Good note taking is a really big help in studying at every level. Get in the habit and it will pay dividends.
Ever lost that killer quote to back up your point? Can’t find that statistic that is central to the argument? Forgotten those words of wisdom from the teacher in the last class? You need to have some notes and all will be well.
The first thing to do is to adopt a system. Almost certainly, that will mean some form of digital support. Central advice: keep it simple and back it up. I, however, did a PhD some years ago, largely centred around an old shoe box and file dividers!
Muddled notes are nearly as bad as no notes. Some students underline almost every word in the text, which doesn’t really help much. If you are studying a text, it is much better to use a highlighter. If you are looking at several things in a text – use different colours for different aspects of the question. Highlighting keywords in the question will also help to focus your analysis of the text and most importantly, get you reading the question more than once!
Abbreviations are essential. You won’t want to write William Shakespeare every time you are studying the Bard’s works; WS or simply S will do. But make sure that it is something that you will remember over time. A great friend of mine and a member of a book club went into Waterstones and asked for the latest book, My Place. She got into a right strop with the assistant, demanding to know why the shop had not got this best seller. When she got outside, she found, when she looked at her diary, ‘My Place’ was not a book but the venue for the next meeting (she did go in and apologise.)!
Good note taking fits in with advice of the best-selling book (been in the Sunday Times’ popular charts now for over two years), Atomic Habits by James Clear. He argues that instead of having very vague long term-goals: save money, lose weight, get more sleep, etc. We should set much more ordinary, mundane goals. Small things lead to bigger things. Make the habit fun and regular, he argues, and big things will happen. Everybody wants to pass exams and be academically successful. Good notes are not a guarantor of success but they do make it much more likely.
A bit of advice from a senior bus-pass holder; make note making part of your life. Everybody likes to have their birthday remembered. But add in a few extras. People are impressed that you remembered that they support Man U or like cheese. Makes present buying a lot easier. Reliable notes create empathy.
But be cool about your notes. Don’t keep mentioning them. You will become a bore and seem like a bit of a nerd.
So, go on, make good note making part of your study plan.