How to Take Smart Notes

How to Take Smart Notes

  • Downloads:6796
  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2021-04-12 13:57:10
  • Update Date:2025-09-07
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Sönke Ahrens
  • ISBN:1542866502
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

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 psychological insight and draws from a tried and tested note-taking-technique。 This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why。 It suits students and academics in the social sciences and humanities, nonfiction writers and others who are in the business of reading, thinking and writing。 Instead of wasting your time searching for notes, quotes or references, you can focus on what really counts: thinking, understanding and developing new ideas in writing。 It does not matter if you prefer taking notes with pen and paper or on a computer, be it Windows, Mac or Linux。 And you can start right away。

Download

Reviews

Ignacio Torres Masdeu

This book is really interesting and I will definitely work on implementing some kind of Zettelkasten, Evergreen notes (https://notes。andymatuschak。org/z3Sjn。。。) or other PKM solution。The book is small, the idea is interesting, but the reading is cumbersome。 As with many other "How to" books it is repetitive in form and in content。 I think the base ideas are outlined in the first 30 pages and repeated with examples in the next 150 pages。 And the examples are repeated two and three times。There are This book is really interesting and I will definitely work on implementing some kind of Zettelkasten, Evergreen notes (https://notes。andymatuschak。org/z3Sjn。。。) or other PKM solution。The book is small, the idea is interesting, but the reading is cumbersome。 As with many other "How to" books it is repetitive in form and in content。 I think the base ideas are outlined in the first 30 pages and repeated with examples in the next 150 pages。 And the examples are repeated two and three times。There are a gazillion blog posts about this that resume it in a 10 minutes read。 If you only want to implement your Zettelkasten better go for them。 The book is good as a source of references and bibliography。 。。。more

glassglow

Great book on the introduction to zettelkasten systems。 More of a why do this then a how to do it。 So treat it more like a motivational text or if you are unconvinced that the zettelkasten system is worth the effort try this book。 But when you want to implement your own go to youtube。

Rohan Kumawat

It will change your note-taking approach💙。

Fabián Sanhueza

Ojalá hubiese leído este libro 10 años antes。

Ak

Amazing concept for Personal Knowledge development。 If knowledge was money the standard method of learning would be saving where the Zettelkasten described in this book is investing。 I just wish it described or gave pictures of how the other himself uses the method。

Ali Afzal

Great book。 Anyone in academia must-read。

Amy

Although the ‘how’ of ‘How to Take Smart Notes’ is lacking, this book has opened my eyes to the zettlecasten system of note-taking which promises exciting potential and possibilities to improving my approach to knowledge-learning。

Ha Tran Nguyen Phuong

Finally read it after being on the shelf for so long 。。。 Essential for anyone who wants to make the most use out of what they read

Vaclav Kocian

Woow。 Zatím rozhodně nejzajímavější a nejvlivnější kniha roku 2021。 Myšlenky v ní obsažené se právě teď snažím přetavit ve smysluplný systém v Roam Research。 To ještě bude zábava :) Každopádně pokud rádi čtete (články, non-fiction a odbornou literaturu), chcete si přečtené informace utřídit, převést na znalosti a později využít, tak tohle je přesně kniha pro vás。 Rozhodně doporučuji。

Phil Santos

There are some decent principles for note-taking here, but I'm not convinced that this system will produce great nonfiction writing。 For starters, Ahrens' own writing has no soul。 No humor。 No stories。Maybe using a rigid methodology like this one to outline a first draft removes the serendipitous flow states that make great writing come alive。This review was written using the write-from-your-damn-feelings method by Phil Santos。P。S。 I'm convinced the Ryan Holiday / Robert Greene notecard method i There are some decent principles for note-taking here, but I'm not convinced that this system will produce great nonfiction writing。 For starters, Ahrens' own writing has no soul。 No humor。 No stories。Maybe using a rigid methodology like this one to outline a first draft removes the serendipitous flow states that make great writing come alive。This review was written using the write-from-your-damn-feelings method by Phil Santos。P。S。 I'm convinced the Ryan Holiday / Robert Greene notecard method is the way to go。 。。。more

