# books - How to Take Smart Notes  ## Metadata - Author: [[Sönke Ahrens]] - Full Title: How to Take Smart Notes - Category: #Source/books ## AI Summary The book emphasizes the importance of structuring one's workflow and working [[Habits]] to achieve [[Productivity]] and generate new ideas. It explores various concepts and strategies to improve productivity and focus on meaningful work. Here are the main highlights: 1. The author suggests avoiding forcing oneself to do tasks when feeling stuck and instead engaging in other activities. Having a structured workflow puts us back in control of the process. 2. Experts value learning in a way that generates real insight and sparks new ideas. They go beyond their own disciplines and focus on what they haven't mastered yet. 3. High achievers may experience imposter syndrome when they realize the vast amount of knowledge available. Insight and progress require effort and don't come easily. 4. Keeping solutions simple and unexpected is the best approach to deal with complexity. Changing working habits involves overcoming the inclination to revert to old ways. 5. Significant change can occur when all related work is integrated into an overarching and interlocked process, removing bottlenecks and enabling a focused mind. 6. A reliable and simple external structure, such as a system or tool, is necessary to compensate for the limitations of our brains and ensure tasks are properly managed. 7. The slip-box method, inspired by Luhmann, involves writing only when one immediately knows how to do it. Keeping options open during the writing process and creating a smart working environment can make hard work enjoyable. 8. The slip-box manual employs fixed numbers to organize notes rather than arranging them by topic. An index serves as an entry point to explore specific lines of thought or topics. Overall, the book emphasizes the importance of a structured workflow, simplicity, and external tools to enhance productivity, generate insights, and facilitate learning. By implementing effective strategies and leveraging external systems, individuals can improve their working habits and achieve their goals. ## AI Summary of the process (section 2): 1. Make fleeting notes: Write down important ideas, arguments, and quotes in your own words. Be selective and keep the notes short. Include bibliographic details with the notes. 2. Make permanent notes: Reflect on how the information relates to your research, thinking, or interests. Develop ideas, arguments, and discussions based on the new information. Consider if it contradicts, corrects, supports, or adds to what you already have. Combine ideas to generate something new and identify questions triggered by the information. Write in full sentences, disclose sources, make references, and aim for precision, clarity, and brevity. 3. Add the new permanent notes to the slip-box, which is an organized system for storing and managing your notes. 4. Develop topics, questions, and research projects from within the slip-box. Follow your interests and take the path that promises the most insight. Even if you don't have anything in your slip-box yet, you already have ideas in your mind to be tested, opinions to be challenged, and questions to be answered. 5. After a while, you will have developed ideas enough to decide on a specific topic to write about. Don't wait until you have everything together; try out ideas and give yourself time to go back to reading and note-taking to improve your ideas, arguments, and their structure. 6. Edit and proofread your manuscript once you have written the initial draft. 7. Each idea and bit of information contributes to your future understanding, thinking, and writing. They add up to create a critical mass that serves as an idea-generator. By following these steps and engaging in thoughtful reading, note-taking, and idea development, you can effectively structure your writing process and produce high-quality papers or essays. The emphasis is on continuous learning, refining ideas, and leveraging a well-organized system to facilitate the writing and research journey. ## Highlights - the mind is reliant upon external scaffolding.” (Levy 2011, 270) ([Location 55](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=55)) - “One cannot think without writing.” (Luhmann 1992, 53) ([Location 57](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=57)) - We write when we need to remember something, be it an idea, a quote or the outcome of a study. We write when we want to organise our thoughts and when we want to exchange ideas with others. ([Location 114](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=114)) - the actual writing down of the argument is the smallest part of its development. ([Location 129](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=129)) - those who take smart notes will never have the problem of a blank screen again. ([Location 138](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=138)) - The quality of a paper and the ease with which it is written depends more than anything on what you have done in writing before you even made a decision on the topic. ([Location 158](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=158)) - there is no measurable correlation between a high IQ and academic success – at least not north of 120. ([Location 163](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=163)) - What does make a significant difference along the whole intelligence spectrum is something else: how much self-discipline or self-control one uses to approach the tasks at hand ([Location 166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=166)) - self-control and self-discipline have much more to do with our environment than with ourselves ([Location 176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=176)) - Having a meaningful and well-defined task beats willpower every time. ([Location 179](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=179)) - Tags: [[favorite]] ### 1  Everything You Need to Know - “I never force myself to do anything I don’t feel like. Whenever I am stuck, I do something else.” ([Location 