How to Take Smart Notes
by Sönke Ahrens
Studies on highly successful people have proven again and again that success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place (cf. Neal et al. 2012; Painter et al. 2002; Hearn et al. Whenever he read something, he would write the bibliographic information on one side of a card and make brief notes about the content on the other side (Schmidt 2013, 170). These notes would end up in the bibliographic slip-box.
Studies on highly successful people have proven again and again that success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place (cf. Neal et al. 2012; Painter et al. 2002; Hearn et al.
Whenever he read something, he would write the bibliographic information on one side of a card and make brief notes about the content on the other side (Schmidt 2013, 170). These notes would end up in the bibliographic slip-box.
Permanent notes, on the other hand, are written in a way that can still be understood even when you have forgotten the context they are taken from.
Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, never by looking at the note in isolation.
The slip-box is designed to present you with ideas you have already forgotten, allowing your brain to focus on thinking instead of remembering.
"Studies on highly successful people have proven again and again that success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place (cf. Neal et al. 2012; Painter et al. 2002; Hearn et al."
"Whenever he read something, he would write the bibliographic information on one side of a card and make brief notes about the content on the other side (Schmidt 2013, 170). These notes would end up in the bibliographic slip-box."
"Permanent notes, on the other hand, are written in a way that can still be understood even when you have forgotten the context they are taken from."
"Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, never by looking at the note in isolation."
"The slip-box is designed to present you with ideas you have already forgotten, allowing your brain to focus on thinking instead of remembering."
"Writing is, without dispute, the best facilitator for thinking, reading, learning, understanding and generating ideas we have."
"Fleeting notes are only useful if you review them within a day or so and turn them into proper notes you can use later."
- →Whenever he read something, he would write the bibliographic information on one side of a card and make brief notes about the content on the other side (Schmidt 2013, 170). These notes would end up in the bibliographic slip-box.
- →Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, never by looking at the note in isolation.
- →The slip-box is designed to present you with ideas you have already forgotten, allowing your brain to focus on thinking instead of remembering.
- →Fleeting notes are only useful if you review them within a day or so and turn them into proper notes you can use later.
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