Ken MacClune

An excellent journey through the purpose and process of building a "Zettelkasten" or slip box。 Learning about the mindset behind the Zettelkasten was an eye-opener。 This way of thinking about learning and writing should be introduced to high school freshmen。 I certainly wish I had been introduced to the concept earlier in life - but as "they" say, it is never too late。 An excellent journey through the purpose and process of building a "Zettelkasten" or slip box。 Learning about the mindset behind the Zettelkasten was an eye-opener。 This way of thinking about learning and writing should be introduced to high school freshmen。 I certainly wish I had been introduced to the concept earlier in life - but as "they" say, it is never too late。 。。。more

Rooze McKelvey

I'm torn about the rating for this book。 I think some of the information will transform my processes and the way that I read, write, and think。 That alone should earn it five stars。 However, it also could have used more editing。 A good portion of time was spent setting the context of how this method is superior to our current educational system。 I do not disagree at all。 Which is perhaps why I got tired of reading about it。 Nonetheless, the book is worth reading through the author's passions tha I'm torn about the rating for this book。 I think some of the information will transform my processes and the way that I read, write, and think。 That alone should earn it five stars。 However, it also could have used more editing。 A good portion of time was spent setting the context of how this method is superior to our current educational system。 I do not disagree at all。 Which is perhaps why I got tired of reading about it。 Nonetheless, the book is worth reading through the author's passions that take it too far down certain roads。 The main trip is incredible and worth the journey。 。。。more

Diane Law

I am giving this 4* because I felt the concepts were very insightful and potentially useful。 However, I am not sure I really understand yet how to take smart notes! I will need to investigate further or just dive in and give it a try。

Kevin

If you read this book it will change the way you research。 I’m hooked。 Next report doors my podcast will use this technique。 Im blown away, and the time you will save when deriving new papers astonishing。 I wish I knew about this systems years ago。 Its never too late to start。

iamKovy

Есть 2 основных пути, которыми вы могли прийти к прочтению этой книги。Путь 1。 Осознанный。Вы скорее всего уже знаете что такое ZettelKasten, он же slip-box, она же "картотека"。 Скорее всего прочитали несколько статей на профильных или не очень профильных сайтах, вступили в пару сообществ, возможно даже уже завели свою картотеку в каком-то виде。И где-то во время своих экзокортексовых мытарств наткнулись на название "How to take smart notes", где по свидетельствам очевидцев ещё раз очень базово, но Есть 2 основных пути, которыми вы могли прийти к прочтению этой книги。Путь 1。 Осознанный。Вы скорее всего уже знаете что такое ZettelKasten, он же slip-box, она же "картотека"。 Скорее всего прочитали несколько статей на профильных или не очень профильных сайтах, вступили в пару сообществ, возможно даже уже завели свою картотеку в каком-то виде。И где-то во время своих экзокортексовых мытарств наткнулись на название "How to take smart notes", где по свидетельствам очевидцев ещё раз очень базово, но хорошо объясняется зачем всем этим сектанством заниматься。Собственно, вы пришли за тем и в правильное место。 Книга вкратце, но с неплохими примерами расскажет вам о типах заметок, как их правильно вести, зачем это надо и скорее всего просто добавит вам +Х очков уверенности, что вы всё делаете так。Путь 2。 Спонтанный。Если вы не знаете что такое ZettelKasten, кто такой Никлас Луман и книга каким-то произвольным образом очутилась в ваших руках раскрытой на первой странице - считайте что вам повезло。Если вкратце, то она про осознанность。 Но не медитационно-духовную, а про осознанное потребление контента, который в вас поступает。 Вся её базовая философия умещается в фразу "Read, think, write"。Это значит, что весь новый входящий опыт нужно:1。 Научиться отфильтровать на предмет основного и полезного2。 Переосмыслить своими словами или действиями。 Постоять рядом, посмотреть как пацаны делают и решить, что всё понял - так это не работает。3。 Подумать как это вплести контекстуально в своей уже существующий опыт4。 Продолжать。。。5。 Продолжать。。。6。 Спустя время удивиться тому, что у вас есть цифровой слепок собственной головы и в нём для вас же самого удивительное количество откровений - от неочевидных увлечений, до ранее незаметных, но вполне очевидных связей。Происходящее очень сродни регулярным занятиям каким-то иностранным языком или видом спорта, когда ваша постоянная форма позволяет хорошо владеть собственным телом, легко осваивать новые направления и т。д и т。п。, а не судорожно пытаться найти кубики к лету。 Только в случае с ZettelKasten не на пузике, в мозге。Говорить об этом, в общем, можно долго。Лучше попробуйте。 。。。more

