A lot of comments are focusing on note taking processes, but I would step back and ask this: how will you know if your note taking strategy is working? One th

A lot of comments are focusing on note taking processes, but I would step back and ask this: how will you know if your note taking strategy is working? One thing that has helped me is keeping a high-level study journal. In essence, I have a small calendar that I draw in a notebook each month. Every morning, I write down ~3 key things I did / studied the previous day. Then, I reflect back on the past couple weeks. If you're in school, you don't want to wait until a final test to realize you've got a lot to study. And in class, you're not in a good position to think about the notes you'd want a week from now. By journaling and reflecting, you can explore note-taking from a review oriented mindset, "what kind of notes do I wish I had taken yesterday / last week?"