If Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks were the GPS of his genius, consider this: how well is your note-taking compass guiding you towards your intellectual treasure?
Not all journeys are made equal, and often, the missteps and pitfalls that beset us on our quest for knowledge aren’t in the vast, unexplored territories of space, but rather in the everyday tools we wield — pens, paper, and keystrokes included.
Welcome, navigators of the knowledge ocean, to today’s blog post, where we’ll be diving headfirst into the foamy waves of note-taking mistakes.
Yep, we’re talking about those pesky little blunders that can turn your note-based nirvana into a chaotic jumble of, well, squiggles on a page. It’s time we gave these slip-ups the attention they deserve and showed them who’s boss once and for all.
This is a beacon for those who’ve ever found themselves peering into the depths of their notes folder, bewildered and convinced that they were, in fact, trying to decode the Voynich manuscript.
For the intrepid learners who’ve ever spent more time rifling through disjointed sticky notes and deciphering illegible handwriting than actually absorbing the golden nuggets of wisdom they were trying to capture in the first place. Oh yes, this one is written for you.
I’m about to lift the curtain on the four most common note-taking errors that have been quietly sabotaging your productivity and deep, focused work. But wait, we won’t stop there. Oh no. Not only will we expose these crafty culprits, but we’ll also arm you with all the notes tips and strategies you need to banish them back into the shadowy abyss from whence they came. After all, forewarned is forearmed, right?
Consider this blog post your personalized map to better note-taking practices, your antidote to the chaos, and your key to unlocking the true power of your mind. It’s a rollicking ride through the realms of cognitive science, time management, and, of course, the subtle art of jotting things down.
And before you wonder, no worry, you won’t need an archaeology degree to comprehend it — just a keen mind, an open heart, and a willingness to navigate away from those well-trodden paths of error.
Before we dive in, a disclaimer: this isn’t about achieving note-taking perfection. Perfection is as elusive as a perfectly symmetrical snowflake and just as unnecessary. Rather, it’s about maximizing your learning potential, streamlining your productivity, and making your intellectual journey a smoother, more rewarding ride.
So buckle up, knowledge adventurers. We’re about to embark on a quest that will change your note-taking game forever. Yes, there might be dragons to slay, rough seas to cross, and riddles to solve, but by the end of this blog post, you’ll emerge on the other side — not just a note-taker but a master of your learning journey. Ready? Let’s get started, shall we?
Whether you’re a college student, a professional, or a homebody, most of us occasionally come across a setting in which we want to take notes effectively. It could be for anything from jotting down notes for song lyrics or a writing project, to study notes for a course or podcast, to collecting your thoughts on an idea for a new business venture.
But if you’ve ever tried your hand at taking notes, you know: Good note-taking is a skill. And no matter how good you are, there’s always some important information that falls through the cracks, lost forever to the monsters of time-sensitivity and limited memory banks.
How do you respond to the rising pressure, and perhaps panic, that sets in when your class notes seem inadequate for the task? Do you feverishly try to scribble everything down and risk missing out on key points from the speaker, or do you focus on bending all of your attention towards engaging with the speaker and hope that your memory retains some sound bytes?
No matter who you are or what context you’re using note-taking for, you’re probably fully aware that not all notes are created equal. There are better and worse ways of going about it, and the worse ways can result in a lot of wasted time with nothing much gained. But if you feel like your notes are failing you, don’t throw in the towel just yet! There are plenty of ways to improve your approach.
In fact, you have all of the potential at your fingertips to single-handedly turn yourself into a note-taking aficionado who will wow all of your friends and colleagues with your newfound abilities and all of the benefits that come with good note-taking.
The Importance of Taking Clear and Effective Notes
Now, first things first. You may be wondering what the point of taking notes even is—how, exactly, are a pen and a sheet of paper going to help you navigate the rolling swells of a maelstrom of information?
Surely you need an army to entrench against such a foe! Don’t fret, fellow travelers. The pen is mightier than the sword, and there is more to good note-taking than meets the eye.
Comprehension
Good notes provide a host of benefits to both subjects and their authors. For the duration of the lecture, presentation, class or meeting that you are attending, the act of taking notes will keep you listening and actively engaged in the content, ever endeavoring to adequately capture it on your pristine page.