Pedro Henrique

I have a lot of notes to process before I can make a proper review haha

Hao Wang

Although the Slip-box method seems pretty attractive, but this book basically just tells you some subjective thoughts about the Slip-box method。 If you already tried this method, this book won't provide you too much useful information about how to make your own reading/note taking system works better。 Some conclusions are not strongly supported by research results, which means they might be subjective and empirical。 Although the Slip-box method seems pretty attractive, but this book basically just tells you some subjective thoughts about the Slip-box method。 If you already tried this method, this book won't provide you too much useful information about how to make your own reading/note taking system works better。 Some conclusions are not strongly supported by research results, which means they might be subjective and empirical。 。。。more

Patty

I think I set my hopes too high for this book。 I know I’m going to ruffle some feathers with this review because most think this thing is fantastic, but I’m not seeing it。 If you are looking for information on what a zettelkasten is and how to set one up, read the first 50 pages and toss the rest。 Or just look online。 The rest of the book is not memorable and not worth taking the time to put in your zettelkasten either。 It rehashes how great the zettelkasten is to generate original ideas, which I think I set my hopes too high for this book。 I know I’m going to ruffle some feathers with this review because most think this thing is fantastic, but I’m not seeing it。 If you are looking for information on what a zettelkasten is and how to set one up, read the first 50 pages and toss the rest。 Or just look online。 The rest of the book is not memorable and not worth taking the time to put in your zettelkasten either。 It rehashes how great the zettelkasten is to generate original ideas, which is ironic since I’m not sure there was one original idea in the book。 That’s fine, most everything has already been written, but maybe don’t put it out there that this is so great to be innovative and then just regurgitate information you’ve gathered from reading random Psychology bits to beat the same drum over and over and to make this a book length rather than a blog post。 This feels like a book written by somebody following random trains of thought without any thought into how to best present the information。 It feels like he structured it based on the cards he had rather than what he needed to say。 He rips on the idea of categories for your cards because it’s not flexible enough and it doesn’t allow you to group cards together in such a way to think of new ideas。 Instead, you should use a string of numbers and letters to show the threads of thought。 And then, you should have an index card to tell you where all the threads start up。 As somebody that organizes information for a living, I think this sounds convoluted and is probably one of the largest stumbling blocks for people。 I don’t see how the dewey decimal system is unlike this idea, other than you don’t need an index to know where you put things because the numbers ARE the categories and it’s a string of numbers instead of having letters mixed in。 Because it’s more flexible? Maybe。 But chaos is really flexible too and I’d rather be able to find things later。 If you’re looking to make a notecard system, maybe follow the lead of established authors like Ryan Holiday and Gretchin Rubin, who also use a notecard system to write their books, except they DO use categories AND their book structure makes sense。 。。。more

Al

Was it hubris to take notes on a book that is going to almost certainly reveal how inefficient my methods were? Yes, yes indeed。 But I also took this as an opportunity to test the method out to see if it was something I could adopt moving forward。 I am generally sold on the idea but it would have been extra helpful if there were more examples of what these notes actually look like。 What I did find useful though, was the many perspectives on how we can build this habit of taking notes。 But if we Was it hubris to take notes on a book that is going to almost certainly reveal how inefficient my methods were? Yes, yes indeed。 But I also took this as an opportunity to test the method out to see if it was something I could adopt moving forward。 I am generally sold on the idea but it would have been extra helpful if there were more examples of what these notes actually look like。 What I did find useful though, was the many perspectives on how we can build this habit of taking notes。 But if we fail, it's okay because we now know that it is not because of a lack of intelligence or some innate ability but a failure in the organisation of our thoughts and ideas。 。。。more

