How to Take Notes Effectively | Jim Kwik

Class is in session. This is your professor, your coach, Jim Kwik. And in this session, I'm gonna help you to be able to retain information better, both in your classes and in this program and the rest of your life, by taking notes. Isn't it interesting that school automatically assumes you know how to take notes? But there's a good way and a better way and a best way of taking notes. Did you know that? For specifically understanding the information and also retaining that information. So I'm gonna give you an example of what you could do today, starting today for the rest of this course and also for the rest of your life. Now we know that there's a learning curve, but there's also a forgetting curve. You could listen to your professor tell you about something, or you could read about something in a textbook, and what happens after a day or two? Up to 80% of it is what? It's gone. It just disappears. And so you want to make sure you retain it by capturing it. And then once you capture it in note form, In this program, I'm gonna show you techniques on how to memorize your notes quickly. So if you need to give a presentation in front of your class, or you're on the debate team, or you're giving a lecture at some medical conference, whatever your application is, you'll have that ability for the rest of your life. But it starts by capturing the notes first. Now, we know most people don't take notes properly. What do they do? They do— we learn how to take outlines. And you have the Roman numeral 1s and the A's and these different letters. But the challenge is something on page 13 can be more important than what's on page 1, and you can't really see it. And so there's a way of taking more whole brain notes also as well. Some of you familiar with the concept of mind mapping? Mind mapping was created by Tony Buzan, where you take the main idea, put it in the middle, and like spokes coming out of it or tree branches coming out of it, you could put the sub ideas and use a lot more of the right brain creativity, using colors and images and symbols, because we understand things left brain linear, right brain creative. And when you can use both, it makes it much more memorable. And we'll go deeper in that process. Some people, it's too extreme. What I want to show people right now, what I want to show you right now, is a very simple way that you could take notes immediately. And what I call it is Capture Create. Capture Create method of taking notes. And what I want you to do is I want you to grab a notepad. A notepad. Now, if you're used to taking notes digitally, that's fine also. I prefer to take notes by hand because what it does is it forces you— they did a study actually, the difference between writing notes down with a pen and paper and actually doing it digitally. And they found that the people who'd use their hand, handwriting it, actually did better on the exams And why? Part of it was that it forced them to really listen, because you can't write as fast as you could type. So it forced you to really listen and prioritize the information and write down the things that were most important, as opposed to just writing transcription. In fact, there was a study done at a university where they found out the best way of taking notes and the worst way of taking notes. And the worst way of taking notes, do you know what it was? Taking everything verbatim. That was the absolute worst way of taking notes, was full transcription of the notes. Now, why would you think that was the case? 'Cause you might think like, yeah, I would've guessed that, but why? Why is that the worst way of taking notes? It's because if you have 40 pages of scripts, that doesn't help you to identify what's most important, and it doesn't show you how everything relates to another, and you don't know how to apply that information moving forward. So a very simple way to overcome that is to take a piece of paper, and what I encourage you to do is Put a line right down the sheet, right down the page. So if you have a notepad, what I would do is take a line with a pen and put it right down the middle. And on the left side of the page, what you're going to do is capture information. And so what are you capturing? Well, during this program, you're going to capture, oh, this is how I remember science formulas. This is how I give a speech without referring to notes. This is how I could remember somebody's name next time I'm at a recruiting event or I'm at a networking function, and I want to impress the person. That's what you would be capturing. Or this is how I would build my vocabulary or learn another language. The things that we're gonna talk about in this program. Now you understand why I'm covering this first, right? That makes sense. I'm gonna show you how to take notes and the mindset of, of being a Kwik student. So then the methods, you get them really quickly because you know how to capture them. And you're also creating. What does that mean? On the left side of the page, you're capturing information, but on the right side, you're creating it. What do I mean by that? On the right side, you're writing your impressions of the information that you're capturing. So in other words, on the left side, you're note-taking, but on the right side, you're note-making. Now, what's the difference? It's subtle. The left side, you're capturing the information that you're learning in this program. Have you ever captured notes, but then your mind goes other places? The right side is where I want your mind to go, the creative side. I want you to write your impressions of the information you're capturing, meaning I want you to take notes on one side but make notes on the other. And specifically though, what I want you to make notes about is I want you to say how I'm gonna use this. In fact, here