I've been using the second brain system in Roam for a while now and I really like it -- it helps me connect between topics, especially as someone with many competing interests. I will say that it only works when I remember to do it, which is a downside of any of these systems. Organization is also super important here.
Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
61–70 of 90 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#62Putting together a short-form blog post. Also, turning it into a presentation helps solidify any learnings.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#63I find everything fails eventually anki, Zettelkasten, markdown, text files, obsidian, one note, wiki, notion etc. You need to very clearly define what you want and you should know how your brain works. Some people want loose links to job memories, some people think slower but more deeply. Some people get math better than biology, and so on and so on. You should have a good idea how you learn and what you are good/ba…
> everything fails eventually
I don’t think this is true. I’ve been using a folder full of text files for 10+ years now and still use it basically the same way I did when I started (now with Ulysses rather than NValt, but few technique changes).
For me this is because I just slotted it in as the answer to the mental question “where should I write this down?” I don’t take notes because I think taking notes is good, I take notes because I want to remember things or be able to find them later.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#64If you are truly interested in sustainable methodologies, I think one area that requires acceptance is that the volume one consumes needs to be second to the volume one can take meaningful notes on. There is no sustainable notes strategy that can support randomly opening HN and skimming a random article on the front page during a break at a bus halt. If you want to take notes of what you are reading, no matter what m…
I agree with the idea of "making them your own." I often found myself forgetting about something I "learned." Simply jotting down notes on Notion or any other software is not practical. Having some context and identifying how it relates to your problems is far more critical for understanding and learning something deeply.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#65What's "sustainable" is probably subjective. To my mind, it's these characteristics: 1) being able to write or dictate from any device 2) accessible in future 3) assists with recall 4) uses formats that can be read decades later even as technology around it is constantly changing 2) and 4) make any kind of third-party service/SaaS a no go. Otherwise, you'll have to set up periodic export to a preservable format, whic…
You can use a custom sync server on desktop and android.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#66I think it’s important to have a system that works for you. For me, the key is having an organized way of capturing and organizing my notes so they are easy enough find when needed but not too much effort required at any given time (i don't want them taking up more than 1/2 hour per week).
I use Evernote which has been great because its web-based allowing access from anywhere with internet connection as well being able sync across multiple devices including mobile phones etc.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#67I find everything fails eventually anki, Zettelkasten, markdown, text files, obsidian, one note, wiki, notion etc. You need to very clearly define what you want and you should know how your brain works. Some people want loose links to job memories, some people think slower but more deeply. Some people get math better than biology, and so on and so on. You should have a good idea how you learn and what you are good/ba…
those are not techniques, those are tools.
you can use any of those tools with the wrong technique and get zero effect, or any with the right technique and get the full effect.
at the end of the day the tool is irrelevant, except in the sense that you stuck with it because you enjoyed using that tool with the right technique.
in my case, I've stuck with anki with great results. but only after i started writing my own notes and developed my personal system for them. but it's true it never used to work too well when i downloaded other people's stuff.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#68I've been using plain ASCII text files for 35 years now. Editors, word processors, and operating systems come and go, ASCII still works.
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#6920 years in academia, trying many different solutions and surprisingly I've come back to... A word doc for each project/topic. File format not going away. Sync on onedrive. Outlining. Formatting. Integration with referencing software. Already installed on any windows machine I use. And when I want to write a paper I'm in the right app already. Crazy huh. Equation editing is horrible if there are lots of them but in t…
I also learned to love word docs again after trying many tools. My word docs usually have three sections. A vocabulary section explaining the jargon. A section with the core equations and diagrams. A section that attempts to summarize-synthesize the concepts
Re: Ask HN: What is a sustainable methodology for taking notes of your learning?
#70What's "sustainable" is probably subjective. To my mind, it's these characteristics: 1) being able to write or dictate from any device 2) accessible in future 3) assists with recall 4) uses formats that can be read decades later even as technology around it is constantly changing 2) and 4) make any kind of third-party service/SaaS a no go. Otherwise, you'll have to set up periodic export to a preservable format, whic…
You can use a custom sync server on desktop and android. https://github.com/ankicommunity/anki-sync-server
Thank you! That should solve some of my concerns. I'll try it out.