John Lynk

Good book, shows a new way of taking notes while reading and collecting your thoughts across all research I've never seen before, I'm going to try applying it moving forward。 Good book, shows a new way of taking notes while reading and collecting your thoughts across all research I've never seen before, I'm going to try applying it moving forward。 。。。more

Victor Schumann

T。L。D。R。: A must read for anyone who ever aspires to be an academic, writer, or to develop a project with many ideas and sources。 For the common people out there - like me - it's a book with a lot of good ideas, perspectives, and a very interesting story about a scholar called Luhmann, someone that produced so much during his life and death that made people say "I wish I've published as much papers during my life as Luhmann have after he died"。THE WRITING:The book has clear lines of thought and T。L。D。R。: A must read for anyone who ever aspires to be an academic, writer, or to develop a project with many ideas and sources。 For the common people out there - like me - it's a book with a lot of good ideas, perspectives, and a very interesting story about a scholar called Luhmann, someone that produced so much during his life and death that made people say "I wish I've published as much papers during my life as Luhmann have after he died"。THE WRITING:The book has clear lines of thought and presents its ideas in a great way for the most part。 I understand the frustration that some people encountered when they say "the book is too long and filled with unnecessary things", but about this I can only disagree because that is a direct consequence of the intention/expectations which one seeks this book。A very important part of writing, specially nonfiction, is to present an idea or multiple (thesis), to back it up with arguments and connections from literature, or other sources, and to present a conclusion to those ideas。 This book does that perfectly。 I only found some difficulties defending this near the very end, where the ideas presented felt a bit like redundancies to the ideas presented before (he had already commented on the benefits of the method around the first part, so I found it a bit redundant to do just that so extensively near the last part)。 Therefore, I recommend you to come to this book with an open mind and not just to have the question "how to take smart notes" answered in a few lines。 To do that, you can just googled the "Slip-box method by Luhmann"。 The book is much more than that。THE METHOD:Well, it's good。 It's very good。 The main principle is: by categorization we kill ideas。 When we force the understanding of the learning process to be caged in a list, a topic or a subject we basically kill its potential to connect with our previous knowledge and make links to actually produce something (a scientific paper, a blog post, a book review, or at the very least, a good idea)。Besides that, we need at all times a proper workflow to be able to produce ideas。"。。。success isn't 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; Hear et al。 1998)。"Luhmann's slip-box consists of an organical set of notes that reference and cross reference themselves。 Whenever Luhmann got bored of his current work, he just skipped it for a while and started working on the next one until he finished it or was bored again。 His workflow allowed him to avoid resistance entirely and just to keep on working。 I mean, this is simply great! It's also one of the main tips on reading more。 By reading multiple books we can have fun and also keep on reading whenever we get bored of one book。With that I mind I still think I wouldn't be able to apply this method without a goal。 While I agree and forever will defend (after reading this book) that the interconnections of ideas is the main fire for more ideas and that avoiding resistance is the main force that pushes intermittent work, I don't think I can see this as a "good habit" or "good note-taking routine" without a proper goal in mind。CONCLUSION AND APPLICATIONS:Like I've stated above, with a proper goal in mind Luhmann's slip-box is a gold mine for ideas and the principle of avoiding resistance is simply too precious。 I recommend the book for anyone that looks for a good note-taking system associated with a goal and to anyone that enjoys a good written nonfiction。Edit: typos。 。。。more