Distractions will stand no chance when you hone in on what’s truly important to you: the art of mastering the subject at hand, with nothing but your pen and the power of your mind.
Note-taking allows you to identify and highlight the key concepts, themes, important points, and big ideas that the speaker discusses. By recreating their presentation on paper, you will be able to clearly see its overall structure and supporting points, which will make it much easier to absorb and understand.
Compared to your non-note-taking peers, this element alone will stand you on the shoulders of metaphorical giants as you reach for greater and greater heights of success.
By actively engaging with the course materials and intimately working with its structure, your ability to pull patterns, links, connections, references, comparisons, and other relationships out of the mire of information will skyrocket—until you are a veritable productivity machine systematically pulling golden insights out of reams and pages of data.
If you want to immediately enhance your ability to navigate information as it is being handed to you, effective note-taking is the skill for you.
Retention Rates
But if you think that these are the only cognitive benefits of note-taking, think again! Not only does the practice of taking notes improve your ability to focus your attention, organize and analyze data, and make connections — what is called by cognitive scientists “generative processing” — but it also enhances your brain’s ability to retrieve information from your memory banks.
You will also be able to wade into large pools of information with the confidence that you will be able to prioritize and summarize with the best of them.
Life Hacks
Time management will become a trusty sidekick rather than a domineering overlord making constant demands on your schedule. That’s right, through an effective note-taking method, you can make time work for you.
Don’t believe me? Just think about how much time you spend trying to decipher your own scribbles or frantically leafing through your textbook before an exam, wondering what on earth you’ve even learned this semester. Good notes are not just the most effective way; they are also efficient and will streamline your study process.
Not only is note-taking good for your academic career and personal growth — it’s a life skill that’s easily transferable to other realms of your admirable existence. By mastering the art of jotting things down, you can then apply this skill set to any realm in your life that you desire to notate, be it inspiration from the cooking channel or a brand new idea for a home project.
You may indeed find yourself unleashing this dragon of productivity left and right, glorying in its power to single-handedly impose order onto chaos and transform confusion into clarity.
Your communication style will certainly thank you for your investment into note-taking, as the ability to identify main points, summarize, and organize thoughts will come in handy every time you speak to another person. You may quickly find yourself more articulate than ever before, and with an evolved set of critical thinking skills ready to bend toward any outlet you so desire.
Last but certainly not least, taking clear, concise, and comprehensive notes will set you up for success when you return for a study session. Reviewing will be a breeze when all of the information you need is right at your fingertips, in a format that is legible, logical, and even enjoyable to peruse. That’s right, good notes can turn the drudgery of studying into a sheer pleasure.
You Can Build Better Note-Taking Habits
You may be thinking that this all sounds well and good for those who are gifted at organization, but maybe chaos is your natural state of being! What then, about chronological order, you may ask? Maybe taking good notes is an impossible task.
Well, dear reader, I’m here to tell you to shove that despair back into the pit where it belongs. Note-taking is a skill that everyone can learn if they’re just willing to put in the effort. All you need is the right mindset and the right tools, and you will be amazed at how quickly you can learn to turn chaos into order.
Start by adopting a can-do attitude. Because truly, you can do it! You are intelligent and capable, and you won’t let this get the best of you. Set aside your doubts for a moment and truly give it your best shot, and you will come out the other side with a new knack for note-taking, trust me.
Because really, the biggest factor in whether your notes fail you or help you succeed is technique. C’mon on, you know it’s true! Just like a ship at sea, you simply won’t be able to get your bearings — much less navigate to anywhere ideal — if you don’t have the proper tools to orient yourself.
And there are two sides to that coin: there are the positive attributes of good note-taking skills that you want most students to employ, and there are common mistakes that you want to avoid making. We are now going to turn our attention to the latter, because defense is the best offense! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, drum roll, please!
Common Note-Taking Mistakes
There are, of course, plenty of things that could go wrong when taking notes. But don’t be discouraged, because only a handful will have any sort of lasting impact on the overall effectiveness of your note-taking method. Just keep your eyes on these pesky little details, and you will find your note-taking status quo entering the realm of quite respectable — quite respectable, indeed.
