Go ahead and beyond to writing superior quality notes! Notes can be a tool to help you shape the starting ideas before outgrowing to become a web page or a book or even a movement of huge followers. Some techniques I personally use to write this content are found in some below. You can use these to help get general, original or creative writings and more done too.
Supercharge with more than 20 ways to better notes:
Start with a relaxed mind
Make your notes captivating, lively, humorous or even laughable
Write your note with {flair & style}
Pump in some imagination andenthusiasminto your notes and makes them so much more special
Some ways may look so simple, however, the power in subtleties can be easily overlooked or disregarded (a fault I unreservedly admit). I urge all serious notes-takers to consider attentively these ways to write better notes. Be open-minded and take actions. Perceive and write a note differently today! The way we can write better notes is by changing our perception and think in a different way first, not the reverse. Let us focus on writing quality notes in creative ways.
Start with a relaxed mind
Follow a natural cycle with an ignition turn, warming of the engine, push from inertia gear to slow movement, then average acceleration and possibly peak speed before slowing down again and come to a complete stop. Car driving analogy I know, but there is a reason why the process progress thus. Be relaxed and have a clear and uncluttered mind. Like a competition diver just before an important dive, close his eyes and enter a relaxed mental stance. Have a good right mindset and expectation can influence how we take notes. As opposed to someone who expects to write bestsellers or professor notes right away, and when he/she discovers that is not the case, decides to doubt their notes taking talent. A constantly or mostly racing mentality of extreme stress is a disaster recipe for physical and mental long-term health, like pushing a machine or car to run 24/7 without downtime maintenance. Practical realism. Patience. Attitude nurtures aptitude.
What can we do to start a day right you wonder? Well, we may do some stretching, jogging, weightlifting, eat and drink some good organic fruits, tea and juices, play with our pet, kiss and tell our grandparents, parents, and kids you love them before you leave home and smile at everyone you meet. Shower more often. Be kind and positive. It helps.
On the other hand, it is time to stop and take a break when one feels tired, exhausted, tense and strained. This will be more productive for the time spent on note-taking and other tasks.
Make your notes captivating, lively, humorous or even laughable
Remember if you had lecturers that made you laughed & the lessons fun to attend? But please do not make fun of someone. The ridiculous situation of people reactions can spice up your content interest level. Also, people love to read about injustice and upholding righteousness, no one likes to be scammed or abused. Charge and associate your note with exciting content in creative ways. ‘How would Puss-in-boots react to a boring note? Associate the cat’s reaction if you read out to him.’, ‘Can Dad or Mum play a lively part in your notes like reading out aloud?’, ‘How will your teachers react if they read such a note and ADD to it?’
Write your note with {flair & style}
Write in a way with words you find engaging or energetic or graceful. Punch it, nail it, smash it, slam it or spice it. You name it. Awesome. Sleek. Purring. Whatever. Keep it sensible though. Short sentences of robust words deliver more impact. Employ synonym words that you scarcely ever use for good fun and energetic measure. It is not just about your short-hands or abbreviations or how neat the handwriting, but also about the quality of value in understanding and how effective the notes can convey your ideas or be truthful and honorable to self and others. Make others your priority, not yourself. Value all lives. People are generally disgusted with imposing domineering narcissism. Selfless notes lend itself to nobility.
Pump in some imagination and enthusiasminto your notes and makes them so much more special
Powerlift your notes writing skill to grow your mental muscles. Think scrapbooking. Not just another note, a piece of work to call your own, differentiate yourself from other notes. It is this quality that sets you apart from the competition, that gives others a reason to reward you higher marks or merit. This can be a whole topic. For example, associate your subject with different ways how a cat or a phoenix or teddy bear behaves, frolics, sleep, smiles or sits. What is your absolute favorite? Start imagining. Read Breakthrough With 10+ Creative Note-taking Ideas for more.
Draw a micro drawing to depict
You can even learn how to draw with simple objects first in your spare time. Snap this image into your smartphone and import into your notes. Beginners can get a drawing book from Amazon or Udemy course or free Youtube Videos ongesture drawingwhen you are free. Gestures drawing can be a beautiful expression of an art form. Association with gestures drawn suggests value.
Please find a drawing recommendation in Resources.
Analogy
Make an analogy with some other similar comparisons that come to mind. Some analogies can be memorable or striking it will stick the next time you need to recall it. ’Do not be like that lady in orange who changes her mind faster than her dress, be consistent in writing regularly with a specific method instead’, ‘A mouthful will not make one fat, so this recipe will have to be repeated to build a pottery pagoda’. No disrespect intended. ’Fun versus dull notes are like watching a table tennis match between a graceful chopper delivering slower floating ball shots playing against an aggressive, relentless fast top-spinner.’
