Have you ever wondered if you should take notes while reading? The importance of taking notes depends on what you’re reading and for what purpose.
Have you ever wondered why are notes so important, and how to take them correctly? If you’re studying or doing research for a project, like an ebook, paper, or essay, notes are of pivotal importance. Here, you need to obtain very specific bits and pieces of information that often don’t allow much interpretation.
If you’re reading purely for the sake of fun or self-improvement, your notes don’t need to be as detailed. However, they’re still necessary. Keep reading for more information on taking while you read!
Should I Take Notes While Reading?
Research shows you should take notes while reading because:
- Taking notes helps you remember the most important points from the content
- Notes summarize the essential information so you don’t have to re-read the entire piece
- Notes help you remember details accurately
Why Is Taking Notes Important?
Notes consist of two main elements:
- Information (summary, paraphrase). This includes quotes, definitions, terms and their explanations, classifications, examples, etc.
- Your interpretation of the information.
There are multiple types of notes, like:
- Linear, that follow the structure of the book/chapter/text
- Diagrams, that present the content using charts and boxes
- Mind maps, which lay out only key terms and ideas associated with the topic
The table below shows how you can draw information and interpretations from different note styles:
| Notes Styles | Information | Interpretation |
| Linear | Detailed, full sentences or keywords | Information in your words, your examples, critique, and opinions |
| Diagrams | Key terms and structure by charts and boxes | Insight into must-know definitions, numbers and your conclusions |
| Mind Maps | Basic terms, concepts, and ideas | How you think key ideas are mutually connected, basic knowledge |
The following sections will give a more detailed explanation for why you should take notes while reading:
Memorize Correct Information
Taking notes makes reading more engaging and helps you retain, summarize, and process information. When you read for relaxation, for example a light novel or a newspaper, it is a passive exercise of your mental abilities.
Reading anything and in any way is better than not reading at all. But, if you don’t take notes, chances are that you’ll remember very little of what you read. So, the choice of whether or not to take notes really depends on whether or not remembering information is important to you.
How you choose to take notes should be based on your personal preference and content characteristics. Do it ‘the right way,’ and you’ll maximize learning. Choose a wrong method, and reading becomes secondary to taking notes, which also neglects learning.
How to maximize learning with notes? It’s easy:
- Research shows you’ll retain the most information if you take notes by hand because you engage with the content more actively. Simply put, writing things down engages more of your intellectual capacity than typing it out.
- You’ll remember more when summarizing and paraphrasing. This requires you to first analyze, and then take the time to truly understand the content. When you write down the information “in your own words,” you will associate the reading with familiar information, memories, and feelings.
- Taking notes, and particularly doing it by hand, triggers processes that engage your cognitive functions, feelings, and memories, and associate them with the content. This way, you’re more likely to remember the information than if you simply read it once and move onto the next chapter or section.
The video below shows you how to take notes when learning:
Summarize and Paraphrase Content
Summaries, paraphrasing, and quotations are some of the best ways to remember the key information from the content. Summarizing and paraphrasing are must whether you’re gathering research for your ebook, making new plans, building new habits or skills, preparing a presentation, or giving a lecture.
A summary is a short description or a report of the most important, core ideas and points of the content. It’s done in your own words and shorter in length compared to the original source but depends on the source content length. When writing a summary, you’ll start by writing down the basic idea and then break it into supporting ideas and key points.
A quotation in note-taking means using a whole paragraph or a chunk of content from the source text. It should be used scarcely when taking notes because it doesn’t help you to learn.
Quotes can be useful if a quote is otherwise memorable, interesting, or inspiring to give dimension to notes. Quotes can also be used as a way to “back up” a key point or an idea with information from the source.
Paraphrases are ideas, definitions, or thoughts that have been reworded for easier understanding. How you’ll paraphrase source text depends on the listener or reader. If you’re paraphrasing for yourself, you can re-word the information however it’s easier for you to understand.
If you’re doing it for an audience, like when you’re giving a lecture or a presentation, the paraphrase needs to use the language that’s natural to your audience. It should be simple and easy to understand, but still accurate.
Here’s how to summarize and paraphrase when taking notes to improve memory and understanding of the information:
- Personalize. The best way to take notes is to write them in your own words. This helps connect the new information with the already existing knowledge.
You’ll memorize better when you build up what you already know than if you introduce completely new information that doesn’t have any meaning for you. Be original and quote only when needed using citations.
- Be systematic. First, skim the content to note its basic structure. Write it down into your notebook or notepad, leaving some space between for details. Note chapter names, section names, and key paragraphs that contain definitions, classifications, and explanations.
- Read the entire chapter/article for the first time. Write down the “secondary” most important definitions, concepts, and ideas. After the second read, fill your notes in with additional information you find important.
The video below shows you how to summarize, paraphrase, and quote:
Analyze Ideas and Concepts Critically
Is what you’re reading accurate? Can you accept it as absolute truth, or do some things not add up? Critical thinking gives you perspective in interpreting new knowledge. Nowadays, it’s important to develop critical thinking skills because science developed to such a degree that experts often improve mutually exclusive or somehow opposing comments.
For example, research found that both intuitive (“gut feeling”) and strategic decision making can be effective. So, how to decide whether you should follow your intuition or rely on hard data and evaluation of risks versus benefits?
You need critical thinking to form your own opinions based on facts and evidence from different sources. Notes help you organize different sources into a system so you can observe different viewpoints from a broader perspective.
Taking notes allows you to question and analyze information, find specific details, and form unbiased conclusions based upon a plurality of facts. One of the fun ways to do this is by using ‘three-column’ notes, in which you’ll write down:
- Sources. Names and dates of publications, URLs, etc.
- Notes. The facts, ideas, and opinions found in publications.
- Your comments. Your take on the information. Do you think the claims are well-argued? Could the author have a bias or conflict of interest? If so, does that affect the accuracy of information?
Taking notes also helps you learn how to think in multidimensional ways, evaluate information from different angles and viewpoints, and notice how some ideas or occurrences affect others. This is useful both in academic and career work because it helps you weigh positives against negatives and make better decisions.
Do you want to boost your critical thinking? Check out the video below for more tips:
Note Taking While Reading FAQ
How Can You Learn Easily With Taking Notes?
Write down the most important information. Highlight the most essential information in the text, and then write it down in your own words. Then, go over the entire text once more and revise using notes. A couple of repetitions should be enough!
How Can You Learn Faster When Taking Notes?
Focus. Don’t just re-write the content from the text into your notebook. Take the time to analyze the meaning of the words, ideas, and key concepts. Doing this will take longer, but you have usable and practicable lessons and in-depth guidelines after reading only once or twice!
Conclusion
In this article, you learned that:
- Taking notes while reading helps you remember information more accurately and think critically.
- Notes consist of the basic information you got from a piece of text and your interpretation of it in the form of a linear presentation, a diagram, and/or a mind map.
- Critical thinking helps you look past biases and look at a problem from different angles, so you can form a truly rounded, well-educated opinion or an attitude.
- Taking notes helps you get a clear perspective of conflicting sources or information.
When taking notes, it’s crucial to stay focused, don’t rush, and take the time to analyze the information. This helps you understand the topic better and learn more quickly and easily.