One of the simplest ways to remember essential things is note-taking. Routines, grocery lists, appointments, and more – to remind ourselves of these things, the most convenient way is to take notes.
However, with numerous information attacking us from every corner, it’s undoable to jot down all of them and put them into action. Do you want your note-taking to be hassle-free? The following are the ways for it to be so:
- Organize Better
Studies support the idea that organizing information is pivotal to remembering them, and taking down notes is how you start to get organized. By taking notes orderly and adequately, you allow yourself to recall information quickly and save some time.
- Clarify Your Purpose
A clear objective is essential in making notes efficiently. Considering why you take down and having a clear purpose will help you decide the quantity and quality of the notes that you will take.
- Systematize the Classification and Review of Notes
With the absence of electronic gadgets, people rely on pen and paper in taking down notes. These handwritten notes are easily misplaced, and to track them, people bound their notebooks and used indexes.
To control your handwritten or digital notes, you must create a system that will help you. You can label your notebooks and put them in specific drawers or install a note-taking app on your gadgets.
- Prepare to Take Notes Abruptly
Often, sudden ideas are those that are useful or profitable. Unexpected thoughts are quickly forgotten, and this is the reason why people should prepare to take notes anytime and anywhere.
With the existence of smartphones and tablets and the presence of pocket notebooks and handy pens, this is now possible. You only need to pause whatever you are doing and jot down the idea or try to remember it correctly and take note of it as soon as possible.
- Be Informed of What Will be Discussed
This tactic is most applicable in a meeting, a seminar, or a lecture. Learning ahead of time allows you to focus on essential parts of the discussion and link them to the information you have already acquired, instead of catching everything that the lecturer says. This also allows you to prepare essential questions and concerns.
- Hand-write Notes for Better Understanding
Handwriting encourages you to avoid shallow processing, allows you to exclude unimportant information, and to say things using your words, and forces you to learn what you are writing. It may be slower than typing or ‘copy-pasting,’ but it is more helpful.
- Write or Type Faster
Closing the speed gap of our thinking, talking, typing, and writing is essential in taking notes faster. Nowadays, numerous resources are offered to help us type more quickly, such as TypingMaster and Keybr.
Other ways to learn to type faster is by using abbreviations and symbols and using text expander tools like Breevy and Phrase Express.
- Taking Visual Notes is a Must
Ideas are presented better when accompanied by illustrations, drawings, doodles, or pictures. With smartphones, it is now easier to take or download photos for our notes. Others can even convert analog records to digital ones with the use of applications or software.
- Record Audios
With the existence of recording utilities in mobile devices and the presence of recording options in the built-in Note application of the latest smartphones, people can now record the thoughts being voiced out easily.
- Utilize Software if Possible
Dozens of note-taking applications are presently available to assist you with your note-taking necessities. Examples are Todotxt, OneNote, and Omnifocus. Integration tools, such as IFTTT and Zapier, can also help you by automatically copying and sending notes to different devices for convenient filing and retrieving.
Conclusion
With the help of our hastily developing technology, anything can be done faster. Now, people rely on taking pictures instead of using papers and pens in taking down notes because it is easier and faster. Others still prefer to do it traditionally, because aside from understanding and remembering what they write better, they also get to practice their handwriting, and be neat and creative.
