Organize Your Life - Note Taking Edition
Hi friends! So with the school year approaching I have been looking for some new tips and tricks for writing and organizing my class materials. I have compiled a master note-taking system using videos I’ve seen on Youtube, tips I’ve gotten from friends, and techniques that I’ve used in the past. This system works great for me because, like everyone, I do a lot of things (school, work, volunteer..) and don’t have a lot of time. I find this to be the fastest way to take notes in class, effectively study from them, and keep them together so nothing is forgotten or misplaced. So let’s jump right in!…
Keep your tools handy. I have a pencil pouch that I carry with me in my school bag, but I still like to keep a few items stored in my binder for quick access just in case. I store a pen, a book of sticky notes and tabs, a small calculator, binder clips, and a 3-whole punch ruler in the front section of my binder.
Organize and store your notes and handouts. Having everything organized in one place will help you stay on track and make sure you don’t lose anything. I use dividers to split up my binder into 5 sections for my 5 classes, and then sticky tabs to sub-divide each class into useable sections (ex: class notes, lab notes, readings, and assignments). These sub-divisions change depending on the class and are easy to move around or add to throughout the term if I need.
Write your notes on your laptop. Now I realize this goes against what most people say about taking notes in class but hear me out. For me, writing notes on my laptop is the most efficient way to combine the information in the prof’s slides with the extra bits of information that is discussed in class. That way, when your class is over you have everything in one place. No need to go back and review your slides at all because everything is in your notes package. BUT, if you do happen to miss something or can’t keep up with the information, you can still go back to the slides after class and input what you missed without having to re-write or have super messy notes.
Print and review your notes within 24 hours. Now here’s why my laptop note taking technique works so well for me. I am still a very paper-and-pen kind of person so printing my notes really helps me study. After each class I print the notes for that day and review them (use a small font and single spacing to condense and save paper/ink). I use a highlighter to highlight the most important information for that day and a pencil to write in extra things that come to mind. Use one highlighter color for this throughout all of your classes, I use yellow for this step (you will see the reasoning behind this in the final step). Once your notes are printed and reviewed you can store them in the appropriate section of your binder for future reference.
Use your notes for exam prep. This saves me so much time I can’t even explain, but it is also highly effective. First I staple together all of the notes that pertain to an upcoming test I am studying for, then I go through the package and use sticky notes to write sample questions for myself. Don’t hold back here, write questions for everything. Every list, every important piece of information, everything. I put the sticky note on the page that has the answer and I highlight the answer in a different color than I did in the previous step (I usually use pink, because why not). Once you are done, you have an extremely thorough package of notes that you can use to quiz yourself, or your classmates!
I hope this was helpful for you guys, please like this post if you want to see more on how I organize my life, and how you can organize yours! <3 Vanessa
