Many of us have notebooks full of notes we never looked at again. Pages of neat handwriting or long typed documents that seemed important at the time but turned out to be hard to use.
The good news is that note taking is a skill, and a few small changes can make your notes much more useful. In this guide we look at what good notes do, compare three well-known methods and share a simple routine for turning notes into revision material.
What notes are for
Notes have two jobs. The first is to help you pay attention and make sense of new information while you are learning it. The second is to give you something to study from later.
Trying to write down everything a teacher says fails at both jobs. You are so busy copying that there is no time to think, and afterwards you have a wall of text with no clear structure.
Better notes are selective. They capture the main ideas, the connections between them and the examples that make them clear, mostly in your own words.
Handwriting or typing?
This question comes up a lot, and there is no single right answer. Typing is fast and searchable, which is useful for long lectures or research. Handwriting is slower, which can force you to summarise and choose what matters.
Whichever you use, the key is to process the information rather than transcribe it. If you type, resist the urge to capture every sentence. If you handwrite, focus on structure and keywords.
Three methods worth trying
The Cornell method
Divide your page into three areas:
- A wide right column for notes during the lesson.
- A narrow left column for questions and keywords, filled in afterwards.
- A strip at the bottom for a short summary in your own words.
During the lesson, write your main notes on the right. Afterwards, add questions on the left that the notes answer. Finally, write two or three sentences at the bottom summarising the page.
The Cornell layout is great for lectures and textbook chapters because it builds review into the format. Covering the right column and answering the questions on the left is instant active recall.
The outline method
Outlining uses headings and indented bullet points to show how ideas relate. Main topics sit on the left, with supporting points and details indented beneath them.
Outlines work well when material is already organised, such as a well-structured lecture or a textbook with clear sections. They are quick to create and easy to scan. The weakness is that they can hide connections between ideas that sit in different sections.
Mind maps
A mind map starts with a central idea in the middle of the page. Branches spread out to subtopics, and smaller branches carry the details. Colours, arrows and small sketches can show links.
Mind maps suit topics with lots of connections, like planning an essay, brainstorming or reviewing a whole unit at once. They are less handy for long, detailed lectures where you need to keep up in real time.
Tips that work with any method
Use your own words. If you can rephrase an idea, you probably understand it. If you cannot, that is a useful signal to ask a question.
Capture examples. A definition on its own is easy to forget. A short example often makes it click.
Mark what confuses you. Put a question mark or a symbol next to anything unclear. Follow up after the lesson.
Use abbreviations consistently. Develop a few shortcuts you will recognise later, such as an arrow for "leads to".
Leave space. Gaps let you add details and corrections when you review.
The review routine that makes notes useful
The most important step happens after the lesson. Try to review your notes within a day or so, while the material is still reasonably fresh.
- Tidy. Fix anything illegible, fill in abbreviations you might forget and add missing details from the textbook or slides.
- Question. Write questions in the margin or on flashcards that your notes answer.
- Summarise. Write a short summary at the end of each page or section.
- Recall. Cover your notes and try to answer your questions from memory.
This takes ten to fifteen minutes per lesson and turns passive notes into an active study tool. Over a term, those small reviews add up to a complete set of revision material.
Digital note tips
If you take notes on a laptop or tablet:
- Turn off notifications during lessons so you can focus.
- Use one document or notebook per subject with clear headings and dates.
- Try a two column table to imitate the Cornell layout.
- Add tags or keywords so you can search later.
- Back up your notes regularly.
Choosing your method
If you are not sure where to start, try Cornell notes for a week. It is structured enough to keep you organised and has review built in. Once you are comfortable, experiment with outlines for organised content and mind maps for big picture review.
Your next step
Before your next class, draw the Cornell layout on a few pages. Take notes on the right as usual, then spend ten minutes that evening adding questions and a summary. Next week, test yourself using only the questions column and see how much you remember.