Story-telling
For notes that you need to be creative, remember or make memory links to them. Some people use different storylines to connect different points to help them remember. Or associate the characters and stories of the favorite or last novel you read or TV drama series episodes you watched recently with the subject of the note and walk through the story with him/her. An alternate, modified version of a common fable. This may work for you. It could seem irrelevant to writing a better note but when you often think of a note topic because you made it interesting, it is more likely you will brainstorm it to come out with better ideas of writing the note better. ‘What if Puss-In-Boots walks like an Egyptian depicted in a painting of a Roman adventure’. More on story-telling in Top 9 Fun Activities For Note-Taking and Resources.
Jot often
Notes-taking is a form of skill actually. A skill of jotting down your thoughts or ideas when they come. Modern approach: Start recording your voice with your iPod and SmartWatch anytime, when you are traveling or running. When you add more ideas and words into your note, they can become better and more meaningful as time passes. This point alone can make or break a lifelong project. Writing content for webpages or a physical book too. Like deeds, good or bad, they add up over time. So write for peace, please.
Contrary views
In notes of applicable context, including the pros and cons of two contradicting points to make opposing stands. Much like a drama play of two opponents stating their own viewpoints. Being fair just make a note topic less bias and prejudice, a better note if you ask me. This may be a great memory aid for students. “I’m afraid of cats. They have sharp teeth. Even mummies are afraid of them.” – Husband. “But the cat is also the love of my life. I sleep with her. She won’t bite. You talk like an Egyptian of the first civilization that lasted about 550 years.” – Wife. “…” – Husband blinked twice. Play with words.
🙀 Personal notes are fine but professional or formal may not. If you are making web content, what about Font Awesome, Glyphicons, and Open Iconic? Employ more [keyboard] symbols; <— Make it more unique —>. Prettifying your notes does not substitute understanding and ensure better notes content meaning so do not judge a note by its cover. It is also easier for me to recognize or think of certain image pinned to that note title (Evernote does that and in a top-down list just beside the main note writing frame) if I keep referring and want to pull that particular note out of plenties. Think featured image. These take extra effort but aesthetically satisfying. This seems to be the future direction of notes taking progression. Certainly more appealing. And more probable to remember.
Supercharge With More Than 20 Ways To Take Better Notes
Ask some relevant questions!
To better your understanding for research, to remember which part you do not understand or stand out as more special or different – you do not want a monotonous dialogue with yourself i.e. How did it happen? What can be a solution? Why did it happen? What and where did it go? Who was there? How could you better it? Should you support it? What will happen next? What if things are not what they seem to be? How can I see through the deceivers? How should I react to bad doers? Ask what you can write to really help others… It is natural for us to ask questions but why not take it to another level and structure it into effective methods to understand or studying.I value asking questions as a way to progress when you are stuck or out of ideas, it can also be indispensable when troubleshooting a computer program because you have to consider the different possibilities to solving a problem i.e. Can it be this reason? What if I remove that and see what happens? What if I traced the variable step-by-step in debugging mode to watch for unexpected values? Is there another better way or function to do this? Is there a conflict? Should I explore more and better ways to get this small thing done or just move on and focus on the big picture? Did I googled the right terms or missed that answer article on StackOverflow? This may look overwhelming but I can tell you this process should be intuitive to what a decent coder can do. More on asking questions for note-taking in Breakthrough With 10+ Creative Note-taking Ideas.
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{Beautiful notes}
Insert an image or draw a cat or a bird or a sunset or a flower or a kind face. Revolve you note around that beautiful picture like dedicating the story to him or her. Write your notes in poetry form. Ending words that rhyme. Style it in Haiku form. Write with sincerity, honesty, and kindness. Write to touch hearts. Write the truth with genuineness. Have your readers feel the same good. That I feel is the duty of the author and the connection to the readers. Treat everyone equally with respect and love. The reader becomes the writer in resonance. Writes in Shakespearean if you must. Or put a quote under each note i.e.” To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” Read out to someone like you really mean it. And that dead note comes alive!
Inspiration to write better notes can come in many forms. One picture can speak volumes.
The material or goal can be dauntingly huge at one glance. Don’t be. Anything can be micro-analyzed and big stuff is just comprised of individual, smaller elements. After all, you made it this far since learning how to stand-walk-run-jump and your first baby pronunciation to speaking fluently, right? For example, a novel can be broken into chapters, then paragraphs, then sentences, words, and alphabets. Good notes mean you want idea or points of value, right? Divide and conquer is a concept I learned during programming days. A project requirement is just broken into smaller bits that you can handle: Start small, one at a time. Is it not more natural to concentrate on one thought and accomplish one bit at a time? Break down a large problem (Can a project assignment or subject or any large topic) into many smaller, manageable problems (This can be milestones or parts or just mastering a function first) that you can handle one at a time. You can take notes of paragraphs in every chapter that you think is pivotal or has more weight or is important to your understanding of the materials, then put it in your own words and jot it down. Even better if you can add some of your own further thoughts, insights, and analysis. Your final version as a result of the addition of all the minified notes can be impressively comprehensive. Underline and color notes (select text with the mouse and change color e.g. CMD+SHIFT+C for Mac OS) that you warrant more attention. You may read more on Divide-On-Conquer in How To Take Notes For Computer Science.
