Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
notes.andymatuschak.org
Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
1–10 of 66 posts
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#2I don’t often take notes, especially since I listen to a lot of audiobooks while walking, but I am not sure it’s ‘good’ that I don’t take notes. I’ve often felt like there were concepts I’d like to discuss or go further with later but without notes I just plow into the next set of thoughts. I guess even with notes I often do that, but I think perhaps a practice of more collaborative or public-ish expression would be easier with a more robust note-distill-synthesize practice, which is what led me into taking a class on note-taking (Building a Second Brain) though I’m still not enough in practice to see a big impact on my output.
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#3I think this idea applies to diet, fitness, career coaching, basically all forms of self improvement (getting career advice from someone who became a career coach is especially ironic).
I think there are benefits for some people in having a system, or having external motivation. My wife goes to a personal trainer for example, which I'd reflexively say is unnecessary but I've seen how it makes her stay focused on what she's doing, even if it's mostly just a list that you could get on the internet. It's the same thing for writing advice. It will work for some, be pointless for others, and draw in a wider group than it actually works for because some people are expecting a silver bullet.
That said, there are definitely worse things to try
Just to add, I like to take notes, but only scribbles for the sake of noting the key points. I rarely if ever look back at them, and when I do they are mostly illegible, but I find the act of noting helps me remember. It was the same in university.
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#4I think this idea applies to diet, fitness, career coaching, basically all forms of self improvement (getting career advice from someone who became a career coach is especially ironic). I think there are benefits for some people in having a system, or having external motivation. My wife goes to a personal trainer for example, which I'd reflexively say is unnecessary but I've seen how it makes her stay focused on what…
Yes, everyone is unique and needs to find out what works for them. When my fiancee and I went to the beach this morning, she claimed she missed her swimming group class because she gets a better workout with them versus when she's by herself.
For me, I definitely get a better workout with a group that pushes me to the edge but I don't need a group to get a good workout
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#5Very refreshing to see content like this. Personally I'm VERY sick of the whole productivity hustle and the people who spout it.
They prey on insecurities, make you feel like unless you're employing some kind of productivity system, you're cheating yourself or your employer. In reality however the very systems they tout steal away more productivity to maintain the productivity system itself than any benefit for actual work derived from it. I've found this true everything from pomodoro to note taking to Anki flashcards etc etc.
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#6I love taking notes but I never write about the process I use. Writing notes helps adds clarity to my thoughts. Without it, they move a zillion miles per second and when i try to recall something later it just is a blur.
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#7[deleted]
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#8I’ve always found it amusing that when I was in school/grad school, I was reading a lot of material that I didn’t usually find interesting, so it would have been valuable to know how to take good notes. I never even heard of a course in the subject of note-taking so I never learned any of these methods you hear about. Nowadays I only read or otherwise consume stuff that I find interesting for its own sake so my retention is vastly better, and I have no real need for such systems anyway.
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#9Best model of this I have is math professors from undergrad. I never saw any notes on their desks during office hours. Just pages and pages of scribbles everywhere, crumped on the ground, in the trash bin, etc. I remember asking one how he retained any of the info when reading dense papers, and he said "Oh I never do. I just figure out the details again each time and eventually it sticks."
Re: Those writing extensively on note-writing rarely have a serious context of use
#10I think this idea applies to diet, fitness, career coaching, basically all forms of self improvement (getting career advice from someone who became a career coach is especially ironic). I think there are benefits for some people in having a system, or having external motivation. My wife goes to a personal trainer for example, which I'd reflexively say is unnecessary but I've seen how it makes her stay focused on what…
Yes, everyone is unique and needs to find out what works for them. When my fiancee and I went to the beach this morning, she claimed she missed her swimming group class because she gets a better workout with them versus when she's by herself. For me, I definitely get a better workout with a group that pushes me to the edge but I don't need a group to get a good workout
Group workouts can definitely push you (well me anyway) harder than individual. I like running alone, but I used to occasionally run on a track with a friend that was faster than me, and would end up going way harder than I could possibly make myself on my own.
I suppose the analogy to note taking is something like you're better finding someone to discuss the material with, because it can help you internalize better (with the caveat that at least for math, I have to have some decent understanding before I can discuss a topic or the discussion ends up not helping)