Taking Notes: A Simple Trick to Boost Your Worklife
Today’s tip is the oldest trick in the book – but probably the most under-utilised one in the office. Taking notes is not just for students; it also has its value in the workplace and even in our daily lives. No matter what type of genius you are, every savant will find that even a short-form note will be a timely reminder for everyday tasks. Prefer to take notes the old-fashioned way? Good news – researchers from Princeton have found that taking notes by hand is more effective than typing away on your laptop. The baseline is that jotting things down will not only help your memory, but may even pay off for your career in the long run.
Here are some reasons why note taking is the revolutionary age-old method that everyone should adopt:
Active Learning
Writing involves the note-taker being fully in the process of learning and consolidating, as this LinkedIn article suggests. Not only is the note-taker immersing himself in comprehending and breaking down the information in his own words, he is also consciously penning down thoughts and highlighting major ideas – an important preliminary step to making mental connections with different themes.
Acquire Organisational Skills
Proper note-taking also allows the note-taker to develop better organisational skills.
This action actively engages the note-taker to sieve out the essential from the massive amount of information that goes through his mind, allowing him to not only be able to refer to them easily, but also cultivates critical thinking and efficiency in receiving and compartmentalising the material. With practice and time, such skills may also find its way into different aspects of his life, allowing him to find a good balance between work and the personal.
Fine-tuning Visualisation Skills
By penning down thoughts, the note-taker will often find himself more prescient and will also be able to look at the overall picture more easily in the long-run. Taking notes forces him to concretise ideas into words, while mapping and brainstorming will further organise information in a clear and effective manner. These visual clues will also help him be alert to things that require attention, rather than casting his net over a range of information that might not be the most valuable.
Achievable Goals
Often times, note-takers are better at achieving success. Because of the above advantages, they are habitually making a conscious effort to make reminders for themselves, draw links to ideas, and are more inclined to making informed decisions from penning them down and in turn planning best courses of action. These habits allow them to accomplish achievable goals that aren’t too lofty, which, in the long run, will increase productivity and gear them up for greater success.
The many benefits of note-taking should easily convince you to start fostering this habit today. Before you whip out your pen and paper and jot down meetings verbatim, it is important to practice critical thinking and only pick out useful information that will add value to your thought-process when you return to these notes. Perfecting your own unique technique will come in due time. Meanwhile, this article on different note-taking strategies should give you some inspiration on how to get started on this productivity boosting and success achieving trick. One last thing: don’t forget to review your notes!
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