How do you take notes?

My preferred learning style has always been by watching videos, practice what I learn, and read product documentation to fill the gaps. I don't read many IT books, because often times I can't stay focused or get bored too easily. If I am reading a book, I typically just highlight the important parts.

However, when I watch videos, I tend to have MS OneNote open, and I'll pause the video, write some notes (a lot of times it's just copying what's on the screen), formatting properly, etc etc.

I read somewhere that research shows this is less effective at remembering content. As I'm starting to prepare for the CISSP, I think I may need to change my approach. What I might need to do as I watch these videos, is write things down. If I still want to add to OneNote, do it later.

This all started because I was watching a video on FirePOWER the other day, and I kept pausing the video, going to OneNote, blah blah, then the video was over and didn't really remember much about it.

Sorry for the semi-long post, just wondering what everyone's method for taking notes is

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Russ5813

I tend to absorb more from reading rather than watching videos and my preferred method of note-taking is a combination of highlighting and writing notes by hand. Later, I may go back and make flash cards from my notes. I've tried typing and screenshotting in the past, but I feel that I retain information better with good, old-fashioned handwritten notes. Once I'm happy with my notes, I upload them to Evernote to organize and store in case I lose the originals or want to access them without carrying around hard copies.

Iristheangel

For books, I changed my style in the last year. I used to take notes as I read and it would take longer. Now I read and highlight as I go on the Sony Digital Paper or whatever tablet I use and then go back and take notes from the hightlighted sections after I've finished the book. It helps out.

As far as videos are concerned, it's a bit trickier. If I just try to watch a video end-to-end,my brain stops paying attention. I have to stop often and force myself to engage in taking notes and it takes longer because of that. I think I tend to be more selective in the video courses I watch these days because of that. I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my time

TheFORCE

I feel that when i write things down on my own i remember them easier, i dont do copy and paste unless they are needed for some future usage but any other note i take i write it down my self or type it in excel, notepad, word etc. After i do that often times i don't even go back to the notes anymore. I think it will be a little different on my Linux command approach though since a lot of these commands i have not used so i have started to take more notes.

MitM

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to switch it up and try taking notes by hand. Ideally, to save the trees, I digital notepad with a stylus pen would be ideal. If someone has some recommendations. Only two I can think of are iPAD Pro and Microsoft Surface.

Iristheangel wrote: »

As far as videos are concerned, it's a bit trickier. If I just try to watch a video end-to-end,my brain stops paying attention. I have to stop often and force myself to engage in taking notes and it takes longer because of that.

I can totally relate to this. I also like to pause the videos, and then practice on gear to enforce the concepts, before moving on

yoba222

I personally find that note taking is mostly useless to me, though it didn't start out that way. I stopped taking notes almost completely. If there's information I need to have jotted down, I'll do it in a text file that ends up being no more than 30 lines long. Back in the beginning of college, before any associates degrees, I'd have entire notebooks filled with handwritten notes. This volume of notes decreased over the years and as I took more advanced courses. By the time I completed my graduate degree, an entire semester's class would not be more than 10 single loose leaf pages of notes. To learn the material, I tend to ingest textbooks cover-to-cover.

For example, in a classroom-style lecture, I find that reading any handouts are usually a distraction and reading PowerPoint slides beyond the highest 1 or 2 bullet levels is also a distraction from what the presenter is saying. So I'm the person that sits there with a blank notebook or an empty desk--maybe it looks rude? But I'm doing it because I learn better with my attention span 100% on the teacher.

I think my brain finds note taking to be a mild distraction from the actual goal of learning the presented concept. To minimize that "distraction", my mind became more and more efficient at note taking to the point where I didn't even know what I was writing down anymore.

The same kind of went for writing papers for class assignments. Towards my last few classes I could write a 10-15 page paper, with a dozen references and citations in a few hours and barely even being aware of what I even wrote.

These days I do what you seem to be doing already: observe the example, then practice on my own. I'm really trying to get better at learning something once, with emphasis on learning how to quickly reteach myself if need be.

The exception to this is in advanced technical concepts that I just don't quite grasp on the first pass. Then I may write stuff down--definitions or how the concept is organized--but this is to help memorize/internalize things until I grasp how the concept works. That piece of paper gets thrown out afterwards.

the_Grinch

For me, handwriting notes seems to really help things stick. One of the lawyers who presented in my Cybercrimes class in Summer commented how shocked he was to see someone with a notebook and pen (that was me). Especially given that every other student in the class had a laptop out and was typing away. In my case if the laptop is out and open I am connecting to the internet where as handwriting notes keeps me on task.