are 3 questions. We talked about questions are the answer. I want you to obsess about 3 questions that are on the left side of this page. There's a lie that you've been told, a lie that you've been told your whole entire life. You've heard it before, and it's absolutely not true, and it holds you back. And what's the lie when it comes to your education? That knowledge is power. Knowledge is power. We've heard that, right? How many times have you heard that in your life? You always hear that. You open up a fortune cookie; it says knowledge is power. You've seen this on bumper stickers, and and you see my shirt here. It doesn't say knowledge is power, right? It says knowledge times. Action equals power because all of the programs and coaching and books and podcasts and university classes, none of it works until you work. So there are 3 questions, note-taking questions that you could capture and create around that will help you to take what you're learning and turning into real power. Here are the questions I want you to think about relentlessly. Number one, when you're learning something, I want you to ask yourself, How can I use this? How can I use this? And this is your creativity. These are all the ways you could use this information. So during this program, every single day, I want you to ask yourself as you're taking notes on the right side, you're going to capture information. I'm going to show you a method called chain linking. I'm going to show you a memory method called the basic association. I'm going to share with you a mental palace. You're going to capture it on the left side, but on the right side, I want you to think, Jim, how can I use this? I want you to think in your mind. Ask yourself, how can I use this? I could use this in my science class. I could use this in my calculus class. I could use this in these law classes. I want you to think about specifically what subject you're going to apply this to. So how can I use this? That's number one. The second question I want you to ask yourself is a question we ask in our GPA The purpose. Why must I use this? Why must I use this? We already talked about GPA, that you could have a goal of using something, but you're not actually using the A, action, because what's missing? The purpose. Head, heart, hands. What's the heart saying? What are all the benefits that are gonna come from you applying what you're about to learn? Maybe it's like, Jim, I'm gonna save all this time by using your method, or I'm gonna get that grade Or I'm gonna get into that graduate school or that college, or I'm gonna get what I need to to get that career or that dream job. But you gotta feel it. If you don't feel it, you're not gonna do it. All right, so why must I use this? And finally, the third question you wanna put on that right side is, yes, you're asking yourself, how can I use this? Then you're asking yourself, why must I use this? But the third question I want you to ask relentlessly is, when will I use this? How can I use this? Why must I use this? And the magic question, when will I use this? Because the most powerful productivity performance tool you own is your calendar. When you have your phone here or you keep an external calendar, that calendar is your productivity tool, meaning if you don't write it down or put it in your calendar, it will not happen. You have your classes in your calendar. Right? You have appointments in your calendar. You have your doctor's appointment in your calendar. You have your date in your calendar. You have important events in your calendar. You have to put the important things that you're learning when you're going to apply it in the calendar. At the very least, every single day of this program should be in your calendar, and it should be time for you, time well spent, meaning you won't do it unless it's in your schedule. So make sure it's there because I'm gonna ask you to start practicing a little bit each day. And if you're not putting your practice time in there, it gets lost. It's just like when you have the intention of working out, but at the end of the day you don't do it. It's because you didn't write it down. You didn't put it in your phone. So make sure. So what do you do to get anything done? 3 questions on your notes. Number 1 question, say it out loud. What is it? How can I use this? Second question is what? Say it out loud before I do. Why must I use this? And finally, the third question is what? When? When will I use this? Because if you don't write it down, it won't get done. So in summary, your quick summary and your to-do: take notes throughout this entire program and experiment in your classes taking notes by using this capture-create method. It's a very simple way— left brain, right brain. Right brain, whole brain way of taking notes. The left side is the logical side where you're capturing information. This is how you remember names. This is how you learn a language, Jim. This is how you give a talk in front of class or at your next conference on the left side. And then on the right side, you're writing your impressions of what you're taking notes on. And if you don't know what to do, let your imagination flow, not outside, but on the right side. And you're capturing the information of the 3 questions you're creating around it. Number 1, how can I use this? Why must I use this? And when will I use that? And here's the thing, this is your homework assignment right now, Kwik Student. Your homework assignment is to do this right now, is to capture information in this form, experiment with this note-taking method, and ask these 3 questions. And I want you to put down below what you think about this note-taking method. What did you use before, and can you add this as a tool in your Kwik Student Success Toolbox? This is Jim Kwik, your Kwik Student Coach. I'll see you in tomorrow's lesson.