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How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers
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The key to good and efficient writing lies in the intelligent organisation of ideas and notes. This book helps students, academics and nonfiction writers to get more done, write intelligent texts and learn for the long run. It teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward.
The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psyc ...more
The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psyc ...more
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Start your review of How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers
This book should have been titled "My long and repetitive ramblings about learning theory, with some asides about how to create a Zettelkasten (slip-box of notes), without examples".
Ahrens describes the Zettelkasten method: you take notes while you read; then make "literature notes", with your own words, attaching the bibliographic information to them; and then you reflect about them, and you make "permanent notes", with one idea per note; then you drop them into a network of linked notes, that ...more
Ahrens describes the Zettelkasten method: you take notes while you read; then make "literature notes", with your own words, attaching the bibliographic information to them; and then you reflect about them, and you make "permanent notes", with one idea per note; then you drop them into a network of linked notes, that ...more
Note-taking game-changer. Ahrens' is a professor in systematic education at Hamburg University—and he really knows his shit. This book tells the story of the remarkable Luhmann note-taking system. Luhmann was a revered sociology professor who collected over 90,000 index cards over the course of his life to support his 30-year-project: "A Theory of Society." The book goes over how Luhmann organized his note-taking in a scalable way that allowed him an unprecedented level of productivity with 30+
...more
Really love this. Instead of making us turn our willpowers into crutches for doing stuff we dislike, it instead takes a pleasant take on our experiences.
Food for thought:
- Slip-box method
- Virtuitous circle workflow
- Undivided attention to each task (as opposed to vaunted, flaunted, dreaded, attention-span destructive multitasking)
- Ego depletion
Q:
Transferring these ideas into the network of our own thoughts, our latticework of theories, concepts and mental models in the slip-box brings our thi ...more
Food for thought:
- Slip-box method
- Virtuitous circle workflow
- Undivided attention to each task (as opposed to vaunted, flaunted, dreaded, attention-span destructive multitasking)
- Ego depletion
Q:
Transferring these ideas into the network of our own thoughts, our latticework of theories, concepts and mental models in the slip-box brings our thi ...more
This book is GOLD.
'How to Write Smart Notes' tragically undersells itself by implying it's wholly focused on note-taking. It's not.
There's a bunch of relevant psychological concepts here too—including:
- Mere-exposure Effect
- Miller's Law
- Survivorship Bias
- Parkinson's Law
- The Tunnel Effect
- And more...
As the title suggests, if you're into taking 'smarter' notes (and therefore getting more out of your creative endeavours), you'll love this. 😎
I vouch candidly that Sönke (and Luhmann—a top ...more
'How to Write Smart Notes' tragically undersells itself by implying it's wholly focused on note-taking. It's not.
There's a bunch of relevant psychological concepts here too—including:
- Mere-exposure Effect
- Miller's Law
- Survivorship Bias
- Parkinson's Law
- The Tunnel Effect
- And more...
As the title suggests, if you're into taking 'smarter' notes (and therefore getting more out of your creative endeavours), you'll love this. 😎
I vouch candidly that Sönke (and Luhmann—a top ...more
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February's Non-fiction book of the month! 🤓🤓🤓
I usually criticize non-fiction authors for stating the obvious and then being proud of preaching us with “fresh, innovative” ideas. To be honest, this is one of the books that did not do that and it introduced me to a new idea but the writing felt a bit dry to me!
You see, the ful ...more
February's Non-fiction book of the month! 🤓🤓🤓
“An idea kept private is as good as one you never had. And a fact no one can reproduce is no fact at all.”
I usually criticize non-fiction authors for stating the obvious and then being proud of preaching us with “fresh, innovative” ideas. To be honest, this is one of the books that did not do that and it introduced me to a new idea but the writing felt a bit dry to me!
You see, the ful ...more
Dec 18, 2019
David Laing
added it
Parts of it read a bit like a dump of every pop-psych meme of the past ten years, but at its heart, it's a thorough and well-argued deep dive into a note-taking system from the future. I wouldn't be surprised if, twenty years from now, the slip-box method were taught to everyone in schools, especially at the university level.