Mistake #1: Not Listening
I think we can all agree that it’s hard to hear anything when you’re not paying close attention and listening. In a note-taking setting, this can be problematic in multiple ways. First, perhaps you struggle to keep your attention on the speaker. Distractions drift through your mind like the smell of bacon on the breeze.
Ironically, another way to miss what is being said is to pay too much attention to what you’re writing. I know, sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? But we’ve all been there. Sometimes you’re too busy feverishly copying the speaker’s words to actually pay close attention to what they’re saying.
You may walk away from a lecture with a stack of notes but no clear idea of what the content actually was, much less be able to explain the main concepts and their supporting points.
To overturn the latter scenario, try to use this ratio: spend 75% of your time listening to the speaker and then spending only 25% of your time writing things down. If you find this ratio alarming and wonder how you could possibly get down all of the important details with only 25% writing, you may have to change how you think about your notes in general.
Ask yourself, what is the purpose of taking notes? I can hear the wheels in your head turning, but since I can’t hear your answer, let me tell you what I’ve found through all of my research on this topic. The purpose of taking notes is to collect and store relevant information in an easily-accessible and easily-reviewable format. Now you might find that word “relevant” to be the stickler here, because how do you know what is or is not relevant?
Spend 75% of your time listening to the speaker, and you might have a better idea. Good notes are not a transcription of the speaker’s every word; instead, they are a paraphrase, in your own words, of the key concepts and their supporting points.
Writing everything down will actually make your notes less effective because you will have to wade through all of this information all over again in your review process. Learning to identify and prioritize information comes with a bit of practice, but it all starts with active listening.
Active listening is also the first step to comprehension, but to talk about that, we must first discuss the second common mistake that we’ll be covering in this article — and it may be an interesting one that you didn’t expect.
Mistake #2: Not Asking Questions
There are multiple facets when it comes to fully engaging with a topic. The first is active listening, which, as we have already discussed, is a crucial first step to creating a better understanding and gathering information in the first place.
The act of writing down notes is another form of engagement, as noted, particularly when thinking through the course material. In fact, handwriting has been proven to engage more parts of the brain than typing notes on a keyboard, which results in an increase in the handwriter’s ability to retain that information in their working memory.
But regardless of whether you’re typing on a keyboard or relying on your trusty pen, taking notes gets your mind actively working with the material at hand. Because in order to write effective notes, you must think through the subject matter to identify key themes, prioritize which specific information is important enough to retain, clarify and paraphrase these things in your own words in a way that makes sense on the page.
But there is a third form of engagement that will bring your mind to complete attention and running at full speed, and that is asking meaningful questions. Forming queries is an art in and of itself, and can greatly improve your understanding and grasp of the topic and the overall cohesiveness of your notes.
If there are any gaps whatsoever in your deeper understanding of the material, don’t be afraid to ask your professor for clarification. Most speakers love to see that their audience is thinking through the topic the same way, and, as the saying goes, if you have a question, it’s pretty likely that there’s another person in the audience with the same question. Be bold and pursue answers to that line of inquiry like a detective hot on the trail of truth, and your notes will be so much better for it.
But if you’re still feeling self-conscious about the caliber of your questions, think about it this way: when it comes to taking good notes, it doesn’t even matter how intelligent or seemingly basic your questions are.
Having an inquisitive orientation towards the subject matter is enough to get the brain juices flowing. And the more engaged you are with the topic, the more completely you will understand it, absorb it, and retain it — for the night and tomorrow and always.
Mistake #3: Poor Structure or Organization
Effective note-taking can take several hours’ worth of information and distill it into an easy-to-follow yet comprehensive set of key concepts and supporting points. Structure and organization are the tools that insert a method to the madness, and will single-handedly turn your overwhelming notes into a single thing of beauty and grace.
And that’s really the crux of the matter when it comes to formatting: if you can’t make heads or tails of your own notes, then it’s safe to say that they’re lacking a clear layout. Finding a way to organize them in a meaningful manner will transform them from zero to hero, and you alongside!
Structure refers to formatting tools and techniques, such as the use of headings, subheadings, and bullet points. Inserting this structured method into your notes and diagrams will immediately make it easier for your eye to scan them, looking for specific pieces of data. Plus, they impose prioritization on the ocean of information by pulling out the key concepts and letting the lesser details fall accordingly.