Recently I purchased Rocketbooks for myself and family (https://getrocketbook.com/). It is a notebook that allows you to hand write your notes and then upload it to any number of cloud services or email the notes. Also, after you fill the notebook, you stick it in the microwave and the ink is erased. Seems it uses a "special" pen (that is actually really cheap and writes very nicely) and disappears when it hits a certain temperature. I highly recommend it, though I haven't microwaved mine just yet.

dontstop

Iristheangel wrote: »

For books, I changed my style in the last year. I used to take notes as I read and it would take longer.

I discovered recently that note taking during reading was causing issues with my flow and comprehension. The constant interruptions of having to stop reading to jot down some notes would take me out of the reading zone and it would be hard to get back to reading again. Another issue was preemptively researching things answered in the next section/paragraph in my notes. I would read up to a point, write notes and be not clear on details. I'd reasearch those details and write notes on my findings. I'd go back to reading the book again only to find the missing information was on the next page/paragraph.

I also found that when reading and taking notes, my notes would be much more detailed and contain a lot of pointless facts. When reading now if something sticks out as super important I will highlight it and move on, otherwise I read from the start to end of the chapter without stopping (unless it's to check or verify something I don't understand). Once I've completed the chapter I'll go back through it quickly and write down anything I feel was important to remember by scanning the chapter. You'll find after you read it and let the information sink in, a lot of the important stuff you highlighted doesn't seem as important. It's also easier to write notes about concepts that make a little more sense after letting them sink in vs. on first contact when reading.

But I guess you really need to find what works best for you. Best to experiment and see how you feel after a study session.

TechGromit

Iristheangel wrote: »

As far as videos are concerned, it's a bit trickier. If I just try to watch a video end-to-end,my brain stops paying attention.

I only watch videos after reading to re-enforce what I read. I find I have to stand up after awhile to remain focused and prevent myself drifting off. I also find it helpful to watch videos from several different people on the same subject. Look Ma, Youtube does have value.

MitM

TechGromit wrote: »

Look Ma, Youtube does have value.

haha

I appreciate all the replies. I'm going to give the old pen and paper a shot. I've been studying for technical exams so long, the type of notes never mattered, because (as IrisTheAngel would say,) I would always be labbin'. Repetition is good. Break/Fix is good for learning. The CISSP is not like any exam I've ever studied for, so I need to find a better way for this info to stick

Iristheangel

Hahaha.. the "Always Be Labbing" thing is from a study group I'm a part of. We even have shirts made with it so if you see a scrawny blonde running around with an "always be labbing" shirt at a tech conf, that's probably me

JoJoCal19

TechGromit wrote: »

I only watch videos after reading to re-enforce what I read. I find I have to stand up after awhile to remain focused and prevent myself drifting off. I also find it helpful to watch videos from several different people on the same subject. Look Ma, Youtube does have value.

Same here. I also don't make notes during my first pass through material as it also distracts my flow and comprehension. So I tend to read, watch videos (if applicable), read and do notes.

MAC_Addy

The way I take notes is I read through the whole chapter, trying to remember key topics. Use a highlighter to mark those key-topics. Afterwards, or the next day since I tend to study late at night, I go through the highlighted items and write them down on paper. From there I write a little sentence, or sometimes a paragraph to pull information from my noggin'. If I cannot remember, I read a little way in. A couple of sentences usually helps me remember the whole section. That seems to work okay for me.

UnixGuy

using Google docs lately!

PCTechLinc

I'm very jealous of anyone that can do effective note-taking. I find myself getting enthralled when I'm learning something that is interesting to me, and I have an inherent inability to take effective notes. If I try to take notes while someone is speaking, my notes end up looking like gibberish. If I try to take notes afterwards, I have a hard time either remembering the specific details, or writing anything down that even looks like something intelligent. Instead, I find myself reading over things multiple times, watching videos over and over, or practicing labs endlessly. Thankfully I have a VERY good memory, and technical subjects usually root themselves deep into my memory fairly easily.

urstuffplz1

I personally watch a video, then go back and watch it again taking snippets and key points into OneNote, then I read the relevant chapter in a book, before labbing the topic as much as I can. It has worked so far for me.

