digital note-taking system pt. 1 ✍🏻 how i take neat & effective notes on google docs

as a biology student at the University of the Philippines Manila taking notes is part of the core of my being if I hadn't taken notes in the most effective way I know I wouldn't have survived my two years in the University I would probably be spending way more time on readings than aren't really necessary and I would also probably be jogging the piles of certain materials that I already have so today I'm gonna walk you through my digital note-taking system all the way from the tools that I use to my workflow as a disclaimer my note-taking process isn't meant to be taken as a one-size-fits all this is not designed to conform to all courses and learning styles this is just something that I have developed and that I'm still working on as I learned from you and of course everyone else around me similar to most of you guys I too am still in the process of changing my note-taking system from time to time based on what's working and what's not working but I do hope my current note taking system gives you an opportunity to find what works for you so first things first let's get our tools ready so I use my 2019 16 inch MacBook Pro for concept heavy courses such as biology zoology and morphology you don't have to get the same exact laptop that I have especially since I think this is already out of the market any laptop works fine as long as it meets your budget and of course your needs also I type my notes on concept heavy courses because I just find it easier to cope with lectures this way with that I have a laptop stand which was kindly sent by luncheon so thank you to luncheon for gifting me this trusty laptop stand their L5 laptop stand can be adjustable to multiple angles depending on your need it's not flimsy at all it's durable sturdy and even compatible to a wide array of devices the aluminum surface of the laptop stand also has rubber pads so it keeps your laptop cool and ventilated and it also avoids scratches between your laptop and the stand before receiving the laptop Style I honestly had a really really hard time with online classes because I was always hunched forward off my seat trying to level my eyesight with my screen my neck was hurting my wrists were hurting my back was hurting everything about my setup before was training my body so much with this laptop stand though I now have the proper viewing height to boost my productivity while reducing the physical strain on my body so I'm really really thankful that they sent me this laptop stand because I got to experience the Comfort I needed while studying this stand is great for anyone studying and working from home so if you're looking for a laptop stand to improve your workflow while maintaining Comfort the luncheon L5 laptop stand is great for you if you're interested you may visit the link in the description below and getting a laptop stand I would also recommend getting a keyboard and a mouse I have the rk68 mechanical keyboard and the Logitech Pebble Mouse respectively the laptops stand together with a keyboard and mouse have made such a huge difference in my comfort and in my workflow I know that as students we make decisions with within a budget constraint so getting a laptop stand a keyboard and a mouse all at once may be a lot but if you're a student studying on your setup for more than 8 or 10 hours a day it's really an investment to improve your setup when you can you don't want to be hunching your shoulders forward you're elevating your elbows just to reach your laptop because this can worsen your posture and even strain your body so getting a keyboard and a mouse together with your laptop stand can alleviate any posture related problems you may get from sitting on your desk for hours now for computation heavy courses such as math physics and statistics I use I hope I get this right I use my 2021 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro again you don't have to get the same exact iPad that I have there are a ton of other Alternatives in the market right now just make sure that you research well on its features so that the tablet you'll be using will really meet your needs now in computation heavy courses there are formulas and equations that are difficult to type and in studying we want to be as efficient as we can to do so I actually find it easier to handwrite my notes on computation heavy courses so I can efficiently work around the Solutions in case I make a mistake or in case the formulas are complex so handwrite my notes on the iPad I use the second generation apple pencil and along with that I also have a trifold smart case and a screen protector I used to have the glossy screen protector for the first couple of months after purchasing the iPad because I thought changing the screen protector would make such a huge difference because at the end of the day it's just a screen protector but changing to a matte paper like screen protector has changed the note taking game for me writing has been a lot smoother I don't have to worry about the apple pencil slipping on the screen it just Glides across the screen much more easily than before also for some reason the handwriting recognition is better it's easier to get refined lines and to get how your handwriting looks like on paper moving on to digital tools the apps that I mean use are Google docs for concept heavy courses and good notes for computation heavy courses I know that in my past note-taking system I used to use and swear by Microsoft Word but since we're transitioning back to face-to-face classes I need to access my notes anytime and anywhere with Microsoft Word I could only access my notes through my laptop which for me was kind of a hassle because my laptop weighs so much and it's honestly important to carry it around I know there is also a sync feature on Microsoft Word but as much as I wanted to make it work I just couldn't and that just wants to show that no matter how much you've been so used to a habit or practice if it's not working anymore you have to learn to let it go so bottom line is I had to work with Google Docs and honestly moving my note-taking system to Google Docs has been such an ease so the format of my notes for concept heavy versus computation heavy courses is a little bit different so I'm going to start with the former each document that I have is for a particular lesson and to show you how my notes are set up I'll use my