Other helpful aspects of structure include the use of color, abbreviations, symbols, charts and acronyms. Feel free to underline, circle, or star information that is particularly poignant, and develop your own color code to make these elements signify different things.
Add page numbers and keep your notes short and concise, just include the critical information and important ideas and not a dot more — unless, of course, we’re talking about long summaries! Always include a summary section; they’re proven to help you retain information.
Sentence length is another good thing to keep in mind. Though it might seem counter-intuitive, it truly is not crucial for you to write in complete sentences or to put a period at the end of each bullet point. Rather than wasting time and attention on writing paragraphs of lengthy text, keep it short and to the point.
Feel free to drop definite articles like “the” and “a,” along with any other filler or miscellaneous words. Remember that you’re writing notes here, not a novel. Paraphrase is your friend, and will make your notes that much easier to review in the future.
Organization refers to the broader strategy you use to arrange the information itself. Luckily, there are plenty of different note-taking methods and styles that were developed to make your handwritten notes concise, structured, and comprehensive.
And there’s an effective method for just about every situation, because some strategies work better in some scenarios than others. Perhaps consider trying a different method for different assignments, and then reflect on what worked and what didn’t.
It’s important to start your preparation before you even begin class, and choosing a method is a great place to start. Here are a few examples that you can play around with:
- Outlining method: By exclusively using headings, subheadings, and bullet points, the Outlining method organizes information into a hierarchy of priority, starting with key concepts and then listing smaller and smaller details. The result is a clear example of logical sequencing.
- Boxing method: Use boxes or frames to group sets of ideas or data together. You can even put boxes inside of boxes to include details, images, or subtopics. Using boxes and other visual representations of organization will be particularly appealing to visual learners and creatives.
- Cornell method: Divide your paper into three sections. The smaller column on the left is dedicated to key words, clues, and questions, while the larger column on the right is where the bulk of your notes belong. Leave a section at the bottom of the page for summary notes.
- Mind Mapping method: There are many different kinds of mind map, but these different methods have the following structure in common: Write the key topic in the center of your page and draw a circle around it. From there, draw lines branching outward and connecting to more circles, in which you can include subtopics and further information. The result will look like a web of interconnected concepts.
If your structure or organization is poor, then your notes will be virtually ineffective. But as you can see, there’s plenty that you can do to transform your notes — and your success!
Mistake #4: Infrequent Reviewing
Notes are next to useless if you toss them aside and never look at them. It doesn’t matter how thorough or pretty they are if they never again see the light of day. If retention is note-taking’s steak and potatoes, then review is what will earn it Michelin’s three stars. Yet note-takers often forget to review notes, and this can be a fatal mistake for your productivity goals.
Why is review so important? I’m glad you asked! The brain can only hold so much information in its working memory, aka the storage banks that are immediately accessible to us at any time. That’s where notes come in, because they serve as a sort of external hard drive where we can store additional information that we can reference at any time.
The act of taking notes directly aids in comprehension and retention, as we’ve discussed. But even learners who frequently take detailed notes can only remember a small portion of them.
That’s because new information is stored in our short-term memory, and for the vast majority of that information, it’s only through repetition that it will be transferred to our long-term memory and truly be ours for instant-recall. And the more complex the information, the more effort we need to invest in helping it make that transition happen.
In fact, many study experts suggest that note-takers start the reviewing process immediately after the session ends. According to research, college and university students who take this approach are able to recall 75% of what they were taught that day, whereas students in courses who didn’t immediately review their notes retained less than 50%. Nine weeks after the class lectures, the retention rates of the students who didn’t study dropped to 20%.
Memory expert and psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus’s “Forgetting Curve” maps this phenomenon in visual form. The more repetition we put into retaining a piece of information, the stronger it becomes in our memory — and the less effort we put in, the faster it flees.
Reviewing information the day we receive it helps to cement it better in our minds, and the more we review over the following days and weeks, the longer and stronger it will stay with us.
In that first review, look over your notes and make sure that you’ve included everything you need for future reviews. If there are any comments, gaps or questions left unanswered, it’s easiest to address and revise or fix those when the session is fresh in your mind.