188](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=188)) - A good structure enables flow, ([Location 195](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=195)) - the employment of problematic work routines that seems to take charge of us instead of allowing us to steer the process in the right direction. A good, structured workflow puts us back in charge ([Location 199](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=199)) - The challenge is to structure one’s workflow in a way that insight and new ideas can become the driving forces that push us forward. ([Location 208](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=208)) - Experts, on the other hand, would not even consider voluntarily giving up what has already proved to be rewarding and fun: learning in a way that generates real insight, is accumulative and sparks new ideas. ([Location 213](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=213)) - Good students also look beyond the obvious. They peek over the fences of their own disciplines ([Location 222](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=222)) - Good students, ([Location 235](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=235)) - they focus on what they haven’t learned and mastered yet. ([Location 235](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=235)) - high achievers who have had a taste of the vast amount of knowledge out there are likely to suffer from what psychologists call imposter syndrome, ([Location 236](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=236)) - insight doesn’t come easy ([Location 239](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=239)) #### 1.1      Good Solutions are Simple – and Unexpected - The best way to deal with complexity is to keep things as simple as possible and to follow a few basic principles. ([Location 251](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=251)) - Like every change in behaviour, a change in working habits means going through a phase where you are drawn back to your old ways. ([Location 266](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=266)) - Only when all the related work becomes part of an overarching and interlocked process, where all bottlenecks are removed, can significant change take place ([Location 269](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=269)) - Only if nothing else is lingering in our working memory and taking up valuable mental resources can we experience what Allen calls a “mind like water” - the state where we can focus on the work right in front of us ([Location 277](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=277)) - It is not a quick fix or a fancy tool. It doesn’t do the work for you. But it does provide a structure for our everyday work that deals with the fact that most distractions do not come so much from our environment, but our own minds. ([Location 279](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=279)) - Only if you can trust your system, only if you really know that everything will be taken care of, will your brain let go and let you focus on the task at hand. ([Location 302](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=302)) - Tags: [[favorite]] #### 1.2      The Slip-box - I only write when I immediately know how to do it. If I falter for a moment, I put the matter aside and do something else.” (Luhmann ([Location 365](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=365)) - Even hard work can be fun as long as it is aligned with our intrinsic goals and we feel in control. ([Location 371](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=371)) - it's better to keep your options open during the writing process ([Location 374](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=374)) - success is not the result of strong willpower and the ability to overcome resistance, but rather the result of smart working environments that avoid resistance in the first place ([Location 382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=382)) - It is about having the right tools and knowing how to use them – and very few understand that you need both. ([Location 386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=386)) - scale of the advantages of this small tweak ([Location 408](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=408)) - Note: Kaizen #### 1.3      The slip-box manual - It was very much like a translation where you use different words that fit a different context, but strive to keep the original meaning as truthfully as possible. ([Location 432](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=432)) - The trick is that he did not organise his notes by topic, but in the rather abstract way of giving them fixed numbers. ([Location 435](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=435)) - The last element in his file system was an index, from which he would refer to one or two notes that would serve as a kind of entry point into a line of thought or topic. ([Location 449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=449)) - We need a reliable and simple external structure to think in that compensates for the limitations of our brains. ([Location 457](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=457)) ### 2  Everything You Need to Do - Imagine ([Location 462](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=462)) - Note: Writing A paper or a essat should be easy because have insights facts and quotes to hand. And all connected together - It would certainly make things a lot easier if you already had everything you need right in front of you: The ideas, the arguments, the quotes, long developed passages, complete with bibliography and references. And not just readily available, but already in order, sorted by chapters that have descriptive headlines. ([Location 471](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=471)) - Assemble notes and bring them into order, turn these notes into a draft, review it and you are done. ([Location 485](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=485)) - Writing these notes is also not the main work. Thinking is. Reading is. Understanding and coming up with