# How to Take Smart Notes  ## Metadata - Author: [[Sönke Ahrens]] - Full Title: How to Take Smart Notes - Category: #books ## Highlights - he started to think about how one idea could relate and contribute to different contexts. Just amassing notes in one place would not lead to anything other than a mass of notes. But he collected his notes in his slip-box in such a way that the collection became much more than the sum of its parts. His slip-box became his dialogue partner, main idea generator and productivity engine. It helped him to structure and develop his thoughts. And it was fun to work with – because it worked. ([Location 320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=320)) - Studies on highly successful people have proven again and again that success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place (cf. Neal et al. 2012; Painter et al. 2002; Hearn et al. 1998). ([Location 381](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=381)) - It is about having the right tools and knowing how to use them – and very few understand that you need both. ([Location 386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=386)) - Whenever he read something, he would write the bibliographic information on one side of a card and make brief notes about the content on the other side (Schmidt 2013, 170). These notes would end up in the bibliographic slip-box. In a second step, shortly after, he would look at his brief notes and think about their relevance for his own thinking and writing. He then would turn to the main slip-box and write his ideas, comments and thoughts on new pieces of paper, using only one for each idea and restricting himself to one side of the paper, to make it easier to read them later without having to take them out of the box. He kept them usually brief enough to make one idea fit on a single sheet, but would sometimes add another note to extend a thought. ([Location 419](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=419)) - We need a reliable and simple external structure to think in that compensates for the limitations of our brains. ([Location 457](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=457)) - Levy writes: “no matter how internal processes are implemented, (you) need to understand the extent to which the mind is reliant upon external scaffolding.” (2011, 270) If there is one thing the experts agree on, then it is this: You have to externalise your ideas, you have to write. ([Location 501](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=501)) - I strongly recommend using a free program like Zotero, which allows you to make new entries via browser plugins or just by entering the ISBN or digital object identifier (DOI) number. ([Location 636](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=636)) - I strongly recommend using Daniel Lüdecke’s Zettelkasten. It is the only program I know that really implements the principles behind Luhmann’s system and is at the same time simple and easy to use. It is free and available for different operating systems. You can download it from zettelkasten.danielluedecke.de ([Location 651](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=651)) - Even if you decide never to write a single line of a manuscript, you will improve your reading, thinking and other intellectual skills just by doing everything as if nothing counts other than writing. ([Location 738](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=738)) - In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon it again? ([Location 787](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=787)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Most students sort their material by topic or even by seminars and semester. From the perspective of someone who writes, that makes as much sense as sorting your errands by purchase date and the store they were bought from. ([Location 788](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=788)) - The slip-box is designed to present you with ideas you have already forgotten, allowing your brain to focus on thinking instead of remembering. ([Location 797](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=797)) - To achieve a critical mass, it is crucial to distinguish clearly between three types of notes: ([Location 802](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=802)) - Every intellectual endeavour starts from an already existing preconception, which then can be transformed during further inquires and can serve as a starting point for following endeavours. Basically, that is what Hans-Georg Gadamer called the hermeneutic circle (Gadamer 2004). ([Location 922](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=922)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Nothing motivates us more than the experience of becoming better at what we do. ([Location 1008](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1008)) - Proofreading, formulating and outlining are also different from the task of combining and developing thoughts. Working with the slip-box means playing with ideas and looking out for interesting connections and comparisons. It means building clusters, combining them with other clusters and preparing the order of notes for a project. Here, we need to puzzle with notes and find the best fit. It is much more associative, playful and creative than the other tasks and requires a very different kind of attention as well. ([Location 1166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1166)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - “On one hand, those with wandering, defocused, childlike minds seem to be the most creative; on the other, it seems to be analysis and application that’s important. The answer to this conundrum is that creative people need both … The key to creativity is being able to switch between a wide-open, playful mind and a narrow analytical frame.” (Dean, 2013, 152) ([Location 1184](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1184)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Real experts, Flyvbjerg writes unambiguously, don’t make plans (Flyvbjerg 2001, 19). ([Location 1256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1256)) - It is well known that decision-making is one of the most tiring and wearying tasks, which is why people like Barack Obama or Bill Gates only wear two suit colours: dark blue or dark grey. This means they have one less decision to make in the morning, leaving more resources for the decisions that really matter. ([Location 1352](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1352)) - Tags: [[blue]] - When we extract ideas from the specific context of a text, we deal with ideas that serve a specific purpose in a particular context, support a specific argument, are part of a theory that isn’t ours or written in a language we wouldn’t use. This is why we have to translate them into our own language to prepare them to be embedded into new contexts of our own thinking, the different context(s) within the slip-box. Translating means to give the truest possible account of the original work, using different words – it does not mean the freedom to make something fit. As well, the mere copying of quotes almost always changes their meaning by stripping them out of context, even though the words aren’t changed. This is a common beginner mistake, which can only lead to a patchwork of ideas, but never a coherent thought. ([Location 1395](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1395)) - Luhmann describes this step as follows: “I always have a slip of paper at hand, on which I note down the ideas of certain pages. On the backside I write down the bibliographic details. After finishing the book I go through my notes and think how these notes might be relevant for already written notes in the slip-box. It means that I always read with an eye towards possible connections in the slip-box.” (Luhmann et al., 1987, 150) ([Location 1404](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1404)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Because students can’t write fast enough to keep up with everything that is said in a lecture, they are forced to focus on the gist of what is being said, not the details. But to be able to note down the gist of a lecture, you have to