Write effective notes every time such that longer pieces will write itself
🧐 Why I am reading this book?
To effectively use Roam as a continual learning tool and writing tool to help me formalize my knowledge into short written pieces that I can publish online
📖 Chapter reviews
Introduction
Everybody writes
To organize thoughts and exchange ideas with others
Every intellectual endeavor starts with a note
But the focus of most writing guides is placed on long-form pieces
This book focuses on note-taking, which is something we do more often
Key to successful writing lies in the preparation
It is much easier to connect existing pieces of writing (in the form of notes) to form arguments in a long(er) form
I am experiencing trouble blogging for the same reason
==Goals of the book==
How to efficiently turn thoughts and discoveries into convincing written pieces
Build up a treasure of smart and interconnected notes along the way
This is very complimentary to read right now, with [[roam]], there is a demand for me to write good notes and produce thought provoking
Revisit [[How to Take Smart Notes - 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing]] and fill the principles with comments [[future]]
Success in solving problems lies in what you do: being able to do the work and have the self-discipline to continue through adversity
Comes back to developing good habits because sheer willpower is not enough to keep you on track. It will deplete quickly and can’t be improved on
Self-control and discipline have much more to do with the environment
Having meaningful and well-defined tasks will force you to do them, without having to use willpower
Going back to my struggles with writing blogs. I can related to this, because I always feel like it's a daunting task facing the blank page, and wanting to just start writing something profound and insightful. It takes a huge amount of willpower to get me to open that page up and attempt it. Each time I fail at completing it, makes it harder the next time
1. Everything You Need to Know
A good structure for workflow allows you to move seamlessly from one task to another, without threatening the whole process
It can relieve you of remembering and keeping track of everything
Enables [[flow state]]
Planning is not the same as having a structure to work in
Unsuited for open-ended process like research, thinking or studying
I have experienced this with research, it is a very hard task to plan for
The opposite of planning is also not just messing around
It is to structure one’s workflow in a way that insights and new ideas can become the driving force that push us forward
Embrace the struggle
The fact that one feels the struggle to do better means they will dedicate more time to collect more information
With tools, knowing how it works and knowing how to work it is very different
I am still grasping the ins and outs of the slip-box. It can become a graveyard for thoughts very easily
5. Writing is the Only Thing That Matters
It is the medium of delivering truth
You need to write something as the final goal
By setting this as the clear goal, it forces you to undertake tasks like reading, presenting, and listening with deliberation
6. Simplicity is Paramount
The story of how McLean was able to transform the shipping industry to use boxes as units of cargo illustrates the point that from one POV the idea might not be ideal but if everyone buys in and allows the benefits to positively reinforce and create second order benefits - that is when insurmountable progress happens
Many think like the ship owner when it comes to note taking
They think they have better grasp of how they should take notes
Highlighting, margins, etc
These notes are in isolation and don’t influence each other
Many people have to resort to brainstorming sessions to create new ideas
In the new system, the question we ask is in what context will I want to stumble on it again?
Slip-box is the shipping container
Instead of storing potatoes in bags, vegetables in crates - everything goes into the same box and standardized into the same format
Growing the notes organically around a topic will make it more valuable as time goes on
Be careful not to add notes indiscriminately, or it will lose value
To achieve critical mass, we need to distinguish the three types of notes
Fleeting Notes
Reminders of information, written in any way and will end up in the trash within a day or two
Permanent notes
Never thrown out and contain the necessary information in themselves in a permanently understandable way
Stored in the same way, in the same place
Project Notes
Relevent to only one project
Mistakes
To write everything down, indiscriminately, without thought
This will dilute the good ideas
To collect notes only related to specific projects
To treat all notes as fleeting
Fleeting notes are only useful if you review them within a day or two so you can turn it into permanent notes
Fleeting literature notes (underlying, highlighting, margins) won’t help in actual writing
You have to convert them into permanent notes in your own full sentences
7. Nobody Ever Starts from Scratch
The advice - to decide what to write about before you start writing - is misleading
We should write about topics that we are actually interested in, and not follow something our mind has decided for us a priori
Keep continuous notes of the on-going learning will naturally allow the ideas to float to the surface
Brainstorming is an ineffective technique because your brain is terrible at storing objective facts to be brainstorming from
To know if you are taking smart notes -** the problem of coming up with a topic to write about is replaced by the problem of having too many topics**
8. Let the Work Carry You Forward
We want to build a snowball that picks up more as it goes and relies less on our efforts
Positive feedback, one that can generate its own energy
The positive feedback loop can’t be sustained with external rewards
==Work itself needs to become the reward==
Fitness coaches use the same tactics
Relying on willpower is a losing game
Getting timely and concrete feedback is the key, and seeking them out is critical to success
Always trying to grow!
