Notetaking Things

[Magnanimous]

Leo once said that you shouldn't take notes, just underline text with a pen. Is there any other notetaking advice you would give?

Other people can also comment their notetaking formulas

[Vision]

I disagree with Leo. I think you should liberally be taking notes, but also making notes.

Highlighting and underlining is useful, but passive. When you’re making notes, you’re actually engaging your brain with the material and adding your own unique insights into it, making your understanding of the material richer. 

 

 

[Magnanimous]

Great feedback, Vision

How about underlining info in the book as notes, but then writing your own notes (such as insights) into spare places in the book. Does that integrate yours and Leo's techniques completely?

[Ayham]

Here's what I do with books:

1. read about author, look at the table of contents, and skim through the chapters then read introduction (Inspectional Reading).

2. each chapter i read, i first read the first sentence of each paragraph of the chapter. 

this way you would always have the big picture in mind, then continue with the other type of reading (analytical reading) 

3. after reading first sentence of each paragraph of the chapter, start reading normally for details, and here's what you underline: only stuff that give you "aha" moment when you read them.

once i week will open my commonplace book, and put what i underlined in bullet points, and put my thoughts about it in sub bullet points. 

Note: this is not a way to summarize the book, but get high level understanding from it. 

Note: Always track with a pencil, it helps increase comprehension. 

and if you want to get to the next level which is syntopical reading, read several books on the same topic one after another using this technique. 

then make notes on the topic itself combining knowledge from all the books you've read. 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Ayham