I spend a lot of time consuming information (HN, books, blogs, Mixergy interviews and Twitter) but have nothing to show for it. How you take notes doesn't real

I spend a lot of time consuming information (HN, books, blogs, Mixergy interviews and Twitter) but have nothing to show for it. How you take notes doesn't really matter much (you will develop and refine your own style over time) but, I hate to say it, most of that stuff you listed is superficial. It can be fun but it is mostly valueless. Books, academic papers, and face-to-face time with experts are really the only way to gain deep interconnected knowledge. Read a book, take notes, read the book's wikipedia page (I actually do this before I read the book), follow the wikipedia references, look for other analyses online, start working through each of the book's "works cited", rinse, repeat. Information fed to you (rss, twitter, social news, etc) is not super relevant or deep and comes with a ton of distractions. You have to have to have a focus and actively seek out the most relevant and most valuable information.