Get satisfaction out of improvement instead of praised for being doing well
[[til2021]] Kakorrhaphiophobia is the fear of failure [[Interesting Words]]
Avoid linear models that can get feedback when its too late to pivot
Adopt a circular approach having smaller feedback loops in each incremental step to check understanding
9. Separate and Interlocking Tasks
Decreasing attention span is a problem that all modern humans face
And it is eating into our ability to think
The problem with multitasking is that it is inherently a skill we cannot improve on because the shift in attention is the cause of decreased productivity
Sustained attention (different from focused attention, which has not changed) has decreased
That’s what affecting our ability to on task over a long period of time to develop thoughts and connect ideas
It is also important to be able to vary the attention depending on the task at hand
But apply the correct type of attention depending on the work
In my case, developing framework, coding a prototype, reviewing PR are all different types of tasks that uses different kinds of attention
To write, become an expert
Experts don’t know the rules of their domain since they have internalized it so much that it has become intuition
Every time a new fact is learned ask follow up questions
How does this fact fit into my idea of ...?
How can this phenomenon be explained by that theory?
Are these two ideas contradictory or they compliment each other
Isn’t this argument similar to that one?
Haven’t I heard this before?
==What does x mean for y==
[[til2021]] Zeigarnik effect - open tasks tend to occupy our short term memory
Written things on todo list help decluttering short term memory because it tricks our brain that we finished it
Conversely, we can keep ruminating over open ended question by not closing it
10. Read for Understanding
Read with a pen, and write things that you feel is common or may be helpful
Do the small work of writing new ideas down with your own words and ideas will spring up automatically
When taking notes on ideas, these might be embedded in a different context, so pulling them out and contextualizing it requires work
==The final goal is to add permanent notes into the slip-box, whatever way of achieving that via literature notes is up to you==
Confirmation bias works in subtle ways, and can cause our mind to rabbit hole into one perspective
Instead of coming up with a hypothesis and finding confirming facts, have an indiscriminate method of gathering information
Though one needs to be careful about adding relevant notes in a way that is not biased to one type of thinking
The best way to capture the gist of a piece of writing is by re-writing the main points of that piece
Just reading something is a simple way to fool yourself that you understood something. Only when you write it again in your own words you realize what you have missed
Learning requires effort, which means that doing something that is out of your way is practicing learning
11. Take Smart Notes
Being able to think outside the box separates successful researchers and less successful ones
Don’t collect quotes but write down the main ideas in your own words
Unlike fiction, you can't write non-fiction by forcing yourself to write a little bit each day - but you can still make incremental progress by writing smart notes each day
The difference between writing each day and slip-box is like saving by putting money away each day vs compound interest
Literature notes -> shows the gaps in understanding
Permanent notes -> translating the full thought onto paper
If we don’t transfer the ideas from literature notes to permanent notes in our slip-box we will lose them
It also allows us to forget about them until we need it again
I know I have terrible memory and have been leaning to a system of external memory to help me in school and work. Now it just needs to be built out efficiently for ‘forever learning’
==Remembering everything comes at a cost of forgetting nothing==
When everything is of equal importance, nothing is important
[[til2021]] Active Inhibition
The filter our mind sets up between conscious mind and long-term memory
To avoid being flooded with memories and thoughts
There are two measurements for memeory
Storage strength - the ability to hold memories
Retrieval strength - the ability to recall the right memories at the right time
Remember through understanding
Understanding by making the effort to rewrite facts in my own words and connecting them with other notes in the slip-box
Thus allowing the topic to be elaborated, corroborated or contradicted
All of which is establishing understanding which is learning
12. Develop Ideas
If a new note can’t be made with explicit reference to an existing note then just place the new note “behind” an existing related note
Notes that directly from the index which serves as an entry point. This note can also collect relevant notes related to this topic
Collect up to ~25 links on these entry notes
Grow organically
Note to note links are created either sequentially or through weak connection
Helps us to find new revelations in ideas
Can be helpful after multiple note to note chains
Don’t be afraid to be subjective when giving keywords to permanent notes, they are meant to serve you and your selfish needs
Slip-box serves like a melting pot of ideas but also documents knowledge in a external and systematic method
Realizing that you already had a “new” thought when confronted by the slip-box is a humbling experience that forces us to move forward without tricking ourselves
Finding small but crucial differences between repeated thoughts is only possible when you have both versions in writing
Avoids [[3b feature-positive effect]]
Nests ideas into the context of application and framework
==Enhances mere facts into tools that can be useful in a toolbox==
Why I always valued my education experience because how the curriculum delivered such wide ranging concept and it forced you to not memorize everything but just create interesting connections between them as you are bombarded with them
Creativity is the act of connecting of seemingly isolated things ([[1a entry to creativity]])
To write insightful texts, one has to be able to play and tinker with ideas, which is only possible after the original nugget is abstracted from the existing context
Hence, permanent notes are not just copy-and-paste of the existing text. They are written in your own words
Abstraction is what allows us to appreciate things without being exactly in the shoes of the subject
[[1b good engineers are good at abstraction]]
Limiting yourself with constraints will lead to more productive endeavors
13. Share Your Insights
"An idea or a thought is not worth more merely because it is easily available to you" Charlie Munger [[quotes]]
Align with your personal goals and identify what is interesting about something to keep your motivation
If the slip-box is built correctly, the problem will change from starting from a blank page to having information overload and need to be mindful of what not to include
[[til2021]] Verbund
A German word that means the physical integration of products
The by-product from one production line becomes the resource from another
Slip-box allows the user to work on multiple thought processes and they interact with each other to produce better results
14. Make It a Habit
Replace old habits with new ones
🙊 Great quotes
✅ Actionable items
Actively write slip-box worthy notes on things I've learned