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As we’re about to start out the planning conferences for 2024 at AWS, I’ve been pondering loads about how I take notes. In the identical vein, the method of placing collectively a re: Invent keynote takes months, and it implies that I’m assembly with plenty of sensible people doing analysis and constructing superb merchandise. And at each assembly I’m taking notes — numerous them.
The earliest recollections I’ve of taking notes are in major college. I’d copy word-for-word what the instructor would say or write on the board. Issues like definitions and multiplication tables. Then I’d go house, research what I’d copied, and ultimately take a take a look at. In observe, I used to be studying to encode, retailer, and recall data. When you concentrate on it, it’s a bit like S3.
However this was memorisation, not synthesis.
As I continued alongside my academic journey, and the subject material grew to become more and more extra advanced, it compelled me to rethink word taking. It was much less about being a scribe, and extra about listening, observing, and comprehending what was being taught. For instance, the youthful me could have copied the next definition verbatim: “The basic position of mitochondria is oxidative phosphorylation, which generates ATP by utilising the power launched through the oxidation of the meals we eat.” And when finding out, I’d have dedicated this to reminiscence with out essentially understanding the way it really labored. What would have been extra useful would have been to learn the definition, then write it out in a approach that was significant to me, resembling: “Mitochondria are the energy plant of the cell. They generate many of the chemical power wanted to energy the cell’s biochemical reactions.” Perhaps even diagram the method within the margins. That is synthesis. This denotes understanding.
And there’s analysis to again this up. Particularly, that verbatim word taking simply isn’t as efficient whenever you’re attempting to be taught and retain new data.
Pen and paper
To this present day, I nonetheless take plenty of my notes by hand. It helps me to take care of focus and internalise the vital bits. It’s unimaginable to jot down as quick as individuals converse, so I’m compelled to jot down down what I feel is most vital or make word of what I don’t perceive in order that I can ask questions.
The Cornell Technique
I’ve spent fairly a little bit of time over the previous couple of months studying about and relearning totally different note-taking approaches. Every little thing from outlining to thoughts mapping to charting. And what’s labored fairly properly for me is the Cornell Technique. A easy strategy that has you break up a pocket book web page into 4 elements: 1/ title, 2/ notes, 3/ key phrases/questions, and 4/ abstract. And no, it’s not as a result of I labored at Cornell for the higher a part of a decade, however as a result of this methodology encourages you to doc your thought processes (i.e., ask questions), synthesise what you’re studying in real-time (i.e., take notes), and summarise all of it after the actual fact (i.e., write a succinct abstract).
What I wind up with are structured notes which are straightforward to learn, organise, and revisit, as a result of it’s extra than simply writing one thing down, however with the ability to return and assessment questions and problem assumptions.
A latest research by Kuniyoshi Sakai, titled Paper Notebooks vs. Cellular Gadgets: Mind Activation Variations Throughout Reminiscence Retrieval, really confirmed greater retention and recall for topics that used pen and paper versus a keyboard, or pill and stylus. Nonetheless, there may be broad settlement that taking notes, in any type with any enter, helps with encoding, retention, and recall.
As you may see from the picture above, I’m a giant fan of analog note-taking. For me, analog helps with memorising, synthesising, and summarising. As quickly as I write one thing down with pen and paper, it additionally appears to search out its approach into my mind – one thing that doesn’t occur with digital. I even use the Cornell methodology when making ready for conferences; I summarise the briefing doc in my pocket book, and it instantly sticks. The truth that you might be energetic with the textual content as a substitute of simply studying it drives this course of.
Utilizing ML and generative AI
There’s plenty of worth within the act of taking notes and actively synthesising data. However we reside in a world with extra knowledge than we may ever fairly count on to comb by way of. That is an space the place ML and generative AI will play an more and more vital position. Just a few examples that come to thoughts are:
- Utilizing a transcription service with speaker identification to complement the notes you’re taking throughout a gathering.
- Utilizing laptop imaginative and prescient and optical character recognition (OCR) to transform your handwritten notes into docs which you can simply share with others or retailer in a central location. (Assuming that you just’re not already utilizing one thing like Kindle Scribe).
- Close to-instant summarisation.
- Iterating over a complete corpus of notes utilizing an LLM to determine themes, traits, and vital individuals throughout a whole lot of pages from conferences, lectures, doc critiques, on-site visits, and so forth.
I see this like studying a map. In the event you return 20 years, studying a map was a reasonably frequent talent. You’d plan a route, take some notes, then attempt to navigate it. And should you took the route sufficient instances, you’d remember it. You’d bear in mind a fountain or the color of a particular home alongside the way in which. You’d know when and the place there can be visitors or development, and the alternate routes to get round it. However lately, we simply use our telephones. We observe turn-by-turn instructions from street-to-street while not having to commit an excessive amount of to reminiscence.
It’s useful. It’s straightforward. That’s not likely up for debate. However studying a bodily map continues to be a really helpful talent. There’ll inevitably be instances that you just don’t have cell service (otherwise you lose your cellphone, or perhaps you need to disconnect from expertise), and understanding the place you might be and find out how to get the place you’re going are vital. And identical to taking notes by hand, it means that you can take away a few of the noise created by expertise, and to concentrate on the vital bits.
I’m genuinely curious to see how analysis will evolve within the subsequent 10+ years as we proceed to check what works greatest for digital natives.
Take notes, numerous them
I’ll depart you with a quote from the author Anne Lamott: “[…] one of many worst emotions I can consider, [is] to have had a beautiful second or perception or imaginative and prescient or phrase, to know you had it, then lose it.” My recommendation: take notes, numerous them.
Now, go construct!
Be aware: I’m genuinely curious how my readers take notes and synthesise data. In the event you’re doing issues in a different way than me, let me know on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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