We take notes during lectures or when reading a book to help us remember important information when writing an essay or revising for an exam.
But effective note taking involves more than just writing stuff down. There are various note taking systems available, so we’ve done some investigating and compiled these great tips on how to take notes.
The most common mistake people make when taking notes is trying to write everything down. This doesn’t work. Instead you should try to note the main points and important details: names, dates, etc.
Doing this will actually improve your ability to recall information as it forces you to engage with the subject matter more than copying something down verbatim. One good way to do this is to set aside space in your notes to summarise everything in your own words once you’re done.
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This doesn’t have to be the kind of comprehensive shorthand traditionally used by journalists. Even using a few shortcuts – like ‘&’ instead of ‘and’ or ‘w/’ instead of ‘with’ – can save valuable time when noting something down.
Different people work in different ways. And different situations demand different approaches to note taking: a lecture, for example, will be fast paced and thus requires a different approach than when working from a written text. Be prepared to try alternative methods depending on the situation.
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