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Genuine question: what exactly are you taking notes of? I have tried using tools like this before, but in all of my attempts I have found that I actually don't

Genuine question: what exactly are you taking notes of? I have tried using tools like this before, but in all of my attempts I have found that I actually don't have much to take notes for; for example, I have never felt like "I wish I had taken notes of this", because I feel like any kind of search engine is doing this on a much larger scale, practically for combined notes of millions of people in a much efficient way than I probably could ever do. I am genuinely asking this to learn more about and maybe adopt note-taking as a habit, any input is appreciated.

ergl 6y ago
At work: I type up all the notes about the papers I read, meeting minutes, list of tasks, and also me wondering "out loud" about bugs, design notes, etc. For personal use: I write down notes about articles I read, copy-paste some quotes and write my personal thoughts around them.
read_if_gay_ 6y ago
Any time you spend more than a few minutes solving any problem, note how you did it. For example, I have a full log of what I did to set up my Hackintosh, or code snippets on how to use some library or how to fix when my PC doesn’t recognize the Arduino etc. This instantly fixes any situations where you run into the same problem again but you don’t remember the details how you solved it. At least to me, that happens quite a lot. Your future self will thank you.
iliekcomputers 6y ago
I have found taking notes to be very helpful for a sort of spaced repetition. It helps me retain more from the books / articles I read. The main benefit that I'm trying to get is well explained in one of Andy Matuschak's notes. [0] [0]: https://notes.andymatuschak.org/z6UDDkom8Aifg6mLdjT1sPtbMBweCmpyTwmJT https://notes.andymatuschak.org/z6UDDkom8Aifg6mLdjT1sPtbMBwe...
kixiQu 6y ago
* random lists (e.g., things to do, books to read, movies on netflix) * personal CMS (e.g., mailing addresses, the name of so-and-so's boyfriend, etc. etc.) * bookmarked articles with quotes or summaries (e.g., I read lots of things like https://psyche.co/ideas/a-touch-of-absurdity-can-help-to-wrap-your-mind-around-reality https://psyche.co/ideas/a-touch-of-absurdity-can-help-to-wra... but since the idea that absurdity can push people towards the familiar is very disheartening to me, and therefore has interesting implications for my ideas, I'm taking notes on it) * "ruby case statement syntax" (don't laugh, I switch languages a lot at work, and it's always faster to pull up the neat little answer I wrote myself) * drafts of things like blog posts * little fragments of ideas that I might or might not want to turn into blog posts * journaling (especially nice when linked to entries for people mentioned) * freewriting on anything I should probably be seeing a therapist for * personal project documentation (e.g. install commands for self-hosted nonsense) It's never "I wish I had taken notes of this" exactly, but more a combination of being able to pull up some fact /information/resource, draft things with lots of interlinked connections, or write just about anything down with connections to other things (like my journal entries linked to people they mention). In addition, the process of writing notes means you remember more even if you never consult the notes you wrote, so it's not wasted even in that case.
komali2 6y ago
I'm making up for a terrible math education in Khan Academy and take notes in org-mode using org-roam. Here's an example file, in .md. If you click this link, a download dialog will launch, fair warning http://calebjay.com/examplenotes.md http://calebjay.com/examplenotes.md To answer your question re: search engine. I can't just google, like, every single elementary math concept up through calculus to magically know it. I need the learning/notetaking process to get Chunks of math knowledge in my brain and begin forming neurological patterns between those chunks. This is so I can later apply these chunks during my self-teaching of computer science (another thing I'm very elementary in despite my profession). The notes help me do things like create anki decks and etc as well. I don't want to know all math, just the very good curriculum that Khan Academy has set out. Please don't make fun of how elementary my math level is lol. I'm trying.
- synista 6y ago
  That's pretty impressive, using org-mode and org-roam but lacking in math education, props. I myself have no music education, so I'm using it for that.

ergl 6y ago

At work: I type up all the notes about the papers I read, meeting minutes, list of tasks, and also me wondering "out loud" about bugs, design notes, etc. For personal use: I write down notes about articles I read, copy-paste some quotes and write my personal thoughts around them.

read_if_gay_ 6y ago

Any time you spend more than a few minutes solving any problem, note how you did it. For example, I have a full log of what I did to set up my Hackintosh, or code snippets on how to use some library or how to fix when my PC doesn’t recognize the Arduino etc. This instantly fixes any situations where you run into the same problem again but you don’t remember the details how you solved it. At least to me, that happens quite a lot. Your future self will thank you.

iliekcomputers 6y ago

I have found taking notes to be very helpful for a sort of spaced repetition. It helps me retain more from the books / articles I read. The main benefit that I'm trying to get is well explained in one of Andy Matuschak's notes. [0] [0]: https://notes.andymatuschak.org/z6UDDkom8Aifg6mLdjT1sPtbMBweCmpyTwmJT https://notes.andymatuschak.org/z6UDDkom8Aifg6mLdjT1sPtbMBwe...

kixiQu 6y ago

* random lists (e.g., things to do, books to read, movies on netflix) * personal CMS (e.g., mailing addresses, the name of so-and-so's boyfriend, etc. etc.) * bookmarked articles with quotes or summaries (e.g., I read lots of things like https://psyche.co/ideas/a-touch-of-absurdity-can-help-to-wrap-your-mind-around-reality https://psyche.co/ideas/a-touch-of-absurdity-can-help-to-wra... but since the idea that absurdity can push people towards the familiar is very disheartening to me, and therefore has interesting implications for my ideas, I'm taking notes on it) * "ruby case statement syntax" (don't laugh, I switch languages a lot at work, and it's always faster to pull up the neat little answer I wrote myself) * drafts of things like blog posts * little fragments of ideas that I might or might not want to turn into blog posts * journaling (especially nice when linked to entries for people mentioned) * freewriting on anything I should probably be seeing a therapist for * personal project documentation (e.g. install commands for self-hosted nonsense) It's never "I wish I had taken notes of this" exactly, but more a combination of being able to pull up some fact /information/resource, draft things with lots of interlinked connections, or write just about anything down with connections to other things (like my journal entries linked to people they mention). In addition, the process of writing notes means you remember more even if you never consult the notes you wrote, so it's not wasted even in that case.

komali2 6y ago

I'm making up for a terrible math education in Khan Academy and take notes in org-mode using org-roam. Here's an example file, in .md. If you click this link, a download dialog will launch, fair warning http://calebjay.com/examplenotes.md http://calebjay.com/examplenotes.md To answer your question re: search engine. I can't just google, like, every single elementary math concept up through calculus to magically know it. I need the learning/notetaking process to get Chunks of math knowledge in my brain and begin forming neurological patterns between those chunks. This is so I can later apply these chunks during my self-teaching of computer science (another thing I'm very elementary in despite my profession). The notes help me do things like create anki decks and etc as well. I don't want to know all math, just the very good curriculum that Khan Academy has set out. Please don't make fun of how elementary my math level is lol. I'm trying.

synista 6y ago
That's pretty impressive, using org-mode and org-roam but lacking in math education, props. I myself have no music education, so I'm using it for that.