5 Ways to Actually USE the Notes You Take
Summary
TLDRThis video provides practical strategies for effectively utilizing the notes you take, beyond just storing them. It introduces methods like processing notes immediately after meetings or reading, revisiting old notes through random selections, using graph views in Obsidian to link isolated notes, and adding summary properties for quick reference. The video also emphasizes the importance of publishing your work online, not just for visibility but as a way to deepen your understanding. These tips aim to enhance your note-taking system, making it more functional and impactful.
Takeaways
- 📝 Takeaway 1: The importance of not only taking notes but also processing them effectively to utilize them as a 'second brain'.
- 🔍 Takeaway 2: Developing a 'processing' habit for notes, inspired by Zettelkasten method, to ensure clarity and future usefulness.
- 🖋️ Takeaway 3: Rereading notes to flesh out ideas and highlight key points for easier future reference.
- 🔄 Takeaway 4: Rewriting main points in one's own words to aid in learning and internalization of information.
- 🔗 Takeaway 5: Linking notes to other relevant notes and adding tags for better organization and retrieval.
- 📚 Takeaway 6: The practice of 'Random Note Fridays' to review and work on notes that might have been overlooked.
- 📊 Takeaway 7: Using graph view in note-taking apps like Obsidian to find and connect 'lonely' or unattached notes.
- 📑 Takeaway 8: Adding a 'summary' property to notes for a quick overview and to indicate processed notes.
- 🌐 Takeaway 9: The benefits of publishing notes online, such as personal blogs or websites, for idea consolidation and potential career advantages.
- 💡 Takeaway 10: The long-term value of note-taking as a form of thinking, which improves understanding and note-taking skills over time.
Q & A
What is the main challenge with note-taking according to the speaker?
-The main challenge is not just taking notes, but being able to do something useful with them, essentially making the 'second brain' function effectively.
What is the term used by the speaker for reviewing and refining notes after initial creation?
-The term used is 'processing my notes', which is a practice loosely based on Zettelkasten.
What is the first step in the speaker's note processing method?
-The first step is to reread the notes, flesh out ideas, and clarify the content for future reference.
How does the speaker suggest highlighting important parts in the notes?
-The speaker suggests using bold for key points and italics for helper phrases or related information in the raw notes.
What action should be taken after highlighting the notes according to the speaker?
-After highlighting, add a section at the top of the note rewriting the main points in your own words, link to other notes, add tags, and optionally write a one-sentence summary.
What is the purpose of 'Random Note Fridays' as suggested by the speaker?
-The purpose is to review and work on notes that haven't been seen in a while, ensuring they are fleshed out, linked, and integrated into the larger note system.
Why is using the graph view in Obsidian useful for note processing?
-Using the graph view helps find unattached or 'lonely' notes, which can then be linked and incorporated into the larger system, ensuring no note is left unprocessed.
What is the benefit of adding a 'summary' property to notes?
-Adding a 'summary' property provides a quick overview of what the note is about, aiding in quick recall and indicating whether the note has been processed.
How does the speaker emphasize the importance of publishing work based on notes?
-The speaker emphasizes that publishing work forces one to fully flesh out ideas, creates an online presence, and can lead to career opportunities, as it did for the speaker.
What is the long-term benefit of consistently publishing notes according to the speaker?
-The long-term benefit is the compounding interest of value in writing, which can improve one's understanding of topics and overall note-taking skills.
How does the speaker suggest finding notes for review if the random button in Obsidian becomes less helpful?
-The speaker suggests using a plugin like 'Smart Random Note' that allows specifying properties to find notes that need review, making the process more targeted.
Outlines
📝 Enhancing Note-Taking Efficiency
The speaker discusses the importance of not just taking notes but also effectively using them. They introduce their personal system for processing notes, which includes rereading, highlighting key points, rewriting main points in their own words, and linking to other notes. Additionally, they suggest using a 'random note' feature in note-taking apps like Obsidian to review and work on notes that might have been neglected. The speaker also emphasizes the value of adding a summary to notes for quick reference and the benefits of publishing work online to solidify understanding and build an online presence.