Jente Ottenburghs

As the title indicates, this book introduces a smart way to take notes: the Zettelkasten system。 This technique can be traced back to the German social scientist Niklas Luhmann who published over 70 books and 400 scholarly articles。 The approach is quite straightforward: take notes (either randomly when you get an idea or while reading) and add them to your Zettelkasten later on, making connections between previous notes and ideas。 This bottom-up way of note taking will result in a large network As the title indicates, this book introduces a smart way to take notes: the Zettelkasten system。 This technique can be traced back to the German social scientist Niklas Luhmann who published over 70 books and 400 scholarly articles。 The approach is quite straightforward: take notes (either randomly when you get an idea or while reading) and add them to your Zettelkasten later on, making connections between previous notes and ideas。 This bottom-up way of note taking will result in a large network (similar to our brains) from which new ideas and insights can emerge。 The book mainly focuses on why this system works, which helps to think about the best way to start your own Zettelkasten。 While reading the book, I have set up my own Zettelkasten using the software Obsidian。 I am curious how if it will work。 。。。more

Ignacio Escobedo

Recommended。Great idea and method。 Talks a lot about the what and why but not in detail about the how to。

Bornalok Chkrvbrty

A fast read and a must read, about a lot more than just 'note taking'。 Ahrens shows the ropes to how holistic learning works, while calling us out on our problematic ways of approaching any discipline。 Luhmann's Slip box (the 2nd brain) takes the spotlight with tons of other psychology jargons - mere exposure effect, over-confidance bias, the survivorship bias (this one opened my third eye) on a roll。 To sum it up -its wholesome。 The only thing I craved was a more practical example of how the sl A fast read and a must read, about a lot more than just 'note taking'。 Ahrens shows the ropes to how holistic learning works, while calling us out on our problematic ways of approaching any discipline。 Luhmann's Slip box (the 2nd brain) takes the spotlight with tons of other psychology jargons - mere exposure effect, over-confidance bias, the survivorship bias (this one opened my third eye) on a roll。 To sum it up -its wholesome。 The only thing I craved was a more practical example of how the slip box came handy on a daily basis。 。。。more

Anggie Marthin

Very, very helpful and easy to digest。 The methods here are also highly implemented。

Eric Minki Kang

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it, click here。 ‘How to Take Smart Notes_Sönke Ahrens’, a book I referenced when I was making my recent youtube video, ‘a productive day in Grenada’, when I was explaining about note-taking。One crucial concept to take away from this book was ‘The Slip Box’ method。 Overall, the book has so many repetitions explaining why writing and reading is good。 (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)The slip box technique was invented by a German Sociologist, Niklas Luhmann。 He published 58 books and hundreds of article in 30 years with that unique wor ‘How to Take Smart Notes_Sönke Ahrens’, a book I referenced when I was making my recent youtube video, ‘a productive day in Grenada’, when I was explaining about note-taking。One crucial concept to take away from this book was ‘The Slip Box’ method。 Overall, the book has so many repetitions explaining why writing and reading is good。 (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)The slip box technique was invented by a German Sociologist, Niklas Luhmann。 He published 58 books and hundreds of article in 30 years with that unique working technique!Here’s how you do it。1。 Take notes while you are reading or learning something。 However, do not copy the text。 Keep it very short, be extremely selective, and use your own words。 These notes will be kept in a box called, the slip box。 2。 Put the references (bibliographic details) for each note and try to build connections within the slip box。3。 Develop your topics, questions and research projects from the notes。 Build upon what you have by following your interest by reading with a clear purpose, ‘developing your slip box’。As the notes accumulate in your slip box, you will have developed ideas far enough to decide on a topic to write about。 What you write is not from scratch anymore but from what you already have, from the slip box。 I can see the point and the usage of this technique。 After all, writing is not always about grammar and structure。 It’s the idea and the delivery。 I still have to write more notes and read if I really want to see this technique take effect in my life。。。 I definitely need more practice if I want to use this ‘slip box’ technique when I am doing my Communication For Health Professions course next semester 🤞 。。。more