A significant increase in correct responses for students with online content of song insert according to this study – Assessing Fun Items’ Effectiveness in Increasing Learning of College Introductory Statistics Students: Results of a Randomized Experiment (Lesser, Pearl & Webber III 2016). The next time you listen to music, use the melody or rhythm or lyrics to write or speak your audio notes. Think impromptu rap. Singing notes should be special enough to make that mental association for recall. You may record an audio note to ask questions and answers in multiple choice format. Play the piano or violin to take your mind away from a while from too much studying. Even write your note in the mood of the music piece. This is a familiar process for those who like to study listening to music. I heard Baroque is good for studying. Your call. Can a note be a better note simply because you wrote or spoke it when you felt good? Hmmm. But you may totally add more ideas to a note you liked very much. Also, you may add a link to music you made or purchased at the top of an Evernote’s note. Listen toBaroque PeriodRadioTunes or any other many channels that you prefer when you have internet access.
Read your own notes again and again
First, this helps me correct any mistakes I wrote with self-reflection. Second, to amend or add even more ideas to it with possibly more creative brainstorming. This is also another one I practice. Sounds simple, but this is my own humble forte. One need not apply to every single note but just the ones that matter. What I personally do sometimes is to also question myself have I learned or done something really useful or beneficial after reading a webpage or watching a video. What little time we have is precious, so spend it productively for a greater good. Improvement does not mean we keep learning new stuff but never look back with contemplation. This is like learning from history, realize our own mistakes and diligently change for better. Moreover, we can have some ideas missed out when we took fast notes. So read and update away your own notes till you are at least fairly satisfied.
Mood
Write away freely when you are emotional, particularly out of love and compassion. Injustice, curiosity and the need for closure too. Strong positive emotions put into words can be powerful and affects readers for generations to come. Give yourself to be the fuel for the beacon of light, and let others bathe in this light of love, happiness, and peace for as long as we can. Write when you are inspired or happy. The upside to this technique is that it can be like a form self-therapy or life journal by writing down the best moments and reflect subjectively all possible solution outcomes from different reactions and choosing the right life choices.
Conversely, I would avoid using boring ways of taking notes, would you want to re-visit a dull, uninspiring, unnatural, overly contrived or even pretentious note? Yes, even notes are tell-tales signs of personalities. What do you think the person’s character is like when you saw his/her notes are impeccably flawless with no margin for errors right down to the last line and overly strict handwriting patterns decorated with stenciled letters and highlighters? Personally, I prefer a relaxed, humble, down-to-earth and simple style.
Digital notes
Modern technology for taking notes. Evidently, some notes that include videos, digital images, and audio clips can only be done with digital notes. Smartphones camera shots can still be taken for traditional notes. In addition, find and search are possible with a web note. Sharing and note collaboration too, mentioned in Top 17 Ways How To Take Notes For Sharing. Editing, additions, and deletions are so much easier than paper notes and typewriters. Plus you get to save the trees. Of course, some art drawings require a traditional medium, other than that, why not take digital convenience route of the smartwatch, iPod, iPad, tablet, notebook, desktop? This is not groundbreaking but consider to switch or both for those who only use paper.
Youtube videos
A fashionable approach. Include one relevant Youtube videos into your note (Evernote cannot embed but Dropbox Paper can). This can be a more captivating approach but beware not to plagiarise or get distracted. No relevant or good videos? Don’t fixate on this and move on to other methods. Youtube video’s up and down votes can tell if it is believable or how good peoples’ perception of it. Youtube videos comments can be harsh at times but you get the idea. I observed some Youtube videos do deliver good value to viewers (and they can be quite picky), especially those with a lot of thumbs up compared to down i.e. ratio of more than 100 thumbs up for 10 thumbs down – The wider the gap the better. Moreover, the number of views and comments will sum it up pretty much.
The key to looking for quality video of value for research is to sift through these factors: votes, comments, and views. Play it, make associations or spin-off with new ideas for notes of unique content, write in your own words for an original and better one. Combine with any other methods here to invent anew.
Videos Notes
Modern ways of learning may require a different approach. Say there is no text to study from and you just have a video to take notes from. Simple, our goal now changes from being more creative note taking to listening for important points and transcribing to text first. After we have the text, go through and decide if it is worth to personalize and apply innovative approaches to make it unique or not. Use Alt-Tab keyboard shortcut between videos (space to pause and play again) and notes app to type, as mentioned in How To Take Notes On YouTube Video (4 Tools Evaluated).