🌐 Utilizing Data Views and Publishing for Note Integration
In the second paragraph, the speaker focuses on the use of data views and tables to pull in summary information from notes, allowing for a quick overview of content without needing to open each note. They also stress the importance of publishing notes online, whether through a personal blog or other platforms, as a means to fully develop ideas and establish an online presence. Publishing work is portrayed as a long-term investment in one's career and personal growth, with potential benefits such as attracting professional opportunities and enhancing understanding of topics through the act of writing and sharing thoughts.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Note Taking
💡Obsidian
💡Second Brain
💡Processing Notes
💡Random Note Fridays
💡Graph View
💡Summary Property
💡Digital Gardening
💡Publishing Your Work
💡Zettelkasten
Highlights
Developing a system to effectively use notes beyond just taking them is crucial for a functioning 'second brain'.
The process of 'processing notes' involves rereading, clarifying, and emphasizing key points for future reference.
Using bold and italics to highlight main points and helper phrases in raw notes aids in quick recollection.
Rewriting main points in one's own words at the top of the note aids in internalization and provides a quick summary for future review.
Linking notes to other relevant notes and adding tags is an essential part of the note processing system.
Random Note Fridays is a practice to review and work on notes that might have been overlooked.
Obsidian's random note feature can be used to revisit and potentially refine older notes.
Using a plugin like 'Smart Random Note' can help in processing notes based on specific properties.
Graph view in Obsidian can be utilized to find and connect 'lone' or unattached notes.
Adding a 'summary' property to notes provides a quick overview and aids in identifying unprocessed notes.
Using data view tables to display summaries of notes can streamline the process of revisiting and understanding notes.
Publishing notes online, such as on a personal blog or professional platform, can enhance the value of the notes and demonstrate expertise.
Publishing work online can lead to career opportunities and establish an online presence.
SEO and search engine optimization can make self-published content discoverable and potentially popular over time.
Forcing oneself to publish notes compels deeper thinking and understanding of topics.
The act of publishing notes can improve one's note-taking skills and overall thought process.
Transcripts
if you're anything like me you have
become a diligent Note Taker whether
you're in meetings taking notes on that
or studying a topic or anything else you
have obsidian or another not taking app
you've built systems you've built
customizations and you've gotten really
good at taking notes but that is just
the first step what you need is to
actually be able to do something with
those notes and that is by far the
hardest part so you have your second
brain but is it actually functioning
like a second brain so I've developed a
few different systems that I use to
actually use the notes that I'm taking
and I want to share some of those with
you just to note this is not definitive
there are lots of additional things you
can be doing and I think technology is
eventually going to catch up too but for
now I think that these are some really
great ways you could actually use the
notes that you take these are five ways
to actually use the notes that you're
taking always process article book or
meeting notes after writing or importing
I've developed a practice that I like to
call processing my notes it's sort of
loosely based on zel Ken and the process
is outlined in this book how to take
smart notes but it's been modified for
my use and I'm going to show you kind of
what that means here too at some point
you will finish writing a note whether
that's after a meeting is over or after
you finish reading an article or reading
a book and you'll have a list or a note
full of things that you wanted to
remember from that not note there are a
few different steps after that point
that I take in order to process my notes
the first is actually reread everything
and as I'm rereading it I flesh out the
ideas I make sure everything that I'm
writing is clear enough for my future
self and as I'm going through it I will
bold and italicize certain parts of
those raw notes so key points that I
want to jump out at me when I reread
this note I'll make in bold and helper
phrases or anything kind of related to
that I'll add in italicize after that's
done I'll add another section to the
very top of the note where I rewrite the
main points in my own words this forces
me to actually think about what I'm
learning and internalize it plus it's a
gift for my future self when I return
back to this note to remember what I
found valuable from it this is also the
point where you link to your other notes
you add tags you do all that
housekeeping stuff and optionally if you
have a property tag for summary write a
one- sentence summary and I'm going to
talk a little bit more about that later
in this video start doing random note
Fridays there is a button on the left
hand side bar of obsidian that looks
like a die and when you click it it
opens a random note this isn't just
gambling it's actually a great way to
review notes that you might not have
seen in a while so dedicate maybe 30
minutes 45 minutes every Friday and
click that note and go back and review
random notes in your system but don't