I would have liked to see a few more examples of the slip-box in action. I don't feel like I have a clear picture in my mind of what a literature note actually *is*: is it a ...more
I would have liked to see a few more examples of the slip-box in action. I don't feel like I have a clear picture in my mind of what a literature note actually *is*: is it a ...more
A useless book
This book does not explain how to use Luhmann’s method precisely. It is just a compilation of over-explained ideas (nothing new under the sun, by the way) that are not even useful for applying that method. There are other resources in the web, so please, avoid buying this book.
This book does not explain how to use Luhmann’s method precisely. It is just a compilation of over-explained ideas (nothing new under the sun, by the way) that are not even useful for applying that method. There are other resources in the web, so please, avoid buying this book.
6th book for 2020.
Niklas Luhmann, the 20th Century sociologist, was productive by any standard; publishing more than seventy books and hundreds of articles in his lifetime. He accredited his success to an idiosyncratic note-taking technique he developed, which he called the Zettlekästen—literally "notes box"—in which he place A6-sized cards with short atomised ideas generated while reading, each note being linked to other related notes, essentially creating a hyperlinked database of ideas long b ...more
Niklas Luhmann, the 20th Century sociologist, was productive by any standard; publishing more than seventy books and hundreds of articles in his lifetime. He accredited his success to an idiosyncratic note-taking technique he developed, which he called the Zettlekästen—literally "notes box"—in which he place A6-sized cards with short atomised ideas generated while reading, each note being linked to other related notes, essentially creating a hyperlinked database of ideas long b ...more
Really eye-opening for me. I would recommend this book to anyone I know. It is obvious that I do have some of the conventional wisdom mentioned in the book, thinking writing is just a transfer of knowledge/ideas/insight from my head onto blank papers. Now I realize I should use writing to collect, to connect, and get all notes ready all along the way.
But, it is just a little disappointing that the book has not shown us an example of how someone actually making those bibliography notes, and then ...more
But, it is just a little disappointing that the book has not shown us an example of how someone actually making those bibliography notes, and then ...more
Title Is Inadequate
This is a book about MUCH more than a way to take smart notes. Oh, sure, you’ll learn all about a super cool (and super simple) system for taking notes. But that is covered in the first 20% of the book. The rest of the book is about deep and critical topics related to smart note taking, like thinking well, reading well, the writing process and even how to set up habits of success. I almost didn’t read it because it looked too basic. I’m so glad I did.
This is a book about MUCH more than a way to take smart notes. Oh, sure, you’ll learn all about a super cool (and super simple) system for taking notes. But that is covered in the first 20% of the book. The rest of the book is about deep and critical topics related to smart note taking, like thinking well, reading well, the writing process and even how to set up habits of success. I almost didn’t read it because it looked too basic. I’m so glad I did.
I express a very big gratitude to the author. This book is a "must-read" manual for all researchers. This book is quite different from other "help-self" manuals. It was written by a scientist, and is based on a huge number other science books, and resources. Reference bibliography is amazing. Your productivity will gain tremendously in your daily-workflow. Highly recommend!
...more
I was looking me up a good fiction read to get into, when somehow, the algorithms of Amazon decided to put forward this book on Note taking right in front of me.
The title immediately peeked my interest and then some more after I read the synopsis. I have been taking notes all my life using all sort of methods and tools. The fact that I keep switching every year to a different method and medium has me very conscious that I am still very hopeless at taking notes for myself.
I must admit... the book ...more
The title immediately peeked my interest and then some more after I read the synopsis. I have been taking notes all my life using all sort of methods and tools. The fact that I keep switching every year to a different method and medium has me very conscious that I am still very hopeless at taking notes for myself.
I must admit... the book ...more
I am giving this book 5 stars not because I liked it, but because it has significantly improved my scholarship --- at least, in the last few days since I started reading it. We'll see if it continues!
