How to Take Notes Effectively

Published on Thursday, March 24th, 2011 by Matt Vint Category: College Tips

Depending on whether or not you have actually started college already, regardless, you will probably know that taking notes effectively during class and lectures will help you and your results dramatically. This goes especially for those who are studying something completely new to what they have done before. A new subject can be daunting, and so for your revision’s sake, you need to note-take effectively and efficiently. So let’s start thinking about college note-taking, it could even help you once you get a job.

The first thing to think about would be listening carefully. You need to actually understand what you are writing, or your revision will be pointless, as you’ll just be reading words. First note briefly what the lecture is about and what it is going to cover. Don’t simply copy the words down from your teacher or professor’s mouth, as this won’t be very useful. Abbreviate when you can, and simply take down every main point that is brought up.

You should also try and be proactive and turn your phone off. You also need to minimize all other distractions such as from an MP3 player or a game on your laptop – you need to cut these entirely out, let’s be honest, lectures don’t last forever. You’ve paid to go to college, so make the most of it. Remember, your teacher or professor will usually let you know if an important point is coming up, and if you are distracted you will most likely miss this point. Even by the body language or tone of the professor’s voice, you can usually tell what information is important or not, so you need to stay focused.

Make sure you also note down the dates of each lectures to help you with your organization and also so that you can perform more effective revision sessions.

Just keep focused during lectures, it will honestly help you a great deal. If you are writing, write fast. It’d be wise to invest in a laptop some time as note taking can be far quicker and more efficient if you are an experienced typer. But keep it basic, you don’t need to go overboard – you’ll just get bored! You need to actually take in the information that the professor is giving you.

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