Level6Curry

Reading the book was a bit of a pain and unnecessary long, I wish the author would be more on point。 That being said, the ideas presented in the book offer great value and it was an interesting read after all。📚Book in one sentenceHow to take Smart Notes is a book about Niklas Luhmanns "Zettelkasten" methodology and how this helped him to publish effortless a great amount of books and articles。💡The Five Big Ideas / What Stood Out1。 Taking physical notes while reading (not just books, use this met Reading the book was a bit of a pain and unnecessary long, I wish the author would be more on point。 That being said, the ideas presented in the book offer great value and it was an interesting read after all。📚Book in one sentenceHow to take Smart Notes is a book about Niklas Luhmanns "Zettelkasten" methodology and how this helped him to publish effortless a great amount of books and articles。💡The Five Big Ideas / What Stood Out1。 Taking physical notes while reading (not just books, use this method also for newspapers or magazines)。 We remember things better when writing down on paper instead of copy paste。 Write down what comes to mind while reading。 Keep it short and use your own words to make it more personal aka sticky。2。 Capture notes and reference them to the source I got them from either by a sticky note or a highlight。 This might come in handy for future referencing。3。 Collect all notes in one place after finishing the book, rewrite and fine tune notes at this point。4。 Add properties to all notes in order to file my notes under the same theme。 With this approach I build up a pool of notes and ideas for the topics I am interested in。5。 After all is filed and stored use the ideas at any time for articles, ideas, to brainstorm etc。📝Key Takeaway for me and my lifeHighlighting quotes and text that stood out for me in the past was a waste of time。 Only when I make it personal by using my own words and thoughts can I make it stick。 Combined with storing and filing my notes/ideas for later usage will give me a lot more value。 This method is more time consuming and I will read less books going forward than I did in the past。 I believe it is worth the effort to slowly but continuously build up my own library of reusable quotes and ideas。 。。。more

V。Ks。

Một phương pháp hay。

Stephen Jin

Started to consolidate all my notes into one Slip Box。 It's been working out well so far。 Much easier to search, manage and grow them。 I use Obsidian, 1Writer and Dropbox as the tools at the moment。 Love to know your experience if you have used other tools。 Started to consolidate all my notes into one Slip Box。 It's been working out well so far。 Much easier to search, manage and grow them。 I use Obsidian, 1Writer and Dropbox as the tools at the moment。 Love to know your experience if you have used other tools。 。。。more

Matt Hutson

This isn't just a book for students, academics, and nonfiction book writers。 It's a book for action-takers as well。 More on this in a bit。 How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens reinforces and expands on a note-taking technique I've been using with Google Docs for the past three years。 I'll explain a bit about why using what is called the Zettelkasten Method is the best note-taking method ever。 If you're not taking notes using this method (or something equivalent), then you're not taking full a This isn't just a book for students, academics, and nonfiction book writers。 It's a book for action-takers as well。 More on this in a bit。 How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens reinforces and expands on a note-taking technique I've been using with Google Docs for the past three years。 I'll explain a bit about why using what is called the Zettelkasten Method is the best note-taking method ever。 If you're not taking notes using this method (or something equivalent), then you're not taking full advantage of the books you're reading。The whole idea behind this book is to take what you read, elaborate using your own words on the specific aspects of the book that resonate with what you're working on or writing so that you can continually expand on the ideas you've written in your own words from your own knowledge and experience。The aspect this book does not touch on is for the action-takers。 So I have elaborated on the Zettelkasten method in my online course, The 6 Principles of Lifelong Learning, with my own twist which you can use to take your smart notes and use a systematic goal-setting approach towards achieving your goals。 The fundamental Zettelkasten Method stays the same when using my method but becomes even more powerful when you add the extra ingredients of well-thought-out planning and action。If you're a content creator or an entrepreneur this method can be a game-changer for you。 The reason being is idea synthesis。 Using this method, you're able to connect unrelated ideas together to create something completely new yet familiar at the same time。 Your power will only become limited to how many smart notes you make。The last aspect I'd like to show you today is the use of applications such as RemNote and Roam Research。 Each idea you generate can go into RemNote or Roam Research using tags in relation to the topic of your note。 The features in these applications allow you to use bi-directional linking between connected and unconnected ideas you've written any time in the past and everything you write in the future。 It's like building a 'second brain' you can dip into at any moment to retrieve automatically searchable thoughts written using your own words。 Powerful!I highly recommend reading How to Take Smart Notes。 It will change the way you read and think about reading。 And if you want to learn more about my adapted method for action-takers who want to build an idea-generating action-taking system then sign up for my course on the bookmattic website。 。。。more