PocketLumberjack

I make an outline of what I am about to read so I am reading with those points in mind. Then it is highlight while reading and copying what I highlighted when I am all done. I put it all in Evernote. I treat Evernote like my personal Kbase, I put every tech ebook I have in Evernote. Then when I need a refresher I just search a term and OCR will put stuff from my notes and books.

NetworkNewb

I used to take notes. But then I realized it saves a lot of time to just memorize things...

SoftwareGuy

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I used to take notes. But then I realized it saves a lot of time to just memorize things...

I'm the same way, I commit way more to memory by just doing. Favorite study materials are those where you work/do it along.

thomas_

In the past I have just taken notes as I read. I've also taken notes as I watch videos, pausing them when I need time to catch up. Most of the videos I watch have been for Linux+ and AWS stuff, so a lot of the times I'm doing as I am watching as well.

I've been trying to study a little differently. The past few months I've been trying to read a certification book without taking notes, just taking the beginning/end of chapter quizzes. Now that I'm done with that I've been listening to MP3s of training videos on my to/from work. I'm going to start watching the videos and doing the things. Finally, I'll probably circle back around and read the book again and take notes on things that I think are still fuzzy.

I read some where else about people taking the exam objectives and putting them into excel and highlighting the green, red, or yellow depending on how comfortable they feel and then reevaluating on a weekly basis. I think I might start doing that.

I think before I stuck just to reading books because I could pass with just using the books, taking notes, and using simulators. I think in the past I've been in a rush to get certifications because I saw a lot of job postings wanted them. Now that I have a somewhat decent job I'm not in as much of a hurry to get certs, so I'm more willing to go through the material more times. However, to be fair most of my certs I've usually read the book through at least twice because I tend to start studying for a cert, stop part of the way through, start again and decide to start from scratch with studying.

One of the things I do like to do is take my notes and make them into flash cards and then use them with Brainscape. I don't use the flash cards too heavily, just like I don't study my notes too much when I'm done. However, I do think the act of creating the flash cards helps me to learn the material better. Also, the flash cards make it easier to drill in the material that can be memorized through rote memorization.

jcp1856

I usually write my notes down on notepad and create a running repository

FullofBit

Concepts should be understood.
Commands should be practiced. (Labbing)
Facts should be memorized. (Note Cards)
Practice tests should be used to know what you don't know.

This is my approach to studying. I find that I absorb less when I take notes. I think I learn less when I take notes because my brain uses the notes as a crutch: "I don't need to remember this now, because I'm making notes that I can just review and learn later". I try to only make note cards for facts/"gotchas". For example, What port does BGP use? How fast is a T1 line? ...

xxxkaliboyxxx

I been using OneNote with Outlook. Helps out with task and organization projects. Check out Onenote if you want something digital.

dontstop

With a little more experimentation I think I might be moving to a paragraph-by-paragraph reading/note taking method. There are some chapters that are just too dense with information to read the entire chapter and then go back and pick out the important parts.

Thoughts?

gateway

In my time I have taken many exams, and never found an approach to this I have got on with too well. For me, it was dependant on the resources I was using to study. If I was watching CBT, I found it easier to take notes etc with the ability to pause/resume. I've now started a totally different approach, and that is to document/blog my notes as if i'm writing a study guide for that particular topic. I've started doing this on Wordpress - see www.itstudynotes.uk. I'm currently studying the AWS Solutions Architect so that's all I really have on there at the moment. It seems to be working well for me, my notes are accessible from anywhere and i can read my own exam tips on my phone before going into the exam.

NavyMooseCCNA

Highlighting, notebook, notes in the book, and flash cards. I'm a visual person and I've found writing something down a minimum of three times for me to be able to recall it.

joshuamurphy75

I have a very strange approach to this, probably in part from being home schooled. I almost never write down what I need to remember. I write down what I need to lookup. I read slowly trying to understand, and every time I come across something that I do not understand, or something that I know will be needed later, I write down just enough keywords to be able to google it. I then look it up online and read as much as I can about it, sometimes watching YouTube videos, or buying additional books on eBay. This way, instead of just rereading my notes, I'm learning a different author's approach to the subject. I sometimes have to do his several times for the same topic, but by the time I'm done, I feel like I understand the topic better than other approaches that I have tried.