I found the best way to take book notes

Summary

In this video, philosopher Jared Henderson shares his effective method for remembering what you read from books. He emphasizes the importance of active reading through minimal annotations and avoiding common mistakes like over-annotating or writing too much in the margins. Henderson then suggests exporting annotations to note cards, sorting them, and actively reflecting on the material by teaching or writing letters to authors. This process transforms learning into an ongoing activity, ensuring better retention and understanding of the content.

Takeaways

• 📚 Taking notes while reading is essential for retaining information, applicable to both fiction and non-fiction genres.
• ✏️ Over-annotating can be counterproductive; minimal and focused annotations are more effective for future reference.
• 🔍 Different annotation symbols (e.g., underlining, circling, bracketing) can provide more context and clarity compared to simple highlighting.
• 💭 Writing lengthy notes in the margins can be confusing; concise notes or symbols are preferable for clarity and future review.
• 🏷 Using sticky tabs to flag annotations is a helpful method to quickly locate important sections for review.
• 🗣️ Speaking aloud or discussing ideas can be a useful way to process and remember what you've read, especially when on the go.
• 💼 Exporting annotations to note cards is a crucial step for consolidating and reviewing key points from the book.
• 🔄 Manually copying quotes and annotations into note cards or an app reinforces memory and understanding, avoiding over-reliance on automation.
• 🔍 Sorting note cards into themes helps in synthesizing ideas and understanding the book's structure or argument.
• 🤔 Active reflection, such as writing lesson plans or letters to authors, is a powerful method for internalizing and applying the knowledge gained from reading.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of taking book notes according to Jared Henderson?

The main purpose of taking book notes, as per Jared Henderson, is to remember and understand what you read, which is crucial for any kind of literature, including philosophy, non-fiction, and fiction.

What are the common mistakes Jared Henderson made in his note-taking journey?

Jared Henderson made three main mistakes: making too many annotations, only underlining without adding context, and writing too much in the margins.

Why does Jared Henderson suggest using minimal annotations?

Jared suggests using minimal annotations to avoid overwhelming the text and to allow for future annotations during rereads, ensuring that the reader can engage with the material multiple times without running out of space for new insights.

What alternative methods does Jared Henderson recommend for annotating a book besides underlining?

Jared recommends using a pencil to underline important passages, bracketing entire paragraphs, circling words that need definition, adding stars next to key points, and using question marks for confusing parts.

What is the significance of using sticky tabs in Jared's note-taking method?

Jared suggests using sticky tabs next to annotations to easily locate and revisit important points later, which aids in the review process and helps in organizing thoughts.

How does Jared Henderson utilize Plot AI in his note-taking process?

Jared uses Plot AI to transcribe his spoken thoughts or discussions, which is particularly helpful when he's on the go and unable to write notes directly.

What does Jared mean by 'exporting' in the context of note-taking?

In the context of note-taking, 'exporting' refers to the process of transferring annotations from the book into a more reviewable format, such as note cards, where the reader can manually copy and reflect on the important points.

Why is manually copying information from a book into note cards beneficial according to Jared?

Manually copying information helps in retaining the information better and allows for deeper processing of the material, as opposed to automating the process which can reduce the opportunity for review and understanding.

What is the final step Jared Henderson suggests after sorting note cards, and why is it important?

The final step Jared suggests is 'active reflection,' which involves using the acquired knowledge in some way, such as writing lesson plans, blog posts, or engaging in imagined dialogues with the authors. This step is crucial as it helps in truly understanding and retaining the information by actively engaging with it.

How does Jared Henderson's note-taking method help in incorporating book knowledge into one's life?

Jared's method helps incorporate book knowledge into one's life by encouraging a deep engagement with the text through close reading, annotation, exporting, sorting, and active reflection, which collectively aid in understanding, retention, and the ability to form one's ideas based on the acquired knowledge.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Importance of Note-Taking for Reading

The speaker, Jared Henderson, emphasizes the significance of taking notes while reading to enhance retention and understanding. He shares his personal journey in finding an effective note-taking system, highlighting common pitfalls such as overly complicated methods and the tendency to annotate excessively. Henderson suggests that minimal, purposeful annotations are key, and he discusses his approach to marking important passages and concepts using various symbols. He also touches on the value of re-reading and the importance of not overcrowding the margins with excessive notes to leave room for future annotations.

