Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Organize the lesson notes
• Method 2 of 2: Organize meeting notes
• Tips
• Warnings

Taking notes and keeping them organized is an important part of the school and work world. You need organized notes for your exams, for writing essays, and keeping track of decisions and assignments at work. Keeping them organized will not only help you with these tasks, but also help you remember your material more easily.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Organize the lesson notes

1. Take good notes. One of the keys to organizing your notes properly is that they are properly drafted. This means writing down only the really important things and not literally copying everything your teacher says (unless it's really funny, of course).
   • Write down what the teacher repeats several times. Recurring points is a way of emphasizing what is the most important material. Everything that is repeated more often will eventually be incorporated into a test somewhere, or at least it is important to understand the subject.
   • Be selective (don't write down everything that is said): write down the main points of the lecture or lesson; write down examples or assumptions, especially for science subjects.
2. Mix the different styles of note taking. There are several ways to incorporate information. You can use one style or mix several. The mix is ​​best, because it usually gives you more information and in different ways.
   • Handwritten notes work best for subjects about: numbers, equations and formulas –analysis, chemistry, physics, economics, logic, but also languages ​​because it makes it easier to remember the material.
   • You can also make a recording of the lecture or lesson, if this is allowed by your teacher. This is a great way to listen to specific parts of the lesson again, although it can be more difficult to memorize.
   • Obtain all lesson notes and PowerPoint slides the teacher has made available. This can be valuable information for theses and exams.
3. Find out which way of taking notes works best for you. There are several ways to take notes, one of which is more effective than the other as an aid in staying or becoming organized. You will have to experiment to find out which method is best for you.
   • An effective method is the Cornell method. Mark a 6 cm column on the left side of the paper. On the right a column of 15 cm. You are going to use the right column for taking notes during class or lecture. After class, summarize your notes, underline your core concepts, and write down questions about the material in the column on the left.
   • Many people use a method in which they outline the material in rough lines. This basically means writing down the most important points (for example, you can format them as a bulleted list). After class, write a summary of the notes with a pen in a different color, or use a highlighter.
   • Mind mapping is a more visual and creative form of note taking. You draw your notes instead of writing them down in sentences one after the other. Place the subject of the lesson in the center of the paper. Every time the teacher raises a new point, write it around the central point. Draw lines to connect the different ideas. You can always make illustrations instead of words.
4. Keep your notes in a central place. If you keep the notes everywhere and nowhere, it will be very difficult to organize them for your tests and papers when the time comes.Don't just grab a notebook for your notes because it happens to be nearby, or you will never find those notes again.
   • On your computer it is important to have 1 folder for the notes of each class. If you put them all together it will be difficult to find them.
   • It's usually easier to keep handwritten notes in a folder because you can add and remove pages without tearing them out.
5. Keep track of handouts and syllabi. Many people (especially freshmen) don't realize how important syllabi and handouts are. These contain information you will need (such as homework assignments, the purpose of the course, etc.).
   • Here you will usually also find in detail information about the type of essay and information you should be aware of, which is very important to know what kind of notes to take in class.
   • Keep all of the syllabi and handouts for each subject in the same place as your notes so that you can easily access them, especially if your teacher brings them up during class.
6. Have a separate notebook or folder for each course. You really need to store everything in the same place. This makes it easier for you to look it up when you need it. If you have a separate book for each subject, then you know exactly where your notes are.
   • Have the various notebooks and folders at hand. It is not much use if you do not store the notes per subject in the right place.
   • The more specific you are, the better. This means that you create different maps for a course for the different parts of a course. An example: if the lesson is divided into 4 parts, you could keep 4 maps per subject part.
   • Another example: You have different folders for each part of the subject (for Latin, you have a different folder for each part of the grammar [nouns, verbs, indirect speech, etc.]).
7. You create separate folders for each course on a computer. If you keep all notes on your computer, make sure you reserve a separate space for your notes there too. You don't want to have to dig through files on your computer looking for your notes.
   • Provide subfolders where you store specific information. For example: you have a main folder for the Astronomy course, but inside it there are sub-folders for the different parts of the course, in addition to those for the two theses you have to write.
   • Another example is a folder that you have made for your research thesis, and a folder for information about gender identity politics from the subject of gender studies.
8. Outline the notes for each course. This may sound like overkill, but it can be very helpful to know which notes you have. You don't have to write down more than the outline of each group of notes (the main ideas), but it makes it a lot easier to review later.
   • Combine your lecture notes and study materials into a coherent whole. Identify the main thoughts and how they relate to each other. For example, if the lesson is about women in the Middle Ages, the main thoughts might be about building the self, writings, feelings of autonomy and gender, etc. You can show how these ideas are related.
   • Make sure you have written down the main points, along with the sub-points that support the main points.
9. Stay consistent. You don't want to be constantly trying to remember how and where you stored certain information. This will make organizing your notes much more difficult in the long run. If you stick to one way of taking notes and one layout for the different subjects, you will be much better prepared than you would otherwise be.
   • Giving yourself some space when it comes to organizing means that you have given up organizing and organizing and you will start to have a lot more difficult when the time for exams or theses comes again.

