10 of them at once, and to always have one that is my main driver.

Over the last 4 years, I've tallied 264. One has supported my research for 3 years (#021). One is my primary hobby (#013). Several have since been announced as results or products by major companies, validating the idea and removing the need to work on it.

---

EDIT: I cannot quickly find the article, but I'll summarize.

1. Write down 100 ideas in one sitting. Any ideas. By the end, you'll be forced to really think outside your comfort zone, since everything prior is usually your first-order thoughts.

2. Choose 10 of the most promising to work on. Work means just pay attention to, make incremental prototypes, etc.

3. Choose the top contender to throw your weight behind. Maintain a 1/10/100 ratio as you retire ideas.

---

My difference is I keep the list rolling and append new ideas as they come. I never sit down and make myself write a new batch (I should!). I'm actively working on about 5-10, in various stages of funding (I'm on a semi-soft money funding model).

EDIT 2: Found! http://blog.fogus.me/2015/11/04/the-100101-method-my-approac...

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#19

Post by ken »

simonh wrote: post #16
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Principle #1 is too extreme. While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways. Parts like "If you want to learn and remember something long-term, you have to write it down" depends so much of context. Again, writing down does help me to commit things in memory, but for some information, audio is…

> While I confirm that writing is a powerful medium for thinking, anybody writer with a shower to take or a hike to walk will tell you that thinking takes place in many ways. This is an article about note taking, not taking showers or going on hikes, or thinking in general, so I think trying to interpret its points outside that context is unreasonable. I think you’re imposing an unreasonably literal an exclusive inte…

> The author doesn’t say it’s the _only_ medium.

No, but the author does say:

"Completing these tasks is exceedingly difficult inside the confines of our heads. We need an external medium in which to perform this elaboration, and writing is the most effective and convenient one ever invented."

Re: How to Take Smart Notes

#20

Post by JshWright »

> For example, you could memorize the fact that arteries are red and veins are blue.

This is not a "fact", it's just a common convention used in medical drawings. The actual fact is that arteries are bright red, and veins are a dull red.

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