After that first review, schedule more study sessions to revisit your notes. Each time you do, it will stick in your memory a bit longer — meaning that the date for each review session can be pushed out a bit farther than the previous one. And eventually, you’ll find that you don’t even need your notes anymore (but do keep them around, anyway!).
In addition to rereading your notes, it can also be beneficial to rewrite them. Writing engages more parts of your brain than just reading, and will improve your retention rates by as much as double. It can be time-consuming, that’s true, but that extra time also gives you a chance to really think critically about the topic. And the more you practice this, the better your brain will get at processing information efficiently.
Self-testing is also an important element of review. Use flash cards, ask a friend, teacher or family member to test you, download a self-testing app to create your own quizzes, or see how much of the lesson or topic you can teach a friend.
For better or for worse, memory takes a lot of effort to build. But being smart about how you review stuff will actually skyrocket the effectiveness of your note-taking, and that, dear readers, is well worth putting in the extra hard work and effort.
Conclusion
Let’s just take a moment to review what we’ve discussed — because, as you hopefully recall, reviewing immediately after a session will start the process of firmly establishing it in your memory!
First, we made a case for why taking notes is a good idea in the first place. And as far as cases go, the evidence is strongly in support of this one; the benefits of effective note-taking are deep and far-reaching. Just to repeat some of the highlights, note-taking helps you identify key themes and ideas and better understand how each piece of information fits into the greater tapestry of the main topic itself.
Your comprehension will bloom like daffodils in the spring, and your ability to work with the information and draw further connections and insights will be boosted precipitously.
Effective note-taking also enhances your time management and communication skills. And of course, it gives you the tools you need to better commit all of this valuable information to memory. Indeed, you have all of the resources and capability to become a superb note-taker, and in so doing, you can make the world of knowledge your oyster.
However, there are some common mistakes that note-takers can fall into that will hinder the effectiveness of their notes, and can even negate their value and usefulness entirely. Jot down each note-taking mistake so you can be sure to avoid it, for the sake of better capturing the material and getting better grades. These are some of the biggest mistakes you can make, but luckily, you can prepare ahead of time and avoid all of them, with just a little extra work!
The first mistake we discussed was not actively listening to the presentation. Whether that be through daydreaming or over-highlighting the content, the result remains the same: you can’t remember what you never heard. Note-takers are advised to spend 75% of the presentation listening to the speaker, and the other 25% writing notes.
Active listening is the first step to active learning; it helps you make the most important information your own, which is key to taking ownership of the topic you’ve set out to master. If you’re not listening, you won’t be able to get excited or interested in the lecture’s explanation and you won’t be able to correct any misunderstandings you have. You must understand, students must be constantly listening, or else things will get confusing really fast.
The second mistake that note-takers commonly make is not asking questions. Inquiry is the glue that holds the pieces of an underlying concept together in your mind’s eye. By approaching the subject matter like a detective looking for clues and inferences, you will think through the subject on a much deeper level and really bring it to life for yourself. If you don’t ask questions, the material will always remain passive, limp, and static.
The third common note taking mistake that we discussed is poor structure or organization. Formatting your notes in a way that is clear and easy to follow makes them useful for further reference, which is the entire point of having a set of notes in the first place.
You can use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and a myriad of symbols to structure the material in a way that is orderly, and you can use tested note-taking templates — such as the Boxing method or Charting method — to help you organize the information in a meaningful and effective way.
The fourth and final mistake that we commonly see note-takers make in school is forgetting or neglecting to adequately review their notes. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the work stops when the presentation ends and you put your notebook and pen down — in order to truly master the challenging subject matter, you must put in the time to transition that information from your short-term to your long-term memory. Experts suggest starting the reviewing process immediately after the session, as studies have shown that that practice instantly boosts learners’ retention rates.
And now we have come to the conclusion of this epic journey into the depths of common note-taking mistakes. You have faced the dragons of the deep, and emerged victorious! The benefit of good note-taking strategies is clear; it’s a habit worth making. Start in advance of beginning your next course in order to practice, and discover the advantage that can be yours to gain within just a sitting or two. Now you have the tools you need to go forth and conquer any topic you set your mind to.