Note critique and share
On what grounds? It can be just one simple meter: Why do you like your note? Justify it. Better it. How often do we evaluate and admit to ourselves? On the other hand, you may share your note and let a good friend or others comment. It can be an unexpected expectation. Think social, let’s say you hold yourself accountable for sharing impressive notes regularly, you would straight up become attentive with your awesome antenna, right? Are others saying what you expect? We may not realize where we lack and comments can point out how to improve it. I reckon we are pretty fast learners when it comes to valid peer critiques. Do not be stingy to share good notes. Good is limitless so give and share. Give to others without expectations. When people are thankful for the value we give, use the energy from the crowd to do even more for them. Be receptive but warily selective of only valid criticism. We do not have to change something every time someone comments. Take an analysis note in bullet points for anything critical you want to evaluate objectively so you can better make a correct and justified conclusion instead of one based on impulse or bias that can result in a very grave regret or pricey rip-off purchase. In life, continuously strive for refinements based on the experience of lessons and solutions. Do not give up. Keep standing up for the right reasons.
Read on to learn about another important factor that can make you a better notes taker.
Physical conditioning can affect mental to take better notes
Boost your physical condition for mental tasks.
Drink warm green tea in the morning. Japanese, organic green tea is good for health, has antioxidants and some claim to lower risk of cancer and make you smarter. Tea can get you more alert and awake for a longer period.
Water and hydrate yourself adequately but not excessively. This is common sense but it is easy to forget when you are busy.
Take more fruits, fruits juices, and vegan energy bars to boost your body functions. Whole grains like oats and brown rice. Organic leafy greens.
Simple stretching and rotation exercises or weights training can help increase blood flow to the head and whole body. This is not only beneficial for general health but also those who sat for long hours in the same posture. So bend over with head towards toes. Swing your arms. Rotate your waist and neck.
Regularly massage your head, around the eyes and neck to help relax and improve blood circulation. Have more showers. Take a short walk. Play with your pet. Start weightlifting.
Get ample sleep. It can be difficult to concentrate on anything if one is deprived of sleep. And even dangerous in some situation like driving. So do not stay up too late.
Not just green tea or matcha, any good tea can be good for overall health
Take action now, do not go without a simple exercise
Scan the above points for examples or summarise into one or few words. What is your favorite takeaway ideas? You do not have to implement everything you learned here. I recommend going with one or two techniques first that you like. You may or may not use more after you master it. Your goal is to write better notes or content.
Apply Divide-And-Conquer if this is overwhelming to you. Keep practicing to take superior, better notes. Explore new techniques. Write away so you forget all else, lost in timelessness. Revolutionize your notes. Some people impress with drawings note without even one word needed, some with formidable ideas and impactful words, some with creative prose and grace and others with contemporary & noteworthy ways to boost its value. Let your audience win.
Care for a second note-taking or writing exercise?
Have you ever heard the song ‘Hazard’ by Richard Marx? Why this song? It hinges on quite some of points from above ranging from compassion, prejudice, injustice, story-telling to music. It also invokes mystery or suspense, curiosity and the need for closure. Does this remind you of the book ’To kill a mocking bird’? What happened to his Mum and the town residents? What would happen to these people who outcasted him? He left town and? What do you think? Is the lyrics based on a true account? Is Richard Marx that boy or his friend from that small village? How should this story end? When will he ever be free?
Inspired to write this way? Other songs that have a story or conversational element in it (affiliate links are included):
There are many songs or music that can evoke emotion for writing inspiration, not lest strange or melancholic or epic or subtle tunes of faraway lands that can help push the [ignition] and express your thoughts.. i.e. Auld Lang Syne, La Califfa, Arirang, Elders Drinking Song. Do you feel nostalgic when you take a Last Train Home (Pat Metheney Group) by yourself or Home (Michael Buble) sick?
Listen to curated music channels on the internet e.g. RadioTunes for an easier experience. You may even listen to lullabies e.g. Wonderful Lullabies while studying or perhaps get a good sleep for tomorrow. If only your words can bring forth tears of love and compassion to your readers…
Almost 2 hours of baby music by Wonderful Lullabies
Just one technique put to good use is better than none at all. What’s yours? Find your talent! Write a short note of why and how you felt connected with which particular technique that can help propel you to write a better note and writing.
Hope this piece helps you write much better notes, speeches, web pages, books and even monumental writings that benefit generations to come.
To a better world, very best of luck!
Do bookmark and share these ideas with struggling and excellent note-takers alike, friends and family. Experiment with new ways of taking notes to a new level. If you like to share your way of writing better notes, please feel free to tell others about it.
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