morphology notes as an example so I have a two column A4 size document with narrow margins at the top of the page I indicate all important information about the lesson in the course this includes the lesson number in title course number semester and Academic Year I took the course in and professor's name meanwhile at the bottom of the page I indicate the course number entitled lesson number and the page number by the way if you want to set up your notes similar to how I set up mine but you're having difficulties here and there I will have the template linked below so you can easily edit it to what works for you moving on to the main portion of my notes I don't use a well-known note-taking method such as Cornell charting or mapping instead I structure and write my notes using bullet points because this is the most efficient and effective way I understand my notes at the end of the day we are taking notes for ourselves not for others so whichever note-taking method you choose it should be one that helps you review and recall Core Concepts that would otherwise be lost each of my courses also has its own designated color set so for example I use orange and green for my morphology notes while I use maroon and Olive for Ecology I try my best to designate a different color set for every course because it helps me associate which notes are for which course so it's far more easier to find key points or Core Concepts when you're viewing later on the idea with my color set is to establish a hierarchy of content so important points stand out while less important points receive in my morphology notes for example I use orange for the headings and important terms while I use green for the subheadings and examples now the way they write my notes on computation heavy courses is not any different from how I take notes on concept heavy one so I'll use my physics notes as an example on good notes I use the A4 sized grid document a color set of my choice to differentiate important points from less important ones and the ball pen size 0.5 before writing my notes I I usually divide the page into two columns just so I can save space better for 100 notes I use the highlighter and good notes to emphasize headings and subheadings as I write my notes I change the color of the important terms notes and comments according to my color set to establish a hierarchy of content when it comes to computation heavy courses there are equations and formulas that I want to emphasize and to do that I create a rectangular shape on top of the equation using the shape tool on good notes for both computation and concept heavy courses I make sure to add illustrations and diagrams as necessary to supplement my learning now that you've established your format let's move on to my note taking process the very first thing that I do after setting up the format is recording all meaningful information during the lecture using bullet points at this point you don't have to worry about changing the colors of the important terms yet or your format because essentially this will serve as your draft what's important is you're able to cope with a lecture and record key points or Core Concepts that would otherwise be lost after the lecture step two is to build in my experience one of the differences between high school and college is the number of learning materials and resources in high school you may survive with just a lecture but in college you have to read a number of books journals and learning resources on top of the lecture to understand the lesson and even survive the semester so after writing my draft or my Foundation of knowledge as I see it I proceed to reading the textbook there are many approaches when it comes to reading textbooks there is the one where you copy every single information that comes out resulting to essentially the entire textbook just transferred to your notes which was me last year by the way and there is one where you just skim through the pages hoping to get a take away from the material Theory diffusion unfortunately I hate to break it there but both approaches don't work well because you don't actively engage with a textbook so what happens is you forget a significant percentage of the material by the following week so what I do now is as I read through the sections of the book I highlight important ideas and take note of any questions that I have about the text aside from that I also tried to make connections between the ideas from the book that I'm currently reading to the ideas that may have been discussed in my previous courses or ideas I may have gotten in real life after reading the sections of the book by the highlights questions and connections that I have I start to take notes at this point the notes they write down incorporate into my draft are the ideas that have already been put into my own words this Ensure is that key points and Core Concepts are attained in my long-term memory so I summarize the highlights into bullet point notes and incorporate them into my draft in this way I am making connections to the ideas from the lecture that have already formed my Foundation step 3 is to review after writing notes from the lecture in the textbook I review all my bullet point notes I delete any other daunted and I highlight important terms using the designated color set I make sure to do this at a later time maybe a day or two just so I can let my brain rest process the information organize my thoughts and even gain a fresh perspective because this is also the time when I review whether my notes are sufficient to cover the Core Concepts so that is my entire digital note taking system I hope you learned something from this video let me know in the comments below what your current note-taking system is and I would also love to learn from you guys thank you so so much for sticking around and I will see you guys in my next one [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Patrisha Dictado

Views: 127,011

Keywords: digital note-taking, digital note taking, digital notes, digital note-taking system, how i take notes, how to take notes, effective notes, productivity, philippines, google docs, digital notetaking, Patrisha Dictado, Patrisha Dictado vlogs, patrisha dictado study tips, taking notes on ipad, taking notes on laptop, writing tools, taking down notes ideas, medical school taking notes, note taking apps for ipad

Id: CX2ryJcBF7c

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 11 2022