My Town Tutors is a great resource for parents & teachers. Check out our Guest Blogs for Education, Parents, Travel, Tutoring, Sports, Music and College.
5 Quick Tips to Help You Make Better Notes
Taking notes is an important skill for students, professionals, and technically anyone who wants to retain important information during study or research work. You must know that good note-taking can help you understand the core material, help with memory retention, and can also make writing or presentation much easier.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking a lecture, are in a meeting, or are simply reading a research paper, you must follow some simple yet effective strategies that can assist you in making better notes. In this article, we are going to explain in detail five quick tips that would help you make better notes and would also enhance the learning experience.
So without any delay let us dig into the details!
- Use a Structured Format When Taking Notes
The first step or tip that you need to focus on is adopting a structured format for taking notes. You should organize your notes in a very logical manner so that you can easily understand them later when reviewing them. We have seen many people take illogical and unstructured notes which are technically useless as one can’t remember any references at the time of need.
There are different ways you can organize your notes. The two most common methods are Cornell and bullet points.
- The Cornell method is a system of dividing the note into three sections. The first section is for cues, the second one is for key points, and the third one is for a summary. The idea is to write detailed notes during the session and, afterward, jot down keywords or questions in the cue section. The summary section at the bottom helps conclude your learning.
- Bullet points are probably one of the simplest and most common methods for note-taking. By organizing your thoughts and findings in bullet points, you can easily organize information more quickly and clearly.
A structured format can help you a lot in writing down only what is required and not jotting unnecessary details that can mislead you.
- Use Abbreviations and Symbols for Efficiency
One of the major reasons for taking notes is to save time which is wasted in writing complete sentences or copying down passages from the board during a lecture or from a book in the library. Time is of utmost importance when taking notes. To save it and to enhance efficiency during note-taking, it is best to use abbreviations and symbols.
You would be surprised to know that by using this approach you would be able to drastically increase your speed as instead of writing full words or sentences, you would be using shortcuts. Here we have listed some of the most commonly used symbols that you should also use in your notes.
- & for “and”
- w/ for “with”
- b/c for “because”
- → for “leads to” or “results in”
- ≠ for “does not equal”
- e.g. for “example”
You can also create your shorthand system based on your understanding. For example, some people like to use bcz for because. Just make sure to be consistent with the symbols and abbreviations you use, so you can easily understand/translate your notes later.
- Focus on Key Concepts Not Word Word Rewriting
A very common mistake that most people make is that when taking notes they try to write everything down as it is. This can increase the length of notes and can also make them overwhelming to review and understand.
When taking notes, you must focus on jotting down the key concepts, main ideas, or important details that mustn’t be missed. Rewriting content as it is in the notes kills the purpose of note taking which is why you should avoid it.
Here are some strategies that would help you prioritize key concepts:
- First things first instead of copying long explanations it is best that you read them and summarize them in your own words. This also ensures that you understand the material as you are taking notes.
- If you don’t understand a certain concept or piece of text it is best to get it rephrased using an AI tool in a simple language. An online sentence rephraser would easily help you convert complex text into simple wording so that you can understand the core concept/ideas. This can save a lot of your time wasted in manual comprehension.
- Also, add headings or titles for each major point to visually organize the material. You can use colors, underlining, or symbols to emphasize the most important information as it makes it easier to review later.
By focusing on adding key concepts you would have shorter and more useful notes.
- Review and Revise Your Notes After Completion
Taking notes during a lecture or research phase is just a part of the initial process. If you want to make sure that your information is retained effectively you need to spend some time on revision and editing. This step helps you remove any errors and at the same time also gives you a chance to reinforce your memory and clarify any misleading sections.
When making revisions you need to clarify the points or ideas that sound confusing. You can take a moment to look up terms from the source. Also if you missed any important details when writing it is important that you fill it in from the reference source.
Most of you might think otherwise, but note that editing and revision are very important if you want to make better notes.
- Use Online Tools for Flexibility & Organizing
Gone are the days when you had to rely on traditional paper and pen for note-taking. We are living in the digital world and you must leverage digital tools for note-taking and organization. Multiple tools can help you take notes. Evernote and MS OneNote are probably two of the most popular and commonly used utilities.
Other than taking notes you can also take help from other writing assistant tools such as paraphrasers, summarizers, and other editing solutions for revising and improving the overall quality of your notes.
By using digital note-taking tools you would be able to access your reference material wherever and whenever you want without carrying the paper itself. You can sync your digital notes across your different devices for better access!
Conclusion
Note-taking is very important in different industries. Better note-taking can help you digest, process, and retain information more effectively.
In this guide, we have explained in detail five important tips that would help you create better notes. By using a structured format, using symbols, focusing on key points, and using digital tools for help, you can easily transform how your notes come out at the end.
It is important to note that every individual has a different style of note taking so it is best that you try out different techniques and stick with the one that works best for you.