just read them actually do work on them
so flesh out the ideas link them to
other notes in your system or if
relevant copy that stuff from that note
and paste it into another note that you
have and just delete the the note that
you're not really using that much if you
have a big Vault and eventually you will
the random button might not be as
helpful to you so you might want to look
at a plugin there's one called smart
random note where you can specify
certain properties of notes that you
would like to be uh bubbled up when you
click the button so it's not quite as
random as the built-in random note but
it'll help you actually process notes
that you want to be looking back and
reviewing implementing a habit like this
is going to be great for reviewing old
notes and remembering what you wrote use
graph view to find Lone notes and make
them less lonely the graph View and
obsidian can be mesmerizing and is a
particular draw to people that are new
to obsidian but as you work in the
system you find that you just don't
quite use it that much because it's just
not that useful except for one way if
you use your graph view to find
individual nodes that are unattached
that's a great way to go through your
system and find notes that might not be
processed so when you jump into those
notes see if there is a link to any
other notes in your system do the sort
of housekeeping that you would do on any
of your other notes and make sure that
those ideas in those unattached nodes
are incorporated into your larger system
this can be done on Friday like your
random note habit or just anytime you
want to get a little bit done in your
Vault if you're approaching your Vault
like a digital Gardener this is sort of
like pruning the tree add a summary
property to all applicable notes I
mentioned before that you might want to
have a property of your notes called
summary and this is great for meeting
notes I talk about it in my meeting
notes tutorial uh video but it's also
really handy for a lot of other notes in
your system basically you can add a
property called summary and then for
notes that are applicable just add a
one- sentence summary as to what that
note is about then you can use data view
tables and that data view table table
can p pull in that summary information
on a map of contents or any other page
that you create that you list all of
those notes that way when you're seeing
a list of all of your notes you have a
quick summary at a glance so you know
what is in that note so you don't have
to jump into it and reread it every time
you want to go back through that
information you'll have a nice summary
for yourself and it's also a really
great indicator if you have already
processed that note or not if you add a
summary then you can look through all of
your notes and see which have summaries
and which don't and then jump into those
ones that don't have a summary because
those are kind of on your to-do list
that you want to revisit at some point
and lastly and most importantly publish
your work I can't emphasize this enough
publish your work it could be a personal
blog that you do it could be WordPress
Squarespace whatever you want to do
please just get your work out there it's
really great in terms of forcing you to
fully flesh out your ideas and even if
nobody's reading it it will compound an
interest for you in terms of the value
of this note because in the future you
may have somebody Googling your name
because they're thinking about hiring
you or you want to have some sort of
online presence and having this writing
online will show proof that you are
thoughtful that you're thinking of a
variety of topics and it has been the
most valuable thing for me in my career
and it will be for you as well many
years ago when I was working retail I
created a WordPress website and I just
started randomly publishing things
because of that I happened to get my
very first job as a staff writer based
on this portfolio of work that I just
personally self-published you can create
content that is kind of niche in terms
of your specialty and then even if
nobody's reading it immediately you'll
eventually that SEO or search engine
optimization juice you never know what
of your writing is going to pop off and
get popular but doing this and doing it
for a sustained amount of time will
provide value like I said it's
compounding interest of value in your
writing and as I mentioned in a previous
video writing is thinking so forcing
yourself to publish is forcing you to
think and you will understand topics
better and just be a better note taker
in general and those are some tips for
actually using the notes the you write
I'm curious if you have any ideas ways
that you are using your notes after you
write them please let me know in the
comments below I don't just say that to
get comments I want to actually
incorporate these ideas myself so I
would love to hear from you if you have
a good system for actually using your
notes as usual if you've liked this
video like it subscribe to my channel I
have a monthly newsletter you also might
like so please subscribe to that and I
will see you in the next
video
関連動画をさらに表示
How to organize your notes in Obsidian // The LATCH method
Zettelkasten Smart Notes: Step by Step with Obsidian
A complete note taking guide! The Book Show ft. RJ Ananthi
How to Create an Obsidian Ideaverse: Step-by-Step Guide (Free Template)
Bullet Journal in 5 Minutes a Day (for busy people)
Lecture #11: Taking Notes Effectively - which words should you write down?
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)