ideas is. ([Location 491](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=491)) - Writing is, without dispute, the best facilitator for thinking, reading, learning, understanding and generating ideas we have. ([Location 494](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=494)) - Thinking, reading, learning, understanding and generating ideas is the main work of everyone who studies, does research or writes. If ([Location 505](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=505)) #### 2.1      Writing a paper step by step - 1. Make fleeting notes. ([Location 510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=510)) - Write down what you don’t want to forget or think you might use in your own thinking or writing. Keep it very short, be extremely selective, and use your own words. ([Location 517](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=517)) - Be extra selective with quotes ([Location 518](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=518)) - Keep these notes together with the bibliographic details ([Location 519](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=519)) - 3. Make permanent notes. ([Location 520](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=520)) - think about how they relate to what is relevant for your own research, thinking or interests. ([Location 522](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=522)) - Note: I need to be slightly clearer on what my interests are. - develop ideas, arguments and discussions. Does the new information contradict, correct, support or add to what you already have (in the slip-box or on your mind)? ([Location 523](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=523)) - Can you combine ideas to generate something new? What questions are triggered by them? ([Location 524](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=524)) - write as if you were writing for someone else: Use full sentences, disclose your sources, make references and try to be as precise, clear and brief as possible. ([Location 525](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=525)) - 4. Now add your new permanent notes to the slip-box ([Location 528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=528)) - 5. Develop your topics, questions and research projects bottom up from within the system. ([Location 539](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=539)) - Just follow your interest and always take the path that promises the most insight. ([Location 541](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=541)) - Build upon what you have. Even if you don’t have anything in your slip-box yet, you never start from scratch – you already have ideas on your mind to be tested, opinions to be challenged and questions to be answered. ([Location 542](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=542)) - 6. After a while, you will have developed ideas far enough to decide on a topic to write about. ([Location 548](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=548)) - Don’t wait until you have everything together. Rather, try ideas out and give yourself enough time to go back to reading and note-taking to improve your ideas, arguments and their structure. ([Location 552](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=552)) - 8. Edit and proofread your manuscript. ([Location 558](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=558)) - Every idea adds to what can become a critical mass that turns a mere collection of ideas into an idea-generator. ([Location 571](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=571)) - Each added bit of information, filtered only by our interest, is a contribution to our future understanding, thinking and writing. ([Location 581](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=581)) ### 3  Everything You Need to Have #### 3.1      The Tool Box ### 4  A Few Things to Keep in Mind ### 5  Writing Is the Only Thing That Matters - If writing is the medium of research and studying nothing else than research, then there is no reason not to work as if nothing else counts than writing. ([Location 719](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=719)) - Having a clear, tangible purpose when you attend a lecture, discussion or seminar will make you more engaged and sharpen your focus. ([Location 729](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=729)) - you will try to learn as efficiently as possible so you can quickly get to the point where actual open questions arise, as these are the only questions worth writing about. ([Location 730](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=730)) - Deliberate practice is the only serious way of becoming better at what we are doing ([Location 737](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=737)) ### 6  Simplicity Is Paramount - brainstorming ([Location 784](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=784)) - Note: Anathema to second brain? As inbuilt into process? - In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon it again? ([Location 787](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=787)) - The slip-box is designed to present you with ideas you have already forgotten, allowing your brain to focus on thinking instead of remembering. ([Location 797](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=797)) - To achieve a critical mass, it is crucial to distinguish clearly between three types of notes: ([Location 802](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=802)) - Fleeting notes, which are only reminders of information, ([Location 804](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=804)) - Note: Keep these in drafts ? - Permanent notes, which will never be thrown away ([Location 806](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=806)) - Note: Keep in obsidian - Project notes, ([Location 810](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=810)) - Note: Keep in DT or finder - he treats every note as if it belongs to the “permanent” category, the notes will never build up a critical mass. The collection of good ideas is diluted to insignificance by all the other