I like using a wiki for notes. Something like this: http://evergreennotes.com/. There are a lot of ways to set up a wiki.
1) How consistently do you take notes when you’re reading up on a new skill or subject?
I take notes for things that I want to eventually write something about, so for most things I don’t end up taking notes.
2) Do you regularly refer back to old notes?
Sure. Especially keeping track of relevant sources is super useful for future me.
3) Do you approach note-taking differently for different subjects or purposes?
For notes that I don’t want people to see because they involve private information, I just use a repository with some files and folders on my computer. For anything that I’d be ok with people reading, I use this wiki: openquestions.wiki.
4) Have you adopted a specific note-taking method and used it consistently for more than a few months?
Yep.
I’m not sure if the method has a name. For my personal notes I have a folder for free form babble type thoughts. Each filename is just the date that I’m writing. Then I later go through and find anything related to some topic I want to do more work on and copy past the good bits into files separated by topic.
Some of those notes in my private repo end up being something I’d like to share with friends, so I post ’em to my wiki.
5) What role does note-taking play for you? Is it a way to focus your attention? To make extracts from the text for easier reference later? To comprehend the material better through the act of making notes?
The free form writing helps me to get down my thoughts quickly for possible future reference. Sometimes I go back to what I wrote 5 months ago and find some gems.
Sometimes when I’m researching a topic, just copy pasting links and relevant text has been useful.
Taking notes helps me keep track of fragmentary ideas for future processing and helps me do the processing.
I like the idea of setting up a wiki or using a wiki-like note taking app. I use Evernote a bit like that, crosslinking pages, but it’s not really optimized for that. My main concern with using an app like Evergreen Notes is that a hobby project built by one person seems like a fragile place to leave a part of my brain.
With your method, do you ever go back to old free form notes and find yourself unable to reconstruct what you originally meant? Or find the task of wading through your old free form notes unpleasant, since they’re not polished?
My main concern with using an app like Evergreen Notes is that a hobby project built by one person seems like a fragile place to leave a part of my brain.
A really easy way to set up your own wiki is to use a github repo. You can make it private if you don’t want people to see it. If you use markdown and use the .md file extension, github will show the pages nicely and will even make links to other pages work.
do you ever go back to old free form notes and find yourself unable to reconstruct what you originally meant?
I don’t think I’ve ever had that problem.
Or find the task of wading through your old free form notes unpleasant, since they’re not polished?
I think it’s fun. I’ve never found it unpleasant. And if it’s on a computer you can always use the search function for topics you’re interested in pursuing further.
I like using a wiki for notes. Something like this: http://evergreennotes.com/. There are a lot of ways to set up a wiki.
I take notes for things that I want to eventually write something about, so for most things I don’t end up taking notes.
Sure. Especially keeping track of relevant sources is super useful for future me.
For notes that I don’t want people to see because they involve private information, I just use a repository with some files and folders on my computer. For anything that I’d be ok with people reading, I use this wiki: openquestions.wiki.
Yep.
I’m not sure if the method has a name. For my personal notes I have a folder for free form babble type thoughts. Each filename is just the date that I’m writing. Then I later go through and find anything related to some topic I want to do more work on and copy past the good bits into files separated by topic.
Some of those notes in my private repo end up being something I’d like to share with friends, so I post ’em to my wiki.
The free form writing helps me to get down my thoughts quickly for possible future reference. Sometimes I go back to what I wrote 5 months ago and find some gems.
Sometimes when I’m researching a topic, just copy pasting links and relevant text has been useful.
Taking notes helps me keep track of fragmentary ideas for future processing and helps me do the processing.
Also make sure to check out the other posts with the note taking tag if you haven’t seen them already: https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/note-taking
I like the idea of setting up a wiki or using a wiki-like note taking app. I use Evernote a bit like that, crosslinking pages, but it’s not really optimized for that. My main concern with using an app like Evergreen Notes is that a hobby project built by one person seems like a fragile place to leave a part of my brain.
With your method, do you ever go back to old free form notes and find yourself unable to reconstruct what you originally meant? Or find the task of wading through your old free form notes unpleasant, since they’re not polished?
In that case you might like obsidian.md.
A really easy way to set up your own wiki is to use a github repo. You can make it private if you don’t want people to see it. If you use markdown and use the .md file extension, github will show the pages nicely and will even make links to other pages work.
I don’t think I’ve ever had that problem.
I think it’s fun. I’ve never found it unpleasant. And if it’s on a computer you can always use the search function for topics you’re interested in pursuing further.