05:01

🔖 Annotation Techniques and Exporting Notes

This section delves into the specifics of annotating books with a focus on using different symbols to mark important points, such as underlining, circling, and bracketing. The speaker also introduces the use of sticky tabs to flag annotations. He then transitions into the process of exporting notes, advocating for the use of note cards to manually copy and review key points from the annotations. The act of manually copying is stressed as a means to reinforce memory and understanding. The speaker also mentions the use of technology like Plot AI for transcription and the importance of not relying too heavily on automation in the note-taking process.

10:02

🤔 Active Reflection: From Notes to Knowledge Application

The final paragraph focuses on the concept of active reflection, which involves taking the exported notes and engaging with the information in a meaningful way. The speaker suggests creating lesson plans or writing letters to dead authors as methods to actively use and reflect on the acquired knowledge. He argues that this step is crucial for truly learning and retaining information from books. The process of teaching or writing about the material helps to solidify understanding and transform learning into an ongoing process rather than a one-time event.

Keywords

💡Book notes

Book notes refer to the practice of jotting down key points, ideas, or quotes from a book as one reads. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of taking book notes to remember and understand the content better. The speaker shares personal experiences and a simple method they've developed for taking effective book notes, which includes annotating the book and then exporting the annotations to note cards for review and reflection.

💡Annotation

Annotation in the context of the video is the act of marking or commenting on a text, typically a book, to highlight important points or to add one's own thoughts. The speaker discusses how annotating a book can enhance engagement and provide a foundation for later note-taking. They also share common mistakes, such as over-annotating or writing too much in the margins, which can detract from the effectiveness of the notes.

💡Retention

Retention in this video refers to the ability to remember and retain information from what one has read. The speaker argues that taking book notes and actively engaging with the material through annotation and reflection can improve retention. They suggest that the act of writing notes by hand or manually copying them can help in processing and remembering the information.

💡Note cards

Note cards are small pieces of paper used to write down notes, quotes, or ideas from a book. In the video, the speaker advocates for using note cards as a method of exporting annotations from a book. They explain that physically writing on note cards and sorting them can help in organizing thoughts and deepening understanding of the material.

💡Active reflection

Active reflection is the process of engaging with the information learned by applying it in a meaningful way, such as teaching, writing, or discussing it. The speaker introduces this concept as a crucial step in the note-taking process, suggesting that by actively using the knowledge gained from a book, one can better retain and understand it. Examples include writing lesson plans or letters to dead authors to simulate a dialogue with the book's content.

💡Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The speaker, Jared Henderson, identifies himself as a philosopher and applies philosophical methods to his approach to reading and note-taking. The video uses philosophy as a backdrop for discussing the importance of deep reading and critical engagement with texts.

💡Non-fiction

Non-fiction refers to literature that is fact-based and presents real events or information, as opposed to fiction. The video discusses the note-taking process for non-fiction books, which often involves focusing on information and key arguments. The speaker's method is particularly tailored to enhance understanding and memory of non-fiction content.

💡Fiction

Fiction is a form of literature that tells a story not based on real events but rather on imagination and invention. While discussing note-taking, the speaker differentiates between non-fiction and fiction, suggesting that annotations for fiction might focus on themes, character development, or narrative style, rather than just factual information.

💡Marginalia

Marginalia are notes, comments, or observations written in the margins of a book. The speaker discusses the practice of writing in the margins as part of the annotation process, cautioning against writing too much, which can clutter the page and detract from the value of the notes.

💡Curating information

Curating information in the context of the video means selectively choosing and organizing content to highlight its most important aspects. The speaker advises against over-annotating, suggesting that curating information by making minimal and meaningful annotations helps in focusing on the most crucial parts of the text.

💡Sticky tabs

Sticky tabs are small adhesive markers used to flag pages in a book. The speaker mentions using sticky tabs next to annotations as a way to easily locate important notes later. This tool is part of the speaker's method for organizing and reviewing notes from a book.

Highlights

Taking book notes is essential for remembering what you read, applicable to both non-fiction and fiction.

Note-taking systems should be simple and sustainable, avoiding over-complication.

The speaker, Jared Henderson, shares his personal note-taking method that works best for him.

Reading the book and annotating it is the first step in the note-taking process.

Annotations should be minimal and focused on crucial information to aid future review.

Avoid over-annotating, which can negate the purpose of highlighting important content.

