One line takeaway
The actual writing begins after the first draft.
Most important points
- It is important to review your notes and, when necessary, rewrite them. If you collect all your thoughts without reviewing them, you will eventually end up with a mess that leads nowhere.
- Fleeting notes (idea notes) are therefore only useful if you revisit them within a day or so and turn them into proper notes that you can use later.
- The moment we stop making plans is the moment we start to learn. We should spend as little time as possible making decisions and more time doing the work.
- When it comes to memory, there are two different measures: (1) storage strength and (2) retrieval strength.
Table of Contents
The notetaking toolbox
- Something to write with and something to write on (pen and paper will do).
- A reference management system (Zotero, Mendeley, etc.).
- A slip-box (either physical or digital; Obsidian, Roam Research, and Logseq are some digital options).
- An editor (a writing program such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or a LaTeX editor, used to assemble and revise the final manuscript).
Three Types of Notes
- Fleeting notes: Brief reminders of ideas or information that you process and delete within a couple of days.
- Permanent notes: Self-contained notes created once you understand a concept well enough to explain it in your own words.
- Project notes: Temporary notes related to a specific project, such as outlines, drafts, plans, reminders, and to-do lists. Archive or delete them once the project is complete.
Common mistakes
- Failing to review your notes regularly.
- Collecting only notes relevant to current projects instead of also creating notes for ideas that could lead to new projects.
Six Steps to Successful Writing
1. Separate and Interlocking Tasks
- Give each task your undivided attention (multitasking is not a good idea).
- Become an expert instead of a planner.
- Get closure (it is much easier to remember something once we understand it).
- Reduce the number of decisions you need to make.
2. Read for Understanding
- Read with a pen in hand.
- Keep an open mind.
- Get the gist.
- Learn how to read effectively.
3. Take Smart Notes
1. Make One Note at a Time
Consistency is key. If you write one page every day, you can finish a doctoral thesis in a year—something that does not happen very often in academia.
2. Think Outside the Box
When deciding what to make notes on, consider how the material might be valuable to you. This is especially important when turning literature notes into permanent notes.
3. Learn by Not Trying
There are two different measures of memory: (1) storage strength and (2) retrieval strength. Memory artists do not simply gather information. They make it meaningful and connect it to an existing network of knowledge.
4. Add Permanent Notes to the Slip-Box
Place each permanent note near the existing note to which it is most closely related. Then make further connections by linking it to other relevant notes. Add enough metadata and carefully chosen tags to make the note easy to find later. Over time, these connections will help you build a latticework of mental models.
4. Develop Ideas
1. Develop Topics
It is important to make sure that every note can be found again after it has been added to the slip-box. So, choose keywords carefully and pragmatically. Ask yourself, “In what context would I want to come across this note again?” The answer will be subjective and vary from person to person.
2. Make Smart Connections
A link-based structure is crucial to keeping the slip-box functional. Thoughtful cross-referencing is equally important. Luhmann used four types of links: (1) topic-overview links, (2) links mapping physical clusters of notes, (3) follow-up links, and (4) direct note-to-note links. For digital note-taking, the first and fourth types are the most relevant: links from topic-overview notes to individual notes and links between related notes.
3. Compare, Correct, and Differentiate
Sometimes we have an idea, forget about it, and return to it after some time. We may then fool ourselves into thinking that we are having the idea for the first time. This is where the slip-box becomes useful. We can check whether we have already developed the thought before repeating the same work. We can also add new conclusions and refine our ideas over time, allowing them to develop constructively instead of rebuilding them from scratch every time.
4. Assemble a Toolbox for Thinking
You need a toolbox of mental models, not merely a collection of disconnected theories. As you develop the slip-box, continually look for patterns and useful models that can help you interpret new information.
5. Use the Slip-Box as a Creativity Machine
Creativity is essentially about connecting things, and all good ideas need time to develop. The slip-box preserves ideas and allows unexpected connections between them to emerge over time.
6. Think Inside the Box
Recognizing relationships between ideas is far more valuable than memorizing everything. This usually happens when we transform source-bound literature notes into permanent notes that can interact with ideas from other contexts.
During World War II, mathematician Abraham Wald studied the damage sustained by aircraft that returned from combat missions. Instead of reinforcing the areas with the most bullet holes, he recommended adding armour to the areas with few or no holes. The returning aircraft had demonstrated that they could survive hits to the visibly damaged areas. Aircraft hit in the apparently undamaged areas were missing from the data because they had not returned.
7. Facilitate Creativity Through Restrictions
Restrict each note to a single idea. Without structure, we cannot differentiate, compare, or experiment with ideas. Without restrictions, we are never forced to decide what is worth pursuing and what is not.
5. Share Your Insight
The goal is to narrow the perspective, remove unnecessary ideas, and sharpen the central argument.
1. From Brainstorming to Slip-Box Storming
Brainstorming with a large group is often not the best strategy. Finding a good question requires more than simply thinking about possible ideas. We have to work with an idea by writing, connecting, differentiating, and elaborating on it. The slip-box helps us do this.
2. From Top Down to Bottom Up
Remain open-minded and allow topics to develop from the bottom up through your existing notes. Counterintuitively, becoming more familiar with a subject makes it easier to develop good ideas because you can recognize what is missing, limited, or possibly wrong.
3. Getting Things Done by Following Your Interests
When you follow your interests, getting things done becomes much easier. You do not have to constantly force yourself to work; the work itself begins to generate motivation and carry you forward.
4. Finishing and Review
Give the manuscript a clear structure, but keep it flexible. There is no need to maintain a rigid order because the structure will continue to change as the argument develops. It can also be helpful to work on several manuscripts at the same time, allowing you to switch projects whenever you become stuck or bored.
5. Becoming an Expert by Giving Up Planning
Too much planning can easily become a project of its own and result in very little meaningful progress. Instead, it is far more practical to start somewhere, focus on the next concrete step, and adjust your plan as you go.
6. The Actual Writing
The writing begins after the first draft. The first draft gives you something to revise, cut, rearrange, and sharpen.
6. Make It a Habit
Do not try to eliminate your bad habits upfront. Instead, build new, better habits that can gradually replace them.
