John Mavrick's Garden

Last updated April 10, 2022

Status: Tags: #literature/books/implemented Links: Finished-Implementing List - Note Taking

How To Take Smart Notes Application

Introduction

• Writing does not have to start with a blank page; by having a strong network of resources and ideas through an efficient note-taking system, rarely will you have no idea on where to start
• Therefore, writing starts before the writing process even begins
• Self-discipline and self-control is more important than a high IQ in academia
• Meaningful and well-defined tasks beat willpower every time
• To be truly motivated, we need to use no willpower to do our tasks

1 - Everything You Need to Know

• Being able to see the big picture while working on small sections keeps your writing relevant and focusable at the same time
• A good structure enables flow and acts as a second brain
• Consider structuring a workflow that promotes ideas, instead of being burdened by them

Good Solutions are Simple

• Signifcant change only happens when all your routines and processes and ideas are interconnected
• The GTD ideology should be used for concrete goals, while smart note-taking should be used for more abstract ideas

Slip Box

• I should start taking notes whenever I come up with ideas or come across new information
• An efficient organization system does all the thinking and connecting for you
• It’s inefficient to focus solely on one idea while writing, as our mind tends to wander around
  • By utilizing this nature, we can find always convert our ideas into value
• There’s no need for willpower if there’s no resistance in the first place

Slip-box Manual

• Luhmann had two slip-boxes:
  1. A bibliographical one where you record references and brief notes regarding the context
  2. On the other side you record your ideas in response to the content
• Rather than copy ideas or quotes, he made connections with his already existing ideas, allowing new ideas to be incorporated in already existing concepts
• He also had an index that marked entry points for certain topics
• We need a reliable and simple external structure to think to compensate for the limitaitons of our brains

2 - Everything You Need to Do

• Writing is not the main task; absorbing information and coming up with ideas is
• Thinking, reading, learning, understanding, and generating ideas is all part of taking smart notes

Steps

1. Be able to record everything and process them later
2. Make notes about content that you read, and paraphrase them to fully understand the meaning
3. Convert your previous notes from 1 and 2 into your database at least once per day into ideas you come up with (research, thoughts, interests). You can combine or revise already existing ideas. Use full sentences and be brief. After, delete the notes from step 1 and store the notes in step 2 into a reference system
4. File these notes into more related notes, or adopting measures to connect them into bigger ideas through indexes or links
5. The more insight we have, the more curious we become.
6. Now you have a starting point for writing new topics! Just patch up any holes and don’t be afraid to revise your notes
7. Convert notes into a rough draft and connect them together
8. Edit and proofread

• Rarely do we only focus on one thing at a time, so having a second brain to remind us on our ideas is game-changing

3 - Everything You Need to Have

• A slip-box allows us to have a permanent foundation of knowledge, allowing us to spend more time thinking rather than recalling information

Tools

1. Something to write with
   • Recording spontaneous ideas should be simple and encouraged
2. A reference management system
   • Collects references and the notes taken during reading
   • Check out zotero
3. A slip box
   • Zettelkasten
4. An editor
   • Grammarly

Underlying Principles

5 - Writing Is The Only Thing That Matters

• It’s important to have your ideas public for others to criticize
• By putting a focus on writing, a new perspective is adopted when learning; you will put more focus on efficiently learning, rather than trying to figure out what you should learn
  • Focusing on important topics, deeper understanding through engagement and elaboration, and innovation by turning it into new ideas
• Even if we don’t need this focus on writing, the improvement in other skills is worth it

6 - Simplicity is Paramount

• Highlighting and making comments throughout various references promote the brainstorming phase and add a burden of remembering and finding the information when you need it
  • Instead of thinking where we will store this note, we should think of where this information may be useful again

To achieve a note system with critical mass, we must distinguish between:

1. Fleeting Notes - Temporary reminders of information (inbox)
2. Permanent notes - information stored in a permanently understandable way
3. Project notes - Notes relevant to a single project that can be disregarded after a project is finished

Mistakes:

1. Valuing all your fleeting ideas as permanent ideas, and failing to organize them
2. Only collecting notes related to specific projects
   • Can lead to unfinished projects and a lack of construction in your permanent notes
3. Treating all notes as fleeting notes
   • The more we collect, the more effective our notes should be

7 - Nobody Ever Starts From Scratch

• We are not guided through an outline, but rather our previous experiences and thoughts. As a result, ideas from our slip-box will naturally come to aid
• Through an effective notes system, one may never have to start from scratch ever again
• It makes sense to procrastinate if the task at hand is something we are unfamiliar of

8 - Let the Work Carry You Forward

• A good workflow is one where our efforts continue to provide momentum
• The fundamental of our work has to be rewarding for us to enjoy it
• Having a growth mindset and a learning system that practically enables feedback loops is best for effortless work
• Paraphrasing and personal implementation allows us to relate it to our previous notes
• Learning new ideas becomes harder as we age, but being able to connect things with previously learned ideas makes it way easier

