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As we’re about to begin 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 numerous sensible people doing analysis and constructing wonderful merchandise. And at each assembly I’m taking notes — a number of them.
The earliest reminiscences I’ve of taking notes are in main college. I might copy word-for-word what the trainer would say or write on the board. Issues like definitions and multiplication tables. Then I’d go residence, examine what I’d copied, and finally take a check. In observe, I used to be studying to encode, retailer, and recall info. When you consider 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 complicated, it compelled me to rethink be aware 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 traditional function of mitochondria is oxidative phosphorylation, which generates ATP by utilising the vitality launched through the oxidation of the meals we eat.” And when learning, I might have dedicated this to reminiscence with out essentially understanding the way it truly labored. What would have been extra useful would have been to learn the definition, then write it out in a means that was significant to me, similar to: “Mitochondria are the energy plant of the cell. They generate many of the chemical vitality 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 be aware taking simply isn’t as efficient whenever you’re making an attempt to study and retain new info.
Pen and paper
To this present day, I nonetheless take numerous my notes by hand. It helps me to take care of focus and internalise the essential bits. It’s not possible to write down as quick as individuals communicate, so I’m compelled to write down down what I believe is most essential or make be aware 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 completely different note-taking approaches. Every part 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 cut up a pocket book web page into 4 components: 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 evaluation questions and problem assumptions.
A current examine by Kuniyoshi Sakai, titled Paper Notebooks vs. Cell Units: Mind Activation Variations Throughout Reminiscence Retrieval, truly confirmed greater retention and recall for topics that used pen and paper versus a keyboard, or pill and stylus. Nevertheless, there may be broad settlement that taking notes, in any kind with any enter, helps with encoding, retention, and recall.
As you may see from the picture above, I’m an enormous 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 seek out its means 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’re energetic with the textual content as a substitute of simply studying it drives this course of.
Utilizing ML and generative AI
There may be numerous worth within the act of taking notes and actively synthesising info. However we reside in a world with extra knowledge than we might ever fairly anticipate to comb by. That is an space the place ML and generative AI will play an more and more essential function. Just a few examples that come to thoughts are:
- Utilizing a transcription service with speaker identification to complement the notes you are taking throughout a gathering.
- Utilizing pc 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 simply’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 essential individuals throughout a whole lot of pages from conferences, lectures, doc evaluations, on-site visits, and many others.
I see this like studying a map. If you happen to return 20 years, studying a map was a reasonably widespread ability. You’d plan a route, take some notes, then attempt to navigate it. And in the event you took the route sufficient occasions, you’d bring it to mind. You’d keep in mind a fountain or the color of a selected 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 comply with 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 probably not up for debate. However studying a bodily map remains to be a really helpful ability. There’ll inevitably be occasions that you simply don’t have cell service (otherwise you lose your cellphone, or perhaps you wish to disconnect from know-how), and understanding the place you’re and the best way to get the place you’re going are essential. And similar to taking notes by hand, it lets you take away among the noise created by know-how, and to concentrate on the essential bits.
I’m genuinely curious to see how analysis will evolve within the subsequent 10+ years as we proceed to check what works finest for digital natives.
Take notes, a number of 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, a number of them.
Now, go construct!
Be aware: I’m genuinely curious how my readers take notes and synthesise info. If you happen to’re doing issues in another way than me, let me know on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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