The crux of the book is "write down insights you have, as you're having them, and then regularly reconcile these into a single place, and track insights you have while writing THOSE down. Rinse and repeat." It's been a very helpful framework for thinking about big thoughts; rather than trying to kee ...more
The crux of the book is "write down insights you have, as you're having them, and then regularly reconcile these into a single place, and track insights you have while writing THOSE down. Rinse and repeat." It's been a very helpful framework for thinking about big thoughts; rather than trying to kee ...more
If you already read books like Make it Stick, Peak, Thinking Fast and Slow and Habit, there is nothing much to learn from Ahrens' book. Except the new note taking system he describes.
At its heart, the book promotes a note taking system first developed by Luhmann, a German scholar. The system is mainly about (a) taking a lot of concise, well-written notes and (b) linking them with each other so as to create a physical network of information produced and distilled by your brain. This would work li ...more
At its heart, the book promotes a note taking system first developed by Luhmann, a German scholar. The system is mainly about (a) taking a lot of concise, well-written notes and (b) linking them with each other so as to create a physical network of information produced and distilled by your brain. This would work li ...more
Not a bad book for someone not familiar with personal knowledge management. But it was really scattered, not structured in a good way.
When I was writing my thesis (approximately one million years ago), I accidentally built about 50% of the workflow described here. Had I known how to use the slip-box part, I think the whole thing would have been a lot better. Maybe I had an incredible memory back then - probably not, but it's not better now. I've now implemented the free tool chain of Zettelkasten: Zkn3 and the reference tool Zotero (I know there are lots of reference tools around but I like this one and its Chrome plug-in). So
...more
how I WISH I had had this when I was a student. I cannot recommend highly enough for anyone doing non-fiction writing, including academics and grad students. Actually, a lot of it applies to fiction writing too (nothing counts until it's on the page)
...more
"It is impossible to think without writing; at least it is impossible in any sophisticated or networked (anschlußfähig) fashion." — Niklas Luhmann
I think this book will be more useful for its intended audience, namely students writing their master's or Ph.D. thesis, mainly in social sciences or philosophy, etc. The method of note taking and then writing based on the elaboration of these notes apparently served at least one professor very well, and I don't see any strong reason why it can't be us ...more
I think this book will be more useful for its intended audience, namely students writing their master's or Ph.D. thesis, mainly in social sciences or philosophy, etc. The method of note taking and then writing based on the elaboration of these notes apparently served at least one professor very well, and I don't see any strong reason why it can't be us ...more
Wow, wow, wow ...
... and a double wow, wow.
This is definitely my greatest read for 2019 so far and I can't see anything surpassing it.
It has had the same impact as David Allen's "Getting Things Done" and Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits Of Highly Successful People" before then in that it has already caused a fundamental change in the way I see, understand and take action on things.
Wyatt Woodsmall hammers in the point that learning IS behaviour change. I can honestly say I have learnt from Sonke Ahr ...more
... and a double wow, wow.
This is definitely my greatest read for 2019 so far and I can't see anything surpassing it.
It has had the same impact as David Allen's "Getting Things Done" and Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits Of Highly Successful People" before then in that it has already caused a fundamental change in the way I see, understand and take action on things.
Wyatt Woodsmall hammers in the point that learning IS behaviour change. I can honestly say I have learnt from Sonke Ahr ...more
I definitely enjoyed it, but if you are looking for something that offers you concrete examples about how to implement the Zettelkasten method of note-taking, also known as the slip-box method, then keep looking because this is not the book for you. The author assumes you are using a specific online application and does little to explain how you could apply the system in different contexts if this is not the case for you. Even the analog method is given sparse coverage and little to no examples
...more
A surprising little gem.
The book describes Luhmann's note taking system.
The interesting thing is that this paper-only system was translated into software - but it still deeply *under*leverages what could be done with a digital system.
But by being under-leveraged it highlights the actually important *manual* steps of the method.