9 - Separate and Interlocking Tasks

1. Undivided Attention
   • There are more sources of distraction then there are for practicing concentration
2. Multitasking is a no-no
   • Multitasking is constantly switching between two things, which drains our energy
3. Appropriately Engage With the Right Attention
   • Writing ideas, outlining, proofreading, and reading require different kinds of attention
   • One should be able to switch between creative and analytical thinking
4. Expert > Planner
   • We only start to learn when we stop making plans
   • We need freedom to make our own decisions
   • Following rules makes one competent, but not a master/expert
   • The abstractness of a slip-box allows us to practice our idea-making and navigation skills
5. Closure
   • Both attention and short-term memory is limited
   • Understanding information makes us have to remember less ideas to remember more things, as the main ideas will be connected to everything else
   • Open tasks tend to occupy our short-term memory, which is why writing things down helps reduce mental baggage
     • We can utilize this idea to keep unanswered questions we’re trying to solve in our mind while doing other things
6. Reduce Decisions
   • Motivation and willpower is also limited
   • Ego-depletion (use of willpower) is consumed by countless sources
     • Therefore, we must act as if we are doing something to exert less willpower than actually doing it: familiarity

10 - Read for Understanding

Constant and Accesible Documentation

• A slip-box turns external resources into personal ideas
• Since a rough draft is just the combination of the ideas, being able to record these ideas while reading acts as writing a rough draft
• Being able to convert things into your own context allows you to incorporate your unique perspective into forming new ideas
• A good reader can take things from an unfamiliar context and connect it to relevant ideas and themes
• Copying words strip them out of the context they are in, making them less effective, thus making it hard to string ideas together
• It’s encouraged to slowly intake new information through an abundance of notes to provide a solid foundation
• Slip-box notes should be extracted from literary notes
• Notes are useless if we don’t understand them

Keeping an Open mind

• Focusing on a thesis before doing research promotes confirmation bias, which can prevent us from recognizing important ideas solely because they go against our thesis
  • Instead, we should have an unbiased understanding of the text we read before making conclusions and connections
• Slip box entries should create or is accepting of connections
  • Contradictions, additional information
  • Instead of focusing on the project, focus on expanding the slip-box, as expanding our knowledge is a major purpose of learning and research

Gist and Relevancy

• Acknowledging the important ideas of a book and quickly navigating it to find relevant and important information is key to reading efficiently
  • Spotting patterns, questioning ideas
• Intelligence comes from being concise

Reading Fundamentals

• Not verifying our learning jeopardizes whether we have actually internalized the information
• Copying vs paraphrasing is the same as pretending to be smart vs trying to be smart

Reading and Learning

• Being taught in an organized way prevents us from making connections ourselves
• Exercise helps to transfer information into long-term memory and reduces stress
• Rather than review, we should elaborate and further understand what we read
  • Elaboration encourages us to refine our fundamentals to tackle more complex concepts
    • This elaboration can be practiced by making connections
• A slip-box cannot think and understand things for us, it is only to organize our ideas and make connections
  • A slip-box does all the storing so we can think creatively

11 - Smart Notes

• Good readers can find holes in text
• Collecting ideas is far more valuable than copying quotes
• Author dives into his thought process when taking notes on a book
  • Permanent notes were the answers to questions like:
    • How does this relate to the research and questions already in my slip-box?
    • Why did this information capture my interest?
      • ex) on a book about scarcity, he made a note with the idea how “Any comprehensive analysis of social inequality must include the cognitive effects of scarcity”
        • He created a note to capture the relevance of the book to his system, and a note to elaborate on the relevant idea
          • The new note acts as a gateway for further research
• Making connections declares the differences yet connection between two ideas
• A slip-box provides engagement for older thoughts

Effortless

• Transferring ideas into a slip-box allows us to free mental space and energy
• Although remembering everything is convenient, it prevents us from focusing on the more important information and understanding the main concepts of something
• Brain capacity improves overtime
• Think about what cues can trigger desired memories
  • Connections and contexts

Steps to establishing a new note

1. Put the note in it’s appropriate place
2. Connect it with other notes
3. Ensure it can be navigated from the index
4. Repeat

12 - Ideas

• Zettlekasten is not an encyclopedia, but a tool to think with

  • It’s okay to have gaps

• Possible uses of the note are effective keywords

  • Usually aren’t words in the note

• Link notes to MOC

• Slip boxes prevent the rediscovering of information

• Slip boxes are a parallel of our human brain

• Incorporate elaboration, spaced reptition, deliberate practice, and variation to help understand topics in the slip box

• Purpose of Slip-box

  • Develop topics
  • Make creative connections
  • Compare and alter previous notes
  • Assemble a toolbox for thinking
  • Creativity machine
    • Innovation derives from small, incremental steps that add up

• Attention is found when we are aware of everything, not just one thing

• The ability to create solutions is correlated to the ability to make abstractions

• Creating new ideas is hard because of our inability to break old ones

• To truly internalize writing, we need to revise our thoughts

• New ideas are forged by finding new principles to more complex ideas

• Restrictions can help amplify our thinking and creativity

  • Structure helps us use other things as support and connection
  • Restrictions help us prioritize and make decisions

13 - Sharing Ideas

• To land a successful topic to talk about, look through your notes to see any well-developed or eye-catching clusters
  • Navigating through our slip-box helps generate new ideas
• Finding importance in what we are learning
  • Relations to personal goals, perspective, life
• Take the path of least resistance
  • If something isn’t flowing as well as it should have, consider switching to something else you need to work on
    • Of course, you need to know the difference between just being lazy and feeling that your productivity could be more useful elsewhere

We Suck at Planning

• Overconfidence bias underestimates the time we need to work on something
  • Be realistic
  • Our plans don’t always go as planned, so the changes will affect our time spent
• The zeigarnik implies that our brains tend to focus on a task at hand until it is either finished or written down
  • The closer we are to finishing it, the more productive we will be
    • Making these tasks smaller will increase the amount of speed-up time we have
• Instead of keeping unecessary ideas in a paper, keep them in a separate note for you to look back upon later on