010: How to Take Powerful Notes That Make Key Points Stick

29 Sep

How to Take Powerful Notes That Make Key Points StickGood note taking can help you ace your tests, but bad note taking can really get in the way of getting great grades.

During this episode, we discuss the following mistakes that most students make:

  • Writing too much
  • Not writing enough
  • Not formatting notes
  • Blindly writing what the teacher says (or has posted on powerpoint slides) without thinking actively
  • Writing in complete sentences

Gretchen breaks down what note-taking habits will help you banish these mistakes forever, including (but not limited to) how to:

  • Create visual notes that makes key data pop
  • Leverage your doodling so that you’re also learning
  • Listen for main ideas, and use symbols in your notes to help underscore these ideas
  • Review your notes after class in a way that is actually interesting
  • Find your own personal “fun” in note-taking, so you have more motivation to do it more often
  • and more.

In a future episode of the podcast, she will share with you how to use your notes to study for tests. After all, the main point of good notetaking is to take the stress out of studying!

If you’d like to take your note-taking and study skills a step further, consider signing up for Gretchen’s Best Semester Ever program, during which she walks you step-by-step through taking the stress out of studying and personalizes the strategies just for you.

Also, if you are someone who has a learning difference that makes it impossible to listen to a teacher AND take notes at the same time, the Smart Pen might just change your life! Check it out.