How to take notes that are worth going back to
The test of a set of notes is not whether it captured the lecture. It is whether you ever open it again. By that standard most notes fail, and they fail for a reason that has nothing to do with handwriting or apps.
Notes that record everything are a transcript. A transcript is something you have to study, not something that helps you study.
The failure is completeness
Trying to write everything down turns you into a transcription service. It occupies exactly the attention that would otherwise be spent understanding, and it produces a document that is as long as the lecture and therefore no easier to revise from.
Notes are useful in proportion to what you left out. Deciding what matters is the work; the writing is a side effect of the deciding.
Leave a margin, and use it afterwards
The Cornell method in one sentence: keep a wide left margin empty during the lecture, and fill it afterwards with the questions your notes answer.
The ten minutes after a lecture are worth more than the fifty during it. Writing the questions forces you to process what you heard while it is still fresh, and it leaves you with something you can practise from rather than something you can only re-read.
Match the shape of the material
Linear notes for arguments and narratives. A structured outline for anything hierarchical. A diagram or map for systems and relationships. A two-column table for anything that is fundamentally a comparison.
Most people pick one method and force everything through it. The method should follow the material — a comparison written as prose is a comparison you will have to convert later, and you will not.
Paper or laptop
Typing is faster, and that turns out to be the problem: it makes verbatim transcription possible, and people who can transcribe do. Handwriting is slow enough to force selection, which is the part that produces understanding.
The practical answer is not to abandon the laptop. It is to refuse to transcribe — write in fragments, in your own words, and leave the parts you can look up later. If you can type it without thinking about it, you are not learning it.
The review that makes them real
Notes decay quickly if they are never touched. One pass within a day, one within the week, and they stay usable for the term.
That first pass is short: read them, fill the margin with questions, mark what did not make sense, and write down anything you now know you need to ask. Fifteen minutes, and it is the difference between a folder and a resource.
FAQ
What is the best note-taking method?
The one that matches the material: linear for arguments, outlines for hierarchies, diagrams for systems, two columns for comparisons. Forcing every subject through one format is the more common mistake than choosing the wrong format.
Is it better to take notes by hand or on a laptop?
By hand, on average, and the reason is speed. Typing makes verbatim transcription possible, and transcription replaces the selecting and summarising that produce understanding. A laptop is fine if you refuse to transcribe.
What is the Cornell note-taking method?
Keep a wide left margin empty during the lecture and fill it afterwards with the questions your notes answer, plus a short summary at the bottom. It converts a record into something you can test yourself from.
How soon should I review my notes?
Once within a day and once within the week. The first pass takes about fifteen minutes: add the questions, mark what did not make sense, and note what you need to ask.
Notes belong to a course, and a course has a timetable and a set of deadlines. majored holds that side of it on Mac, iPad and iPhone, so the structure around your notes is already there.