understand it in the first place. So if you are writing by hand, you are forced to think about what you hear (or read) – otherwise you wouldn’t be able to grasp the underlying principle, the idea, the structure of an argument. ([Location 1441](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1441)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Extracting the gist of a text or an idea and giving an account in writing is for academics what daily practice on the piano is for pianists: The more often we do it and the more focused we are, the more virtuous we become. ([Location 1526](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1526)) - “Nonage [immaturity] is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one’s own mind without another’s guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) ‘Have the courage to use your own understanding,’ is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment.” (Kant 1784) ([Location 1540](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1540)) - Rewriting what was already written almost automatically trains one to shift the attention towards frames, patterns and categories in the observations, or the conditions/assumptions, which enable certain, but not other descriptions. ([Location 1550](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1550)) - If you now think: “That’s ridiculous. Who would want to read and pretend to learn just for the illusion of learning and understanding?” please look up the statistics: The majority of students chooses every day not to test themselves in any way. Instead, they apply the very method research has shown again (Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger 2009) and again (Brown 2014, ch. 1) to be almost completely useless: rereading and underlining sentences for later rereading. And most of them choose that method, even if they are taught that they don’t work. Consciously, we probably would all choose the same, but what really matters are the many small, implicit choices we have to make every day, and they are most often made unconsciously. This is why choosing an external system that forces us to deliberate practice and confronts us as much as possible with our lack of understanding or not-yet-learned information is such a smart move. We only have to make the conscious choice once. ([Location 1601](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1601)) - There is a clear division of labour between the brain and the slip-box: The slip-box takes care of details and references and is a long-term memory resource that keeps information objectively unaltered. That allows the brain to focus on the gist, the deeper understanding and the bigger picture, and frees it up to be creative. Both the brain and the slip-box can focus on what they are best at. ([Location 1663](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1663)) - Luhmann states as clearly as possible: it is not possible to think systematically without writing (Luhmann 1992, 53). ([Location 1750](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1750)) - A common way to embed an idea into the context of the slip-box is by writing out the reasons of its importance for your own lines of thought. ([Location 1772](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1772)) - man who was really able to remember almost everything. The reporter Solomon Shereshevsky (Lurija 1987) ([Location 1826](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1826)) - Learning would be not so much about saving information, like on a hard disk, but about building connections and bridges between pieces of information to circumvent the inhibition mechanism in the right moment. It is about making sure that the right “cues” trigger the right memory, about how we can think strategically to remember the most useful information when we need it. ([Location 1867](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1867)) - Tags: [[pink]] [[favorite]] - The way people choose their keywords shows clearly if they think like an archivist or a writer. Do they wonder where to store a note or how to retrieve it? The archivist asks: Which keyword is the most fitting? A writer asks: In which circumstances will I want to stumble upon this note, even if I forget about it? It is a crucial difference. ([Location 2022](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2022)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, never by looking at the note in isolation. This is also why this process cannot be automated or delegated to a machine or program – it requires thinking. ([Location 2046](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2046)) - To be able to play with ideas, we first have to liberate them from their original context by means of abstraction and re-specification. We did this when we took literature notes and translated them into the different contexts within the slip-box. ([Location 2256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2256)) - Tags: [[favorite]] [[pink]] - If open-mindedness is all that is needed, the best artists and scientists were hobbyists. ([Location 2498](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2498)) - The slip-box is in some way what the chemical industry calls “verbund.” This is a setup in which the inevitable by-product of one production line becomes the resource for another, which again produces by-products that can be used in other processes and so on, until a network of production lines becomes so efficiently intertwined that there is no chance of an isolated factory competing with it anymore.[40] ([Location 2557](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2557)) - “When I am stuck for one moment, I leave it and do something else.” When he was asked what else he did when he was stuck, his answer was: “Well, writing other books. I always work on different manuscripts at the same time. With this method, to work on different things simultaneously, I never encounter any mental blockages.” (Luhmann, Baecker, and Stanitzek 1987, 125–55) ([Location 2570](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2570)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Slavoj Žižek said in an interview[41] that he wouldn’t be able to write a single sentence if he didn’t start by convincing himself he was only writing down some ideas for himself, and that maybe he could turn it into something publishable later. By the time he stopped writing, he was always surprised to find that the only thing left to do was revise the draft he already had. ([Location 2643](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2643)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - “kill your darlings.”[42] This becomes much easier when you move the questionable passages into another document and tell yourself you might use them later. For every document I write, I have another called “xy-rest.doc,” and every single time I cut something, I copy it into the other document, convincing myself that I will later look through it and add it back where it might fit. Of course, it never happens – but it still works. Others who know a thing or two about psychology do the same (cf. Thaler, 2015, 81f). ([Location 2648](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2648)) - As soon as we have developed a new routine, we can do what intuitively feels right, which requires no effort. Watching others reading books and doing nothing other than underlining some sentences or making unsystematic notes that will end up nowhere will soon be a painful sight. ([Location 2683](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2683)) - First of all, the long-term, cross-topic organization of notes, which is guided only by one’s own understanding and interest, is very much at odds with the modular, compartmentalised and top-down approach in which the curricula of universities and colleges are organised. Teaching is still set up for review, and students are not really encouraged to independently build a network of connections between heterogeneous information – despite the radical change in our understanding on how our memory and learning works. ([Location 2699](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2699)) - Tags: [[flash]] [[favorite]] - Note: Conspiracy theories vs education- peoples history revisionist