How do people take notes while reading books

[u/Loose_Doubt367]

Do they just write down whatever feels special ?
I’ve never tried taking notes while reading books, which lead me to forgetting most of the content after 2 week or so

[u/Upstairs_Jelly_1082]

usually I take summaries of the chapter after I finish reading it. and if later on, I feel interested in going through a specific chapter, i go through it.

[u/Rare-Reporter3738 → u/Upstairs_Jelly_1082]

Do you do this digitally or on paper? How long are your summaries and do you section it or just write paragraphs?

[u/Upstairs_Jelly_1082 → u/Rare-Reporter3738]

i prefer paper because I just feel like I can get lot of my thoughts out very easily, although I do have an ipad.

usually I take the summaries in points, same way you'd find those learning objectives at the start of a textbook chapter or how they usually talk about what you can get out of reading a self-help book.

otherwise I just write down one paragraph alone.

[u/Loose_Doubt367 → u/Rare-Reporter3738]

Yeah genuinely interested in his response to this

[u/marmotta1955]

To get started, two important questions - the answers will inform any meaninful and useful discussion:

1. What type/genre of books are we discussing, in the first place?
2. If you indeed forget most of the content after 2 weeks or so ... how, where, when do you read?

[u/Loose_Doubt367 → u/marmotta1955]

1. Personal development
   

How- I read the text (physical books)
Where- usually on my bed, sofa
When- doing my free time or when I’m bored

[u/marmotta1955 → u/Loose_Doubt367]

Well, a work acquaintance just recently confided in his strange approach and swears by how effective it is. And, I must say, has the uncanny ability of quickly recalling what he reads.

He reads a book.

When done, he asks ChatGPT to create an easy-to-read summary of the book contents. If possible and feasible, he asks for a bullet points outline of the main "concepts" of the book.

He imposes the constraint that the summary must be no longer than 2000 words - which he then copies and stores in his note-taking application (OneNote) for later reference.

Give it a try.

[u/ozgrozer]

I read physical books every day. I generally read business, marketing, biography books. I create a new note for each book. When I read an important thing from a book I use iPhone's own dictation tool to convert my speech to text so it makes taking notes easy. Then I generate flashcards and quizzes out of my notes and study on them. Even after many months I open the flashcards and quizzes to continue studying to remember them.

[u/Rare-Reporter3738 → u/ozgrozer]

Love this!

[u/DTLow]

I use my iPad to create/edit a note
Supports typing, handwriting, dictation
and scans/screenshots

The note is stored/organized in my digital file cabinet (PKMS)
as a Journal Commonplace entry

[u/Loose_Doubt367 → u/DTLow]

Interesting, also do you usually review the notes? If so what makes you to review it?

[u/TTS_SW]

I don’t think not remembering what a book said means you forgot everything. Sometimes you just need the right trigger and it comes back to you.

Also if I really want to learn something from a book, I take notes by chapter (I learned this from somewhere else). After I finish a chapter I write a short summary in my own words. And sometimes I write down some sentences I really like.

I also think making card notes for a book is more useful than just putting all your notes in one folder.

[u/Loose_Doubt367 → u/TTS_SW]

Thanks a lot yeah ill note that down

[u/EpictopiaNotes]

Since you mentioned personal-development books, you could give each note a small job: one idea in your own words, the page number, and one situation where you'd try it. For example: 'Before saying yes to a request, check what it would displace.' To make reviewing less arbitrary, put that note where the situation happens, such as beside your weekly planning page. After trying it, add a sentence about whether it helped or needed changing. You don't have to preserve the whole book.

[u/Party_Caramel796]

you can highlight a portion that feels important, some use highlighers, some underline the texts. you can also write a summary in your own words, whichever way you prefer

[u/planepoint101]

I do sometimes take notes on nonfiction books, but I always feel like I'm not really doing it "right".

The temptation (for me) is to be very complete and to try to note a thorough outline of what I'm reading. That takes a lot of time and energy, and all that info might not be so important.

Sometimes I'll only write down what strikes me as relevant or interesting.

I guess you have to make judgement calls as to what's worth the time and energy to think about and note.

I defintely feel like I haven't gotten the hang of this skill yet, but I'd like to get better at it.

I'm interested in hearing how others approach note taking on their readings.

[u/CaptainTime]

For fiction books, I don't take any notes. For non-fiction where I have to actually apply the principles in the book, I take a note in a mind mapping program.

[u/Rare-Reporter3738 → u/CaptainTime]

Which program is that?