Taking Better Notes

#learning#notetaking

Introduction §

After reading a few articles by Tiago Forte I want to form some of his ideas into some thoughts I have about how to take better notes and what parts apply to me. He talks a lot about a second brain. I’m not sure I believe in the whole language of that, feels like a bit of a gimik to me. but I do think the main idea of what he is teaching is valuable.

Building a second brain article §

I read The Making of a Bestseller A Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Creation of Building a Second Brain and gathered a few valuable insights. Forte discusses an idea he calls building a second brain. He says that the brain isnt maid to store information but to create and find new ways to express it. The idea of a second brain is that you have a digital store of your thoughts and ideas that is quick and easy to reference. this ideally frees your brain to be creative and use the already distilled information. Forte recommends to take in. information using C.O.D.E

C.O.D.E §

Code means to Capture, organize distill and express.

The first step is to capture information that could relate to a project I’m working on, an idea I’m interesting, something that inspires me or causes me to ask interesting questions. A basic rule is to capture anything that resonates with me.

next is to organize that information into a context that might be valuable to me. What notes might it be related to, how does it relate to topics that interest me or why did it resonate with me.

The distill step is centered around turning a note into a bite sized piece of actionable summaries. This is done overtime and usually not in the same sitting when the original note was take. One rule of thumb is that a new note should

A good rule of thumb is that you should add value to a note every time you touch it. and that they should remain easy to access. A note should also always define key teams, and include links to any referenced material.

Lastly to express a note or a piece of knowledge you’ve gained means sharing it with someone else. Tiago Forte says that is when an idea truly becomes valuable, is when it has the potential to impact someone else. Refined notes should usually be made with the intention to eventually share. Even if they never are shared with other, they will be eventually shared with your future self, and they will thank you.

10 principles to take better notes §

Tiago Forte wrote an article inspired by the book How To Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens with a mix of his own ideas called How To Take Smart Notes 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing.

I wont record all 10 principles here, the original book was written in the context of taking notes in academia to be published. My end goal in note taking is not to be published. But I do want to be able to gain valuable insight over topics that I study and projects I work on, and maybe eventually share what I work on with others.

• Writing is not the outcome of thinking; it is the medium in which thinking takes place
  • If you want to remember an idea write it down, if you want to learn something put it in your own words.
• Standardization enables creativity, Tiago Forte referenced how the create of the shipping container changed the entire industry of shipping, but only once the rest of the industry adopted the standardization. Notes are like shipping containers for ideas.
• Organize your notes by context, not by topic. Specifically, the context in which it will be used
• Always follow the most interesting path. In the book Ahrens said that students typically fail not because of a lack of ability, but because they lose a personal connection to what they are learning.
  • This is why we must spend as much time as possible working on things we find interesting. It is not an indulgence. It is an essential part of making our work sustainable and thus successful
• Save contradictory ideas to deny the confirmation bias, and truly be able to learn new ideas.

Workflow §

Tiago Forte described a workflow from the book that could be examined in How To Take Smart Notes 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing. Here is my own version of that workflow

1. Make a fleeting note

   • These notes are a quick thing that pops in my head, it will be quick and likely messy. The only goal here is just to capture information so that I won’t forget it. I’ll give it the #fleeting tag as a reminder that it will need attention in the future.

2. Capture a literature note.

   • 90% of the time for me this will be done with Readwise. I’ll capture highlights and take a few notes with some of my thoughts, and they will be automatically imported to obsidian.

3. Make permanent notes.

   • Once either a collection of fleeting or literature notes has been created they should eventually result in a permanent note. The information I learned in those notes distilled into my own words. These notes should usually be written in the context to be shared with someone else. Even if they are just for me.

4. Develop the context.

   • Ideally while writing the permanent note. links to other related notes will be created organically. It might great other #draft notes that could evolve into permanent notes in the future. Notes should also be tagged in this state to flesh out the context in which it may be useful. It can also be placed in a folder if applicable.

   Thats my workflow for now. I’m sure it will evolve in the future, but this feels like a good start to me. Maybe this is step one in building a second brain or maybe in Cultivating a Digital Garden.