Method 2 of 2: Organize meeting notes

1. Take effective notes during meetings. You don't want to write down every word people say unless you want to be very specific somewhere. When you attend a meeting, you want to make sure you only write down the most important things that are brought up.
   • Above all, make sure to write down things you still need to do, decisions you need to make and everything you need to follow up on.
   • Make notes on paper and then transfer them to the computer. This will help you remember what was said.
   • An effective method for taking notes is the Cornell method. Mark a 6 cm column on the left side of the paper. On the right a column of 15 cm. You are going to use the right column to take notes during class, a meeting or lecture. After class, summarize your notes, underline your core concepts, and write down questions about the material in the column on the left.
2. Make sure you have written down the correct information. There are a number of specific things you will need to note along with what was said at the meeting. This is especially important if you need to send the notes to each attendee after the meeting.
   • Make sure to write down the date, organization name, purpose of the meeting and participants (along with anyone who was absent).
3. Afterwards, make a summary of your notes / the meeting. You will have to crystallize out what is most important to make sure you know what needs to be done and what has been decided.
   • Place a colored box around the summary for easy reading.
   • Summarize and don't transcribe. There is no need to know every individual detail of what has been said. For example: You just need to mention that it was decided to buy a new type of writing supplies, and nothing about the lengthy discussion that preceded it.
4. Make sure to organize only the most important information. There is no need to organize all the different types of writing supplies (as shown in the example above), just that new ones are needed and maybe what type it is going to be.
   • The most important thing it should contain is: actions, decisions and reference information.
   • Emphasize the most important information or leave the margin for key concepts and the most important ideas.
   • Do not try to organize during the meeting. Doing this later will help you remember things better and make sure you don't miss anything important.
5. Have a folder for each meeting. You want to make sure that all the material is not thrown in a big pile and is then untraceable by all the rooting. You do this by ensuring that each meeting is individually designated or designated.
   • Or you put all meetings of the same type together. For example, if you made the notes for the weekly meeting with your supervisor, you will keep them separate from the notes for the weekly meeting with the whole team.
6. Organize everything in chronological order. Keeping the notes of a meeting together by date makes it easier to search it and find out when certain decisions were taken, who was not present at a particular meeting and therefore needs certain information, etc.
7. Keep your notes in the same place. This way, you don't have to rush the entire office to find your notes after the meeting. And there is no need to worry about getting the notes to everyone on time because you can't find them anymore.

Tips

• To organize notes, you need a notepad for each subject. Do not mix up the notes for the different subjects.
• Use color codes for your notes. For example, use a blue folder for math notes and a red one for biology notes.
• If you need to circulate the notes, do so as soon as possible after the meeting closes. That way, the information is still fresh in the minds of the meeting participants.

Warnings

• It's best to strike a balance between taking too many and too few notes. You will really only get a feel for this if you start experimenting and see what works best for you.