Book notes are a simple way to remember what we read. Not only does research support this, but I can speak from experience that taking good notes has improved my understanding of difficult texts. This applies not only to me but to anyone. Whether you’re a student, starting your career, or have established, taking notes can help you learn.

While learning can take many forms, one of the oldest and most powerful is reading. Yet, most of us are unaware of the effective reading strategies that help us learn faster.

I’ve researched these strategies and created a system for getting the most out of book notes. And I’m going to share it.

Why Take Notes?

Taking good notes helps us learn, as studies have shown that writing helps us remember. A writer who takes good notes will have a vast database of future ideas. By taking notes, I’ve created a collection of ideas to draw on when writing articles. This has eliminated my writer’s block, as I don’t think of ideas to write; they’re in my notes.

Since taking notes improves learning, it also improves our authority on a subject. The more we learn, the more we appear as an expert. For instance, taking notes at work improves our understanding of our tasks and job. We progress faster, which compounds. Eventually, we rise to the top.

How to Choose Books

Before we take notes, we must first choose our book! But with so much information available, how do we choose? There’s always a new podcast, article, or book that could be life changing.

This mindset is unproductive, as the sheer volume of content paralyzes us. A more practical method is to focus on the highest quality of sources. Don’t read every book on a subject. Read the select few regarded as the best.

Here are the criteria for choosing books:

Choose Books From Experts with Excellent Reviews

This is self-explanatory. The author must have a reason they’re an authority on this topic. And, if most people regard the book as bad, it’s probably bad.

Choose Books That the Author Spent a Lot of Time on

We want books with a high word-to-hours spent ratio. The longer the book takes, the better it is. A book that took a few months has little value, whereas someone’s life work compressed into a few pages has lots of value. We can learn what took them 20 years in a few weeks or months.

Read Old Books

The longer a book has stayed relevant, the longer-lasting and more powerful the ideas. We value the classics because of this. They don’t speak to the zeitgeist of the time. They speak to a constant in the human condition.

If a book has stood the test of time, it’s worth our time.

Read a Summary

A more advanced tip is to read book summaries beforehand. This gives us a better idea of the book’s content. We can look up reviews on Google or use an app like Blinkist. If we don’t find any insightful ideas, it’s not worth a full read.

How to Take Notes

Part 1: The Reading

Before diving in, I recommend doing all your reading and note-taking before transferring your notes to an app. This helps us get into a flow state. We don’t have to switch between reading, taking notes, and documenting.

Don’t Read Entire Books

The point of our reading is to learn. So, we should only read the sections of books that apply to what we’re learning.

For example, I’m doing a thorough analysis of the apprenticeship phase of mastery. In Robert Greene’s Mastery, I only recently read the entire book. Before, I only read the parts on apprenticeship.

How can we tell whether we should read a section of a book? Set a goal. Ask yourself every time you read (and write it down!) “what do I want to learn from this reading?” Be as specific as possible. Then, ask yourself whether that section will answer that question. If not, skip it. If yes, read it.

Write in the Book

Many people argue whether we should write in our books. They say it ruins the aesthetic and purity of reading.

Although a valid point, writing in the book is a great way to make reading more active. And, the more active the reading, the better we will remember the information.

Write any ideas, questions, or objections that come to mind. We want to act like we’re having a conversation with the author. We want the book to come alive.

Trace the Words in a Text

Research has shown that tracing while reading improves focus and reading speed. It reduces re-reading and forces our brain to read at the speed of our tracer.

Star Interesting Information

Whenever I come across an interesting idea, I star the text. Then, when I review the text, I can quickly find the best ideas.

Find New Books to Read

Often when reading, authors will mention extra books. These are ample opportunities for new reading! In these cases, I circle the book title and write “to read” in the margins.

Circle Unknown Words

If I don’t know the definition of a word, I’ll circle it and come back to it later. Usually, I can infer its meaning, but I want to make sure and expand my vocabulary for writing.

Box Words to Define

I box words and underline definitions that the author coins. Then, I write “d” in the margins to explain the definition.

Quote Well Written Text

A talented author has a deep understanding of their subject. Sometimes they’ll put their ideas so elegantly that we’ll want to quote them. When this happens, I’ll underline the quote and write “q” in the margins.

Look Up Confusing Ideas

Often, authors will mention something that confuses me or I want to research. As I come across this, I’ll underline the section and write “look up” in the margins.

Summarize the Major Points

For difficult-to-read texts, I write the major point of each paragraph as a sentence. This helps consolidate my understanding of what the author is arguing.

Part 2: The Transfer

Once we’ve finished taking notes, we need to convert them into note-taking software. I recommend waiting about a week before starting this process. When we come back, some ideas we thought were interesting will no longer be so. This is fine, as we only want to keep the best, longest-lasting ideas.

To transfer our notes, we must first choose our tool.

Note-Taking Tool

The world of note-taking is vast and complicated. There are many tools, each claiming to be revolutionary for learning and productivity. It’s hard to choose one. The best advice is to pick something now and optimize for a better tool later. I use RemNote because of its spaced repetition algorithm and its use of zettelkasten.

Write Notes in Your Own Words

Taking notes should not be boring. We should personalize the notes by writing them in our own words. Research has shown that putting notes into our own words improves understanding. We force our brain to engage with the material. I’ll transfer all the text I starred into RemNote in my own words. Then, I’ll add extra reading into another section of RemNote that has my to-read list.

Flashcards

If we want to remember what we read, we want to use flashcards. Flashcards take advantage of spaced repetition. 

Each time we correctly review our cards, the time until the next review increases. We move the information into long-term memory. I use this for definitions, key ideas, and questions.

RemNote has a built-in flashcard software. Anki is another excellent choice for flashcard software.

Summarize

Summarizing is a great way to consolidate the main ideas of a text. At the end of a reading, write the key takeaways in 3 sentences or fewer. This forces us to be ruthless and get at the most important concepts.

Start Small

Taking notes can be an arduous process, but it doesn’t have to be. Over time, these strategies will become habits. Once mastered, you’ll have the ability to effortlessly remember what you read, have a database of ideas, and will progress faster in your career. Taking good notes is your competitive advantage.

Start small. Implement one of the above strategies. Master it. Then move on to the next. I recommend starting with the “stars” strategy, as it’s the one I use the most.