This Book Completely Changed The Way I Take Notes. Here's How.
~ #Note-taking only works if you keep it simple.
I started taking notes 3 years ago.
For 3 years, my note-taking was chaotic at best.
I struggled to organize my thoughts. I have a bunch of disconnected notes with random thoughts, making it impossible to create meaningful connections between old notes and new ones.
Writing articles was a slow process. Even with all the fancy features in Obsidian.
Then I finally decided to read How to take smart notes.
It was a game changer.
Reading How To Take Smart Notes changed the way I take notes.
Before I read the book, I already knew about permanent note. The concept was simple:
You read something interesting.
You write it down.
You develop the idea in a note that contains only that idea
But these steps didn’t get me far.
I ended up with 50 permanent notes. All useless. I wrote once. Then I was done.
As I learned the principles in the book, I saw why my note-taking wasn’t improving my life.
I knew I had to change. And I did. Slowly.
The structure of my notes didn’t change:
I started with the quote.
Then moved to my own understanding of the idea.
Then I added personal experiences about it.
But this was missing a crucial step: building an idea on top of existing ones.
After I changed this, everything made sense.
A single note was not just a random idea. It was an idea in a web of ideas.
And it all starts with a simple method. The slip-box method.
Use the Slip-Box method
The slip-box method (or Zettelkasten in German) started with Niklas Luhmann.
The guy produced a huge amount of original content during his lifetime.
His secret?
Writing a permanent note for each idea he came across. These notes had to be atomic enough to fit a single idea. He then connected the idea to existing ones in his slip-box.
This web of notes would later help him write an article or a book.
The arguments the author (Ahrens) makes for this method are very convincing. It’s a tool for thinking. And thinking leads building knowledge. Building knowledge leads to connecting ideas. And connecting ideas create original ideas.
And as you grow you slip-box, you become invested in it. You watch it grow.
All the writing is done in advance. So if you want to write an article, all all you need to do is fill in the gaps, connect the dots, and edit the final draft.
This method is simple. Bu effective enough to help make sense of all the information you see every day.
But the simplicity doesn’t work if you’re not following these key rules.
Let’s go over them.
If you’re not connecting your notes, you’re wasting your time writing them.
For a long time my note-taking flow was saving random ideas in Obisian, hoping one day I’d use them.
I haven’t even opened 90% of what I saved.
This is why writing down your thoughts is not enough.
To make sense of what you read, you have to engage with it.
How?
By asking how this new piece of knowledge fits into your current ideas. Does it reinforce a previous idea? Does it weakens it? Does it help you build a stronger argument?
By repeatedly asking “why?” (similar to “5 Whys”)
By asking “How does this idea looks like if the opposite was true?
There’s no right or wrong way to engage with an idea.
But this will help you level up your notes from forgotten copy/paste text to your unique view of the idea.
Engage with your notes. Connect your thoughts. Apply them to your life.
Note-taking only works if you keep it simple.
Friction is the most powerful force in the universe.
That’s why every time I see someone bragging about their complex note-taking system, I know it’s not gonna last.
Why?
Because the more complexity you add, the more effort you need to maintain it.
And effort to maintain it means you’re wasting time organizing things instead of using it to move you closer to your goals. And adding friction means you’re only doing something until you run out of motivation. Then you stop and move onto the next cool thing.
This is why it’s important to avoid adding complexity to your system (and second brain).
Take a look at the meta-data fields on your notes. Then ask yourself “when was the last time I use most of them?”
I used to have a bunch of metadata in all my notes. Now I keep it simple. I have only 2 for my permanent notes:
date-created. Filled in by the template with
[[{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}]]
topic. General topics this source links to. Can be multiples
You see how easy it is to add a new note? I only have to fill out 2 field before I start writing.
Over-complicating things feels nice, but it’s just a distraction from real work. Keep note-taking as simple as possible so you can focus on what matters: building knowledge.
Notes aren’t just to store information. They also help you learn long-term
In high school, my study method was to memorize everything.
I wanted to learn. But why learn when you can read reading the same thing 20 times?
I also had a habit of doing this 2 days before a test. Cramming was the only technique I knew (and why my grades sucked in high school.
For 2 decades I made the same mistake of thinking learning happens inside your head.
But as they author says in the book:
Most people still think about thinking as a purely internal process, and believe that the only function of the pen is to put finished thoughts on paper.
When ideas are in your head, it’s all rainbows. You can’t see any flaws, problems, or gaps. It’s all perfect.
That’s why meetings at work are (mostly) useless. People develop their thoughts on the spot. And most of the time they have no clue what their goal is. Then when other people start poking wholes in their thinking, they go back and forth on the same thing multiple times.
This is why writing is key. Writing is thinking. It’s how you shape ideas.
Think through writing. It makes problem-solving, learning, and clear thinking ridiculously easy.
The best time to internalize an idea is when you first interact with it.
When I first read about plant-based diets, my brain was going crazy.
I ate meat for 27 year. So the idea was revolutionary to me.
So revolutionary that I started to consume everything I could about it.
Now, 6 years later, it’s an OK idea for me. It’s not as surprising as it used to. I still believe it. But every time I read something about plant-based diets, I’m mildly entertained.
This is why it’s important to interact with ideas the first time you’re exposed to them.
It’s when your brain is racing a thousand miles per hour with new ideas and insights. Suddenly you see a new perspective that might turn your life upside down.
But wait a week to explore this idea, and it’s not that interesting anymore. You’ve already seen it. It’s not new and exciting. It gets added to the pile of “already seen”, ready to be forgotten.
If you get excited about an idea, interact with it. Don’t wait too long to capture your thoughts. Otherwise it’s going into the forgotten-ideas pile.
If you think taking notes is slowing you down, you’re missing the point
Permanent notes help you learn faster.
And because you’re writing them in the same place, you can build new ideas on top existing ideas (notes).
And yes. It’s suppose to be a slow process.
Your slip-box is not there to accumulate notes. It’s there so you can have a conversation with your thoughts. So you can dive deeper into an idea and see how it fits into your mental models.
And if you think taking permanent notes is slowing you down too much, it’s because you’re missing the point.
The point is to build a solid foundation of ideas. Not speed-read 250 books per year that you’ll forget faster than what you had for lunch 4 Mondays ago.
But I get it… You see on social media people boasting about reading 250+ books per year. You think you’re falling behind because you’re not reading that much.
But there’s no way in hell people are meaninigfully reading 250+ books per year. Social media is an eternal competition. So when you see crazy numbers of books read, it’s mostly to brag and grab attention.
Don’t fall for the acceleration trap. Read books at your own pace. Write down interesting ideas. Internalize great ones. You’ll get further than 90% of people.
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