Note-Taking

Notes encode when they force you to manipulate knowledge into a different form than you consumed it — visual, spatial, non-linear — instead of transcribing it back in the same shape. Linear copying feels productive and changes almost nothing; the processing is where the learning lives.

Guidelines that do the work

• Re-form, don’t transcribe. Always manipulate the knowledge in a different way than you took it in.
• Go non-verbal and non-linear. Use mindmaps, symbols, arrows, and doodles to route information through the visual and spatial systems.
• Limit word count. Hunt for big blocks of text that could be a diagram or symbol instead.
• Change gradually. Shifting from linear notes is a 2–3 week adjustment, not an overnight switch.

Using images without breaking them

Images work as memory anchors — “landmarks” in the notes — but the benefit collapses when they’re overused or generic.

• Keyword-anchor every drawing. Write a keyword under each image so future-you remembers what it stood for; this keeps the landmark benefit without losing the meaning.
• Avoid over-visualising. Too many images is like a landmark on every street — nothing stands out. Reserve them for conceptually important or easily-forgotten points.
• Avoid hieroglyphics. Reusing the same image as a one-to-one word substitute is no more memorable than the word. A single integrated, creative image for a whole relationship beats repeated icons — and the effort of inventing it aids encoding.
• Draw it yourself. Most of the gain comes from the thought of finding an apt image; borrowed screenshots skip that and tend to be too dense to be memorable.

Images are only cues

Grouping information and building relationships beats any standalone image. A visual reinforces knowledge that has already been processed and grouped — it is not a substitute for the processing.

Links into the system

The hand-skill behind Bear Hunter System Shoot and Mindmaps; pairs with Thinking on Paper. The grouping and relationships it should serve are built through Higher Order Learning.