Differentiate annotations with various symbols like underlining, bracketing, circling, and starring.

Writing too much in the margins can be counterproductive; keep annotations concise.

Using sticky tabs can help flag important annotations for later reference.

Talking out loud can be a useful method for note-taking when on the go.

Plot AI is recommended for transcribing thoughts and ideas for better retention.

Exporting annotations from the book to note cards is a crucial step in the note-taking process.

Manually copying quotes and annotations helps with information retention.

Sorting note cards into themes helps in understanding and synthesizing ideas.

Active reflection on the notes, such as writing lesson plans or letters to authors, enhances learning.

Incorporating active reflection ensures that learning becomes an ongoing process rather than a one-time event.

Transcripts

I read a lot of books and if you want to

remember what you read then one of the

best things that you can do is to take

book notes this is true for philosophy

but also any other kind of non-fiction

and fiction as well if you want to

remember what you read you need to take

notes I've tried a lot of different

note- taking systems over the last 10

years or so and what I found is that

these practices are often too

complicated they're difficult to sustain

or they try to get me to think in a

certain kind of way that I don't always

find natural but I think I found the

best way to take notes or at least the

one that really works for me and I want

to share it with you I'm going to tell

you about some of the mistakes that I've

made along the way on my notetaking

Journey as well as the really simple

method that I now use to take notes I'm

Jared Henderson I'm a philosopher and I

also love to read books and if you end

up liking this video or you've liked

some of my other videos maybe try

checking out my substack I write several

times a week on there right now I'm

doing a readal of Aristotle's nickam

mckian ethics and if you become a paying

subscriber you're helping me bring this

content to YouTube and supporting me on

top of that I think you'd enjoy what I

write okay so the very first step in

this method is to read the book and

annotate there is no shortcut or hack

here you need to take your time you need

to read slowly you need to really pay

attention if the point of note taking is

to really understand the book then if

you cut some Corners here you're

basically undermining the entire process

while you're reading you're going to

want to make annotations by annotating

your book you'll become an even more

engaged reader but also these

annotations are going to set you up for

Success later on this is a place where I

used to make a lot of mistakes and there

were really three big ones so if you

take a look at my old copy of aerosotle

nicoman Ethics which I've read multiple

times I've had it for at least 10 years

you will find pages that are almost

completely covered in annotations just

take a look at this page more than half

of the lines are underlined and I

actually think that this form of

annotating is completely useless

annotations are indicators for your

future self as you read you are

highlighting what you think is important

so that you can go back and revisit it

later but but if you're underlining half

the words or sometimes even every line

on the page then you haven't done any of

that sort of curation for yourself

you've just said every line seems

important and that's equivalent to not

underlining at all you could just read

the page again so mistake one was making

too many annotations I think that

annotations in general should be quite

minimal they should be really readable

and they should be focused on those

crucial bits of information in the book

that's for non-fiction obviously for

Fiction it's a little bit different cuz

you're not just reading for information

in the same way but here you might want

to annotate things about theme for

instance and not every single line is

going to be relevant to the theme of the

book by making minimal annotations

you're also giving yourself room for a

reread good books are worth reading more

than once and you're going to have

different thoughts as you read a book

for a second or a third or a fourth time

I think I'm on like my sixth or seventh

read of the nican ethics at this point

but because of the way that I annotated

this book my first time and maybe my

second time time I've just given myself

no room for future annotations if I want

to make annotations in my book I would

need to buy another copy the second

mistake I made was only underlining so

underlining basically just highlights

text but it doesn't tell you anything

about why you're highlighting that text

or why you think it's important so if I

look at one of those passages where I

underlined everything am I saying that

it's important confusing maybe difficult

to understand do I think it's a call

back to an earlier part of the book I

haven't given myself any of that

information so instead I think it's nice

to come up with different ways to

annotate your book now if you're using a

highlighter which I don't love cuz I

don't like the way it looks you could

just color code so like blue could mean

that something is important and this

pink could mean that something is

difficult and you would just kind of

come up with a key for your different

colors instead I now annotate just using

a pencil I will sometimes underline

passages that I think are important but

if I think it's a whole passage I'll use

a bracket because it's fewer lines and

it just takes up less space I will

Circle words that I think need to be

defined or I think are maybe being used

in a weird way that way I can think

about how the writer is using them I'll

put stars next to important passages or

important lines as well and I'll put

question marks next to things that I

don't understand or find confusing you

could come up with your own symbols

