Notes That Work: How Engagement Drives Retention & Value
Notetaking is a crucial step in retaining information, storing valuable concepts and also to spark new ideas.
In a world filled with an overwhelming amount of information, our ability to take effective notes has never been more critical. From classroom lectures to business meetings and personal research, we rely on our notes to capture and retain valuable insights. However, simply jotting down words on paper or in a digital notetaking app may not cut it.
To truly make your notes work for you, there’s a key ingredient: engagement.
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| Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash |
A blueprint notetaking process
Exploring the realm of notetaking unveils a vast landscape of methods and techniques, each with its unique charm. In my recent article, “My Productivity Revolution: A Story of Progress”, I delved into this world and tried my hand at various notetaking approaches, from the timeless Pen & Paper to the intricacies of folder structures and the renowned GTD method.
The methods all boils down to three fundamental steps:
- Capture: The initial step involves collecting information or thoughts as they arise.
- Process: After capturing, the data is organized and refined, making it more suitable for long-term retention.
- Store / Keep / Retain: The final part differs in execution among methods but shares a common purpose: ensuring easy access to the information when needed.
A guiding principle in notetaking, similar to the concept of brainstorming, is to separate the capturing and processing stages. This division accelerates the processing phase, allowing you to quickly capture essential information for later refinement.
During the processing phase, your information gets a makeover. It’s like turning a rough diamond into a sparkling gem, making it more than just a fleeting thought.
The “store / keep / retain” part, though it takes different forms in various methods, shares a common goal: to make finding information a breeze when you need it most.
But wait, there’s more! If you want to unlock the true power of your notes, there’s an additional step: linking and engaging. It’s where your notes come to life, connecting and interacting in a way that’s bound to spark new insights and ideas.
Why engaging with your notes is important?
Let’s kick things off with a simple question: What drives your notetaking?
In the corporate realm, notes serve as the guardians of crucial meeting insights and the architects of concise summaries for ongoing endeavors.
Meanwhile, in the academic arena, notes play a different role – they act as vaults for reference materials, stashed away for future research endeavors.
Remarkably, the art of notetaking and its subsequent journey can be a supercharger for creativity and productivity. Enter the “Zettelkasten” method, brilliantly expounded upon in the book “How to Take Smart Notes”. This method was the secret sauce behind the academic triumphs of Prof. Niklas Luhmann, a maestro of scholarly publishing.
But what’s at the heart of his remarkable success?
He wove a web of connections among his notes and actively engaged with them. This practice unleashed a torrent of fresh ideas for research and publications, far more than time allowed him to pursue.
Now, let’s pivot back to the corporate world. Notes aren’t mere information archives; they’re power tools for productivity. By immersing yourself in your notes and forging links between similar insights, you unearth synergies, sidestep redundant efforts, and supercharge your efficiency and effectiveness.
How to engage with your notes: my personal strategies
Actively engaging with notes can have various forms: it can be as simple as re-reading your notes multiple times, or applying ideas you have written down.
Summary of a summary
What I’ve personally discovered as an invaluable technique is the concept of the “summary of a summary.” Often, meeting notes tend to be quite extensive, brimming with a wealth of information. Sifting through all this data can be a time-consuming endeavor. To streamline the process, I make it a practice to distill the meeting notes into a concise summary, facilitating quicker reviews.
Such a summary can then be merged with summaries focusing on similar topics or project to form a comprehensive overview. This helps you with two things:
- memorizing the core takeaways from the meetings
- creating a big picture
And if you wish to take brevity to the next level, you can further condense these summaries into another layer of “summary of a summary.”
Linking
Isolated notes are essentially repositories of information, but their real potency arises from their interconnection.
By weaving threads between similar notes, you have the power to transmute your notes into a knowledge database. You can also call it “Second Brain”.
Linking your notes harnesses the network effect, where the value of a network experiences exponential growth, akin to elements squared. Hence, a well-linked notetaking system holds the potential to be exponentially more valuable than a straightforward folder structure.
Actively use your (curated) notes
While this might appear obvious, its value cannot be overstated: put your notes to use. Prior to a meeting, invest a brief moment in preparation by revisiting related notes. Reflect on the outcomes of previous meetings, the outstanding tasks, and your objectives for the upcoming discussion.
Conclusion
Efficiency in note-taking is not about speed or volume. It’s about how well your notes serve your purposes. By engaging actively with your notes, you can transform them into powerful tools that enhance your understanding, memory, and organization.
Your notes become a personal extension of your knowledge, ready to assist you in your academic, professional, and personal endeavors.
So, start engaging with your notes today and unlock their true potential.