notes, which are only relevant for a specific project or actually not that good on second sight. ([Location 817](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=817)) - You can easily spot this approach by the mess that comes with it, or rather by the cycle of slowly growing piles of material followed by the impulse for major clean-ups. Just collecting unprocessed fleeting notes inevitably leads to chaos. ([Location 830](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=830)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Even small amounts of unclear and unrelated notes lingering around your desk will soon induce the wish of starting from scratch. ([Location 832](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=832)) - underlining sentences or writing comments in the margins are also just fleeting notes and do nothing to elaborate on a text. ([Location 842](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=842)) - Note: META - Fleeting notes are only useful if you review them within a day or so and turn them into proper notes you can use later. ([Location 844](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=844)) - Permanent notes, on the other hand, are written in a way that can still be understood even when you have forgotten the context they are taken from. ([Location 848](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=848)) - Zotero, you can collect literature in project-specific folders without taking them out of the reference system itself. ([Location 895](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=895)) - keeps the permanent notes from the project-related notes clearly separated ([Location 895](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=895)) - Note: Keep project notes out of obsidian. Need to atomise what i have in there already. Can still relate to JD areas ### 7  Nobody Ever Starts From Scratch - Interestingly enough, these road maps usually come with the concession that this is only an idealised plan and that in reality, it rarely works like that. ([Location 916](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=916)) - The seemingly pragmatic and down-to-earth-sounding advice – to decide what to write about before you start writing – is therefore either misleading or banal. ([Location 926](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=926)) - topics, questions and arguments will emerge from the material without force. ([Location 933](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=933)) ### 8  Let the Work Carry You Forward >[!AI Summary]+ >In this chapter, the book highlights the importance of finding a workflow that propels the work forward and keeps us motivated. The work itself should become rewarding to sustain [[Source - Motivation by Wikipedia|Motivation]] and progress. Seeking feedback and embracing it is crucial for learning and growth. The linear model of academic writing often lacks frequent feedback opportunities, making it less effective. Smaller feedback loops are less intimidating and easier to accept. Expressing thoughts in writing helps us evaluate their depth. Using mental models and organizing thoughts in sync with the slip-box enhances productivity. It is the dynamic between the slip-box and our brains that makes working with it so productive. - Once we get into the workflow, it is as if the work itself gains momentum, pulling us along and sometimes even energizing us. This is the kind of dynamic we are looking for. ([Location 989](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=989)) - Only if the work itself becomes rewarding can the dynamic of motivation and reward become self-sustainable and propel the whole process forward ([Location 997](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=997)) - Seeking feedback, not avoiding it, is the first virtue of anyone who wants to learn, or in the more general terms of psychologist Carol Dweck, to grow. ([Location 1009](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1009)) - Note: How can i frame a scaffold for zoe to bave a growt mindset? - The linear model of academic writing comes with very few feedback opportunities, and even those are usually spread out over time ([Location 1023](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1023)) - As the feedback loops are usually smaller than one big chunk of feedback at the end, they are also much less scary and easier to embrace. ([Location 1029](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1029)) - Expressing our own thoughts in writing makes us realise if we really thought them through. ([Location 1042](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1042)) - This is another big difference from using an encyclopaedia like Wikipedia. We use the same mental models, theories and terms to organise our thoughts in our brains as in our slip-box. ([Location 1060](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1060)) - It is not the slip-box or our brains alone, but the dynamic between them that makes working with it so productive. ([Location 1063](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1063)) ### 9  Separate and Interlocking Tasks >[!AI Summary]+ > In this chapter, the book emphasizes the importance of giving each task undivided attention and avoiding multitasking. Familiarity should not be confused with skill, and achieving a state of focused flow can make work effortless. The slip-box can provide a sanctuary for restless minds. Different tasks require different types of attention, such as focusing on thoughts, finding the right words, outlining, proofreading, and formulating. Experts rely on internalized knowledge rather than active recall. Getting closure involves breaking tasks into smaller pieces, writing down outcomes, and utilizing [[the Zeigarnik effect]]. Reducing the number of decisions and creating a standardized working environment can conserve attention and willpower. Breaks are essential for learning. #### 9.1      Give Each Task Your Undivided Attention #### 9.2      Multitasking is not a good idea - We unfortunately tend to confuse familiarity with skill. ([Location 1108](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1108)) - Ever since Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s described “flow,” the state in which being highly focused becomes effortless (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975),[18] other forms of attention, which are much less dependent on will and effort, attracted researchers’ interest. ([Location 1120](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1120)) - the slip-box can become a haven for our restless minds. ([Location 1133](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1133)) #### 9.3      Give Each Task the Right Kind of Attention - Letting the inner critic interfere with the author isn’t helpful, either. Here we have to focus our attention on our thoughts. If the critic constantly and prematurely interferes whenever a sentence isn’t perfect yet, we would never get anything on paper. ([Location 1150](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1150)) - get our thoughts on paper first and improve them there, where we can look at them. ([Location 1152](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1152)) - Note: This sounds like Rothfuss's approach - It is also easier to focus on finding the right words if we don’t have to think about the structure of the text at the same time, ([Location 1158](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1158)) - Outlining or changing the outline is also a very different task that requires a very different focus on something else: not on one thought, but on the whole argument. ([Location 1161](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1161)) - Proofreading, formulating and outlining are also different from the task of combining and developing thoughts. ([Location 1166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1166)) - Some texts need to be read slowly and carefully, while others are only worth skimming. ([Location 1171](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1171)) - scientists can alternate between extraordinary levels of focus on specific concepts and playful exploration of ideas. This suggests that successful problem solving may be a function of flexible strategy application in relation to task demands.” ([Location 1181](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1181)) - The key to creativity is being able to switch between a wide-open, playful mind and a narrow analytical frame.” ([Location 1186](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1186)) - Don’t make plans. Become an expert. ([Location 1195](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1195)) - Note: How does all this fit with omnifocus? #### 9.4      Become an Expert Instead of a Planner - Experts, on the other hand, have internalised the necessary knowledge so they don’t have to actively remember rules or think consciously about their choices. ([Location 1238](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1238)) - but an incorporated history of experience. ([Location 1243](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1243)) - Real experts, Flyvbjerg writes unambiguously, don’t make plans ([Location 1256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1256)) #### 9.5      Get Closure - But what we actually do when we use memo techniques is to bundle items together in a meaningful way and remember the bundles – up to about seven (Levin and Levin, 1990). ([Location 1271](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1271)) - The brain doesn't distinguish between an actual finished task and one that is postponed by taking a note. By writing something down, we literally get it out of our heads. ([Location 1300](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1300)) - first step is to break down the amorphous task of “writing” into smaller pieces of different tasks ([Location 1308](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1308)) - The second step is to make sure we always write down the outcome of our thinking, including possible connections to further inquiries. ([Location 1309](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1309)) - Conversely, we can use the Zeigarnik effect to our advantage by deliberately keeping unanswered questions in our mind. ([Location 1318](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1318)) #### 9.6      Reduce the Number of Decisions - Next to the attention that can only be directed at one thing at a time and the short-term memory that can only hold up to seven things at once, the third limited resource is motivation or willpower. ([Location 1328](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1328)) - Even something seemingly unrelated like being the victim of prejudices can have a significant effect (Inzlicht, McKay, and Aronson, 2006) as “controlling the influence of stereotypes (… may rely on the same…) limited-strength resource on which people draw for self-regulation” (Govorun and Payne 2006, 112). ([Location 1344](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1344)) - Note: This is talking about ‘ego-depletion’ or lack of motivation. - reliable and standardised working environment is less taxing on our attention, concentration and willpower, ([Location 1351](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1351)) - most organisational decisions can be made up front, once and for all, by deciding on one system. ([Location 1357](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1357)) - We can have breaks without fear of losing the thread. Breaks are much more than just opportunities to recover. They are crucial for learning. ([Location 1363](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1363)) - Note: Streamdeck button for co tinuing work. Creates OF task to continue whatever it is. Gets nme of front documnt? ### 10   Read for Understanding >[!AI Summary]+ >In this chapter, the book highlights the importance of reading with a pen in hand. It emphasizes the process of turning notes into a continuous text and reflecting on what is not mentioned as well. Writing by hand encourages deeper understanding and grasping underlying principles. Keeping an open mind involves elaborating on arguments critical to one's own