How to Take Smart Notes

One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

By: Sonke Ahrens

Narrated by: Nigel Fyfe

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The key to good and efficient writing lies in the intelligent organization of ideas and notes. This book helps students, academics, and nonfiction writers to get more done, write intelligent texts, and learn for the long run. It teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward.

The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psychological insight and draws from a tried-and-tested note-taking technique. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. It suits students and academics in the social sciences and humanities, nonfiction writers, and others who are in the business of reading, thinking, and writing.

Instead of wasting your time searching for notes, quotes, or references, you can focus on what really counts: thinking, understanding, and developing new ideas in writing. It does not matter if you prefer taking notes with pen and paper or on a computer, be it Windows, Mac, or Linux. And you can start right away.

©2017 Sönke Ahrensv (P)2021 Sönke Ahrensv

Excellent

Excellent book. Learned a lot. Helped me better understand how to use the ZK method.

Exceptional life changing book

All my life I had bad habits in regards to my study habits. I never had a solid note taking system in place. Zettelkasten note taking system is revolutionary in terms of not only building knowledge blocks, but connecting the blocks to derive new insights. This system can exponentially increase your original thinking.

Amazing reconception of notetaking and thinking

This was so excellent, I'm about to listen again right now. Very well done. Thank you.

This is going to change my life!

My goal is to write and publish 50 books in my life and now I have a clear system to do it!

Excellent!

If you are new to Zettelkasten method, start with this book. Go nowhere else before reading this. Ahrens explains how it works and why it works. This book not only guides you how to use it, but also how to tweak it for your own special needs.

Proclaims simplicity

I think the concept is very interesting and may hold great potential as it purports. But I think the actual implementation of this technique is really unclear and difficult, as evidenced by the many youtubers who uploaded videos attempting to clarify it. I do absolutely agree with the concept that "fleeting" notes get lost into the ether of time, rendering them useless. So I have tried making digital notes on my reading, and that's fine. But then taking the time in my otherwise busy schedule to make up "permanent" notes which have no current use seems unlikely to happen. If I ever do figure out how to work this into my working process I'll come back and revise this review. So far, I haven't made one permanent note.

Note Taking and so much more!

Originally got this for insight on how to be more effective taking notes while in classes but soon found out it was much more. Narration was perfect for this book. A very interesting read.

One of the most helpful books ever

Still processing all of the wisdom in this book. I started my slip-box. Highly recommended.

Excellent AFTER first watching YouTube trainings

If you actually want to achieve the kinds of results attendant to this kind of note-taking and second brain building and creativity enhancing system/technique, then you need to decide from the start that you will practice it immediately.

Prior to reading this book, I watched one of the author's more recent lectures on YouTube, and I watched three or four videos of individuals who had established digitalized versions of the slip box and were creating tutorials for others to imitate. I believe that pre-work was essential to my understanding of this book. And, I believe this book is far deeper and more valuable than just watching YouTube videos or other explainers. Having the pre-existing ideas, and - this is especially important - using a digital slip box to practice while listening through this book, helped me take full advantage of the learning experience. I am using Obsidian, but I have seen many other good choices for digital slip boxes prior to, and during my initial learning phase. In fact, it is a bit more complicated than I enjoy, and I agree with the author that a physical, note card-based version of the slip box would likely be no less valuable and perhaps simpler.

The quality of the material within this book, the arguments made, and the attendant information about learning theory is incredibly valuable and rich for explaining more than how to do this technique and create the system for oneself, such as the why it is, perhaps, even necessary for the one who aims at efficient, effective, enjoyable and prolific knowledge work.

As others have expressed, the deficiency in the book is related to examples absence and the challenge of understanding distinctions between no types. Also, that means, imo, that these are somewhat too simple of concepts and practices to be believable until they have been enacted. This is not the author's fault. It took me needing to have watched those videos and seen others examples of their own slip boxes to realize that I had high school teachers who required us to engage in this kind of work. But, with years past, and digital tools at our fingertips, and the insatiable desire for collecting information, the value and wisdom of this sort of meaningful note-taking is obscured.

TLDR: This is an incredible book, but only if you actually want to change and improve the way you learn and are willing to do some work. It is not a pill that will make you feel good immediately. It is a regimen that will help you make feeling good normal.

A great motivations to start Zettelkasten methods

How to Take Smart Note presents the Zettelkasten (slip-box) method as a note-taking system, which encourages an universal simple note format and an interconnected note storage and retrieval system. This method was pioneered by Niklas Luhmann.

This book consists of three parts:
- What is Zettelkasten method? This part explains the basic concepts and the practical skills (know-how) of note-taking using Zettelkasten method including how to separate different types of notes (fleeting notes, literature notes and permanent notes), how to use slip-box in writing and research etc. The focus is on what to do and how to do.

- The Four Underlying Principles: This part focus on the principles underlying the Zettelkasten method. Zettelkasten method is not simply a skill for note-taking but also a set of principles and mindsets underlying reading, writing, critical thinking and research. To better use of Zettelkasten note-taking system, one should understand why it works. The principles introduced in this part helps the reader to understand what it really matters in note-taking, reading, writing and research. The reader can then adopt the Zettelkasten method with flexibility, allowing the benefits of using this method more obvious. For many, adopting Zettelkasten method would be a paradigm shift in their habits and perspective towards learning and thinking itself.

- The Six Steps to Successful Writing: This part moves beyond Zettelkasten method itself and discusses the suggestions and steps of academia writing and research. These steps also follow the similar principles underlying the self-centered research principles. and the five elements of effective thinking. These suggestions are embedded in the design of Zettelkasten system which helps us to separate different tasks, to focus on understanding while reading, to develop ideas with connections, and to share insights with others. The author advocated that Zettelkasten method would lead to successful in non-fiction writing, learning, and academia research.