there's a lot of flexibility here the

point is just come up with those

different symbols to give yourself more

information later on my third mistake

was writing too much in the margins

writing one or two words next to a

passage is totally fine but I was

writing entire sentences that were

curving around the page in strange ways

and if you need to write something that

complicated about the passage I think

the best thing you can do is find

another place to write it the next step

for annotating is that I like to put

these sticky tabs next to my annotation

basically I'm just flagging where the

annotations are this is optional you can

also use those metal book tabs if you'd

like but I think it's actually a very

helpful step now since we're talking

about booknotes you might be wondering

what you're supposed to do when you're

out on the go and I found one of the

things I like to do is just talk out

loud especially if I'm like on a walk

it's a little bit inconvenient when

you're out on a walk to just start

writing and that brings us to today's

sponsor plot AI plot AI is a way for you

to transcribe meetings or conversations

or just thoughts you're having about

whatever you're reading they use GPT 40

in order to make the transcription a lot

better a little more accurate I found by

the way that this is a perennial problem

accurate transcriptions in various apps

have been really hard to come by it also

lets you record phone calls but you have

to flip a switch in order for it to be

able to record any of your phone calls

that might seem a little in convenient

but I actually think it's a nice feature

that way you know that you're not like

accidentally recording private phone

calls I've also been working on another

project lately on a book and I found

that one of the things I need to do is

just interview people to get their

experiences or their expertise for the

book project and I can just record these

phone calls and then transcribe it and

plot can even add speaker labels to

cleanly separate who was talking when if

you're interested imp plot you can check

out my link Down Below in the

description when we've gone through our

book we've annotated we've tried to mark

what we think the important parts of the

book are especially for whatever

purposes figuring out why we're reading

the book but now we need to go and do

something with those annotations just

annotating your book is not enough they

don't really count as notes yet and I

actually just think the act of

annotating if you're not going to do

anything with it later is also kind of

useless I just call this exporting what

I'm saying is we want to get those

annotations out of that book into a

format where you can review them more

easily and when I'm exporting I like to

use note cards I use note cards because

I like writing by hand there are apps

that you could use as well like obsidian

my only note about using apps though if

that's how you want to do it is to still

manually write this is especially

helpful if you've been reading like on a

Kindle or something where you can export

your highlights and some of your

thoughts I would suggest manually

copying those quotes into whatever app

you're using the reason I say that is

because the act of manually copying

whether that's by hand or by typing is

actually going to help you retain the

information and I think process it

better if you automate the process to

make it nice and convenient you're

actually robbing yourself of an

opportunity to review your notes and

annotations and to start retaining the

information that's in the book

automation is basically the enemy of

retaining information but of also

understanding complicated ideas these

books deserve your attention and you

shouldn't bring too much automation into

the process so what I do is go through

the book and I'm using those sticky tabs

to kind of indicate where my annotations

are and then I go through the book and I

start writing down my thoughts I will

copy quotes that I think are important

it's another reason why the quote

shouldn't be too long your hand's going

to cramp eventually I'll also add a

couple of little thoughts about the

quotes I'll put a page number so it's

easy for me to find this is also a great

place to write down sources that the

author was citing that you might want to

review what goes on these note cards can

really vary sometimes it's just copying

something from a book sometimes it's

adding your own analysis or thoughts be

flexible experiment and figure out

exactly what you need for whatever your

goals are this is also by the way a

great time to write down vocabulary that

you need to Define these can be

historical references bits of jargon

just words that you think the author is

using in a strange way take the time now

to Define that vocabulary my export

phase is really similar actually to a

system that's been used by Ryan holiday

and also Robert Green and I'm sure many

others have used this system I'm going

to link down below to a couple of videos

if you want a little bit more detail

about how they do it I think everyone

does it subtly differently and it's nice

to look and see what the options are so

you can figure out what's going to work

best for you so by exporting you are

methodically deciding what is important

in the book and that's why I say you

shouldn't have any shortcuts you should

make the decision about what's actually

going to go into your big stack of note

cards when you've gone through the book

and you have your note cards you're

going to need to sort them I me you

could put them all in one big pile but

probably common themes have Arisen and

you're going to want to try to manually

sort those thinking through how these

ideas can be grouped together is again

going to help you understand the book

even more if you're doing a larger

research project so you're not just

reading one book you can start combining

note cards from multiple different books

