Note-taking

By this I mean writing down with pen and paper, how much of this do you actually do while studying?

I'm working on my A+, my first cert and the studying itself isn't the hard part to me the hardest part is finding the right method of going about it. I started off with a book and just reading and re-reading, and watching Prof Messer videos.. and taking practice questions. That didn't feel right so then I got some notebooks and pens and started writing down every thing that I saw and read that looked important as I went. Since I started doing it that way i'm burning myself out fast and losing interest.. the writing part is mind-numbing.

I have no problem reading for hours or watching videos but writing is murder to me.. what are your thoughts on taking notes and study methods in general?

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Comments

paulgswanson

I just blast music into my head and make flash cards of every underlined and bold word whilste honked out on 7 expresso shot iced coffees. Then pass out, oddly enough I retain it all. O.o
If you hate writing you might but be using the wrong tools. Ever tried fountain pens before? Writing Instruments

dave330i

The motor skills involved in writing things down helps you retain the knowledge. I always write down things I feel are important.

bermovick

I've heard that as well. There's supposedly a significant difference even between writing it down vs typing it out in word or notepad or whatever.

Mutata

I hate writing so very much. But I always hand-write when I'm studying. I have yet to find a substitution for it, whether it be typing or reading over the material several times.

I usually read the material once and take really nasty-looking scribble notes. Then after copy them nicely into a book in a manner that I can read over them. I find this works best for me

Although I do despise writing

MAC_Addy

I take notes while studying. It's a proven fact that you'll retain more this way. If you're reading a book, make simple notes, not an exact copy of what you read, but things that will jog your memory when you read over your notes.

diehxx

MAC_Addy wrote: »

I take notes while studying. It's a proven fact that you'll retain more this way. If you're reading a book, make simple notes, not an exact copy of what you read, but things that will jog your memory when you read over your notes.

I think this might be my issue.. I basically write verbatim what i'm reading. I'm guess i'm just bad at taking notes.

I never had to bother with taking notes when I was in school (grade/high), it was easy.

Darthn3ss

I paraphrase & condense what i'm reading/watching. I usually just jot it on paper and write it illegibly but occasionally I'll decipher the chicken scratch and type it up. I don't really take notes with the intent of reading them again. I like the flash card idea though. Too bad the pizza guy can't deliver flashcards and I can't be bothered to put pants AND shoes on to go get some.

GOZCU

I do a lot, and i find it very important to be honest. It helps you to revise everything in a quick way when you need it. Especially I was taking notes while watching CBT nuggets.

On the other hand, I don't like taking note if i am studying from a written book instead of digital..

j86cici

This really is a great question. Given that I had been out of school a few years when I started on my first cert a while back, it took time to find the right method of study.

Initially I would read a chapter, then go back and take notes on the chapter. After that I would watch videos on the topic I just studied. Not only was writing pages of detailed notes leading to burnout, but I found that I put myself in a passive learning mode while watching videos.

In the end I decided it was best to read all material first, just so it is taken in at least once. After that I would go back and create flash cards on each chapter. Sometimes when you're reading a chapter for the first time you think everything that looks important should be written down, but when you read the whole text you get to see how everything ties together. Perspective is key in note-taking because it helps establish what is relevant and what is fluff.

With flash cards in hand, I would drill the information and do practice questions - focusing on why each answer option is either correct or incorrect. Any gaps in knowledge I uncovered while working with the material I would re-read in the book and then modify my stack of flash cards accordingly.

As far as feeling the need to write down material verbatim (a problem I also have), I find that using flash cards helps to limit how much you can write about those key topics. Unless you're using giant flash cards or have really tiny writing, you'll find yourself rephrasing information in your own way in order to make use of the available space each card provides.

Devilry

I hand write everything important. I try to make another copy on a flash card, written.

I then copy it all to evernote. So after that I have written twice, typed and have a pretty
version all typed up.

Yes I know it seems like a lot, but it beats reading the book twice.

sratakhin

I just use OneNote. Only type the stuff that I don't yet know or something that is hard to remember.

the_hutch

I've come to find that as I learn more languages...SQL, Python, VBScript, etc...I can't possibly retain all of it. But after I've learned them, I can get by easily enough with some basic reference notes. I type everything into word documents and then throw them over to my KindleFire so I always have them for reference.

log32

I think writing EVERYTHING is a waste of time especially when you have so much to write about.
but writing down things you don't remember/know is very useful.

elderkai

I love taking notes. I'm just a visual kind of person and enjoy creating note page layouts as I go to keep the info organized. My problem, however, is that sometimes I start to pay too much attention to my notes because I'll start like intentionally listening for good note taking material which just takes my focus away from the content. So, I have to try my best to just wait until I get that urge/realization that I might not remember that fact or maybe it's a bit complex so I'll wait until then to open up the notebook or grab the pen. ^.^

RomBUS

I typically type up my notes when I am watching videos, usually a lot of stopping, replaying, or pausing the video if the speaker get too far ahead. But for my CCENT studying I am writing them down in a notebook and then transferring them to Word to make them look more readible in prettier because it just loooks like chicken scratch each lesson. But I do agree with memorizing what was said when I physically write it down on paper