How to Take Smart Notes: 8 key ideas
The core ideas of How to Take Smart Notes, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 8
Writing is where thinking happens
Ahrens argues that writing is not just the final step of learning but the medium of thinking itself.
Students and researchers who treat everything they read as preparation for writing, he suggests, end up understanding more and producing far more.
- IDEA 2 OF 8
Luhmann's slip-box powered huge output
Ahrens describes the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, who wrote dozens of books using a slip-box of linked index cards.
Luhmann credited this system, rather than unusual genius, with letting his ideas grow and connect over decades.
- IDEA 3 OF 8
Use three kinds of notes
Ahrens separates fleeting notes, quick reminders of ideas; literature notes, short notes in your own words about what you read; and permanent notes, carefully written ideas added to the slip-box.
Each type has a different job and lifespan.
- IDEA 4 OF 8
Write notes in your own words
Copying quotes or highlighting feels productive, Ahrens warns, but it does not build understanding.
Rewriting an idea briefly in your own words forces you to grasp it properly, a process called elaboration that also improves memory.
- IDEA 5 OF 8
Link notes, don't just file them
Each permanent note should be connected to related notes already in the slip-box.
Ahrens argues that these links, rather than folders or categories, create a web of ideas where unexpected connections and new insights can appear.
- IDEA 6 OF 8
Let topics emerge from the notes
Instead of choosing a topic first and then searching for material, Ahrens suggests letting topics grow from the bottom up.
Clusters of linked notes reveal what you have thought most about, giving you ready-made material for writing.
- IDEA 7 OF 8
Work on several projects at once
Ahrens suggests keeping several writing projects open, so when you are stuck on one, you can switch to another.
This keeps work flowing and lets the brain process difficult problems in the background.
- IDEA 8 OF 8
Turn notes into finished drafts
When notes are already written in full sentences and linked, writing a paper becomes a matter of arranging and polishing them.
Ahrens argues this avoids the terror of the blank page, because the draft grows naturally from your notes.
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