because you're finding common ideas from

different books that are all on some

topic and that's going to help you

synthesize them in whatever your

research project is that's really useful

for college students but also for people

who are trying to write a book a major

obstacle that you're going to have with

no cards is figuring out exactly how to

organize them I think this is actually

an advantage though because thinking

through how you're going to organize

them is also thinking through how you're

going to organize ideas kind of doing

that housekeeping that's going to let

you remember and better understand what

you're reading and if you're worried

about your no cards getting scattered

all over your desk I have some really

good news for you some leading

researchers have been investigating this

very important issue for a very long

time and they realized that what was

missing was like some kind of technology

that would clip pieces of paper together

and they finally cracked the code and

they've named it the paperclip and even

better the paperclip is very cheap it's

very accessible you can buy it almost

anywhere so some paper clips that way

you're going to be able to actually hold

your note cards together now aside from

the actual reading of the book this is

probably the most tedious part of the

process but I also think that this TDM

is part of what makes this an effective

way to take notes for a long time I used

to stop there I even made a video about

something like this system almost two

years ago and I didn't really go any

further than exporting and sorting note

cards but I think that I was missing a

crucial third step that's really helpful

for people I call this active reflection

the point here is to actually take the

information so these are my note cards

from about two chapters and to actually

do something with it you don't want the

information to just be static the the

knowledge to just be sitting there you

actually want to take it and start using

it because that again is going to help

you understand the ideas because once

you started using that knowledge you've

acquired it's actually going to stick

with you this is the step that has the

most flexibility so one thing I like to

do but it's very tedious is to write

something like a lesson plan so if I

were going to teach you know part of

Aristotle what would it look like if I

were lecturing say undergrads the point

is to like imagine that you're teaching

it to people who are just like a little

bit below you in knowledge and ability

they're not dumb they're not stupid you

don't need to talk down to them but they

know just a little bit less than you you

would need to introduce them to the

subject matter you would need to be able

to clearly State the author's thesis or

thesis if there's more than one you

would need to be able to Define key

terms to explain arguments and you would

need to be able to consider

complications and objections basically

start asking what are the sorts of

questions that someone who knew a little

bit less than you would have I actually

found this really useful lately I

mentioned that I've been reading

Aristotle on my substack so every week

my substack community has been reading

you know one of the books of Aristotle's

Nick mckian ethics there are 10 books in

that work and every week I've been

writing about 1,000 to maybe 1500 words

summarizing and lightly explaining the

text and I found that by actually trying

to answer the question questions that

have been arising from readers who have

maybe not read a lot of philosophy or

read this for the first time I've

learned more about the text they've

actually been able to point out blind

spots in my own understanding of

Aristotle despite the fact that I've

read it many times and so trying to

explain it to people who know just a

little bit less than you is just a

really powerful tool if that sounds

tedious or a little bit boring there are

other options I'll just talk about one

more but again I would really encourage

you to experiment here in

1886 Andrew Lang wrote a book called

letters to dead authors it's a weird

book I'm going to link it down below

because you can read it for free it's

public domain but I love this idea

essentially Lang just wrote letters to

some of his favorite authors and

thinkers and while a lot of the book is

just him praising he's also raising

criticisms and asking them questions

it's a really kind of intimate way to

start engaging with the ideas in a book

so you could even try to write these

letters to dead authors and then you

could try to imagine what they would say

back to you how would how would they

respond to the criticism that you're

raising books are like this amazing

technology that is able to get you into

like the mind of another person but it's

a one-way form of communication by

writing these letters we get to kind of

pretend like we're engaged in an

extended conversation with some of the

greatest thinkers from Millennia past

centuries past and from every corner of

the globe and you get to kind of imagine

yourself as part of this Grand

conversation where you're talking about

I ideas you could find other ways to

actively reflect on the text you could

just write blog posts to try to

summarize it you could write many essays

there's a video by another YouTuber that

I'll link Down Below on that topic the

point is to just find some way to start

using this knowledge that you've just

acquired from this book because once you

start using it that's how you really

learn it that's how you really retain it

you really remember it and it's how

you're able to eventually move on and

start forming your own ideas so you read

these books closely you annotate as you

go you export the information and then

you act reflect on it and that way

you're actually able to incorporate that

knowledge into your life and turn

learning not into something that you did

but something that you keep on doing