The book is very worth the reading. There is an excellent passage which clearly demonstrates the connections springing from the application of the method - highly unlikely ...more
The book describes Luhmann's note taking system.
The interesting thing is that this paper-only system was translated into software - but it still deeply *under*leverages what could be done with a digital system.
But by being under-leveraged it highlights the actually important *manual* steps of the method.
The book is very worth the reading. There is an excellent passage which clearly demonstrates the connections springing from the application of the method - highly unlikely ...more
Could have been significantly shortened. Very much felt like a book that was artificially extended for a publisher's benefit.
That being said - the ideas behind this content are excellent. We're seeing wonderful things come from new tools that leverage this like Roam and Obsidian in ways that make it easier than ever more to implement. Exciting times for the world of knowledge management. ...more
That being said - the ideas behind this content are excellent. We're seeing wonderful things come from new tools that leverage this like Roam and Obsidian in ways that make it easier than ever more to implement. Exciting times for the world of knowledge management. ...more
A bit repetitive but still an enlightening introduction to the philosophy and practice of Zettleksten, a German technique for greatly improved learning and productivity through careful note-taking.
There were not an many real world examples as I would have liked but a quick Google search helped with that.
There were not an many real world examples as I would have liked but a quick Google search helped with that.
An eye-openner, for sure. My explanation of the system and review of the book is here: https://patricksherriff.com/2021/04/1...
...more
Didn't go through the entire thing since the author talks about the core idea up front. I like it, I'm going to try it. Hopefully this will give me a better way to organise my ideas and notes.
...more
This was a habit-changing book for me. It was about much more than note taking. It was about a set of processes that allowed me to question and be more a more active participant when absorbing information.
As the book says, writing is thinking. More precisely, writing is distilled thinking. The process of penning information down in your own words improves understanding and forces you to address your blind spots.
The book suggests taking temporary notes when consuming information such as books, vi ...more
As the book says, writing is thinking. More precisely, writing is distilled thinking. The process of penning information down in your own words improves understanding and forces you to address your blind spots.
The book suggests taking temporary notes when consuming information such as books, vi ...more
I was looking for a system for the literature notes. To be honest, I feel liberated now :D the things I was intuitively drawn to proved to be right and I will definitely employ a system of permanent note-taking (probably on paper though). I feel as if I should have read it years ago but then again - I probably wouldnt have appreciated the system and the tips as much as I do now after some experience with writing academic articles.
P.S. The book contains a lot about learning and thinking in genera ...more
P.S. The book contains a lot about learning and thinking in genera ...more
One of the best book I have read this year. It doesn't only change my way of note taking but also the way I read, collect information and write them down.
I have taken notes for years, mostly with Evernote. My old way is to structure note hierarchically with main categories breaking down to smaller sub-categories. It's very useful in storing notes but I found it difficult to retrieve knowledge. That's why I have recently moved to Obsidian and applied the same idea of this book. However, my way is ...more
I have taken notes for years, mostly with Evernote. My old way is to structure note hierarchically with main categories breaking down to smaller sub-categories. It's very useful in storing notes but I found it difficult to retrieve knowledge. That's why I have recently moved to Obsidian and applied the same idea of this book. However, my way is ...more
One of those books I wished I have read 10 years ago.
I will highly recommend this book to learner who are avid reader, who want to use note-taking as a tool for thinking critically and learn better. Although book is written with publish-or-perish academics as main audience, but it really applies to learner in all walk of life.
The book debunks the following myths for me:
- Writing starts with staring at a blank page
- Highlighting, underlining passage, copying quote is effective learning
- Sortin ...more
Like all self-help books, this book was mostly fluff. Each section covered some surface-level pop-sci topic related to writing and working, like growth mindset, the Zeigarnik effect, the forgetting curve, and so on, along with a couple of perfunctory references. Of course, half of these results have been debunked and the other half have been at least called into question, so none of the information matters.
At the end of each section, the author takes a sentence or two to explain how it all relat ...more
At the end of each section, the author takes a sentence or two to explain how it all relat ...more
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