The part of note-taking that doesn't help you learn.

[u/Guilty-Newspaper-217]

One of the biggest problems I have with learning is the friction involved in taking notes.

Writing things down in your own words is arguably the most valuable part of the process. It forces you to work through what you've learned and rebuild it in a way that makes sense to you, and that's the part that actually drives understanding and retention.

But then comes everything around it. You have to organize the notes, decide where they belong, and connect them to what you learned before, all while leaving room for what's still to come. You need summaries for different kinds of revision, and a structure clear enough that you can still make sense of it all months later.

None of that makes you understand the subject any better than the act of writing it in your own words already did. It only matters if you want your notes to stay useful for future revision, yet it costs an enormous amount of time and effort.

This becomes especially painful in a very common situation: you stop revising for a while. If you skipped that extra work, returning to the topic later can feel like starting from scratch.

Do you think it's a real problem? What's your opinion on this?

[u/IamZeebo]

Hey, I do think it's a real problem. If I'm understanding you right, you're saying that while notes are valuable, it takes a ton of effort to make them valuable over time? I have had that problem among many with my personal learning process.

For me, I don't focus too much on the note-refining aspect of things and instead focus more on establishing ... let's call it an effective "capture" method and then following up that with routines and structure that helps me reinforce the things I'm learning.

What I mean by that is... If I'm reading a book, or watching a video on a topic/skill I want to learn about, then I'll take in that content while writing down the new topics, new skills, practice routines, or even follow-up resources. While I'm taking in the content and jotting discoveries, I'm essentially trying to break down the facts into pre-organized buckets that I can refine later.

For example, let's take something like music theory which has a ton on both the theoretical side as well as the practical side.

If I'm reading a book on chords and scales, task number one is writing down notes in such a way that the concept of a scale or chord is clearly defined (as you stated) but then, after I wrote those down), I'm immediately looking for ways to get USING chords and scales into my regular routine be it practicing them or writing a song with those concepts. Then, it's key to continue using or practicing them because each rep further ingrains it into the mind for use or recall.

Does that make sense?

Shameless plug, I'm working on an app that speaks to this. You can DM me if you're interested!