theories and seeking dis-confirming data to enrich the slip-box. Developing the skill of distinguishing relevant information is crucial, along with the ability to re-frame questions and assertions. Clear expression and understanding go hand in hand, and the principle of not fooling oneself is emphasized. Rereading and underlining sentences are shown to be ineffective learning methods. Elaboration is identified as a successful learning approach. The slip-box and the brain have complementary roles, allowing the brain to focus on deeper understanding and creativity while the slip-box handles details and references. #### 10.1   Read With a Pen in Hand - To get a good paper written, you only have to rewrite a good draft; to get a good draft written, you only have to turn a series of notes into a continuous text. ([Location 1379](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1379)) - Whenever we explore a new, unfamiliar subject, our notes will tend to be more extensive, but we shouldn’t get nervous about it, as this is the deliberate practice of understanding we cannot skip. ([Location 1414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1414)) - reflect as much on what is not mentioned as what is mentioned. ([Location 1418](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1418)) - So if you are writing by hand, you are forced to think about what you hear (or read) – otherwise you wouldn’t be able to grasp the underlying principle, the idea, the structure of an argument. ([Location 1443](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1443)) #### 10.2   Keep an Open Mind - Charles Darwin. He forced himself to write down (and therefore elaborate on) the arguments that were the most critical of his theories. ([Location 1473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1473)) - With a good system, the mere necessities of the workflow will force us to act more virtuously without actually having to become more virtuous. ([Location 1480](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1480)) - The linear process promoted by most study guides, which insanely starts with the decision on the hypothesis or the topic to write about, is a sure-fire way to let confirmation bias run rampant. ([Location 1484](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1484)) - What we are looking for are facts and information that can add something and therefore enrich the slip-box. ([Location 1505](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1505)) - dis-confirming data becomes suddenly very attractive, because it opens up more possible connections and discussions within the slip-box, ([Location 1510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1510)) - the more diverse the content of the slip-box is, the further it can bring our thinking forward ([Location 1513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1513)) #### 10.3   Get the Gist - ability to distinguish relevant from less relevant information is another skill that can only be learned by doing. ([Location 1523](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1523)) - The ability to use one’s own understanding is a challenge, not a given. ([Location 1543](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1543)) - It makes sense to always ask the question: What is not meant, what is excluded if a certain claim is made? If someone speaks of ‘human rights:’ What distinction is made? A distinction towards ‘non-human rights?’ ‘Human duties?’ ([Location 1551](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1551)) - It is proven that readers regard an author and an audience a speaker as more intelligent the more clear and to the point their expressions are ([Location 1559](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1559)) - Being able to re-frame questions, assertions and information is even more important than having an extensive knowledge, because without this ability, we wouldn’t be able to put our knowledge to use. ([Location 1562](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1562)) #### 10.4   Learn to Read - “If you can’t say it clearly, you don’t understand it yourself.” (John Searle) ([Location 1569](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1569)) - Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman once said that he could only determine whether he understood something if he could give an introductory lecture on it. ([Location 1570](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1570)) - “The principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool,” ([Location 1581](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1581)) - research has shown again (Karpicke, Butler, and Roediger 2009) and again (Brown 2014, ch. 1) to be almost completely useless: rereading and underlining sentences for later rereading. ([Location 1603](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1603)) #### 10.5   Learn by Reading - taking away the opportunity to build meaningful connections and to make sense of something by translating it into one’s own language. ([Location 1621](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1621)) - Note: Modularisation does this ? - the best-researched and most successful learning method is elaboration. ([Location 1648](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1648)) - There is a clear division of labour between the brain and the slip-box: The slip-box takes care of details and references and is a long-term memory resource that keeps information objectively unaltered. That allows the brain to focus on the gist, the deeper understanding and the bigger picture, and frees it up to be creative. Both the brain and the slip-box can focus on what they are best at. ([Location 1663](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1663)) ### 11   Take Smart Notes - Experienced academic readers usually read a text with questions in mind and try to relate it to other possible approaches, ([Location 1673](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1673)) #### 11.1   Make a Career One Note at a Time - half of all doctoral theses will stay unfinished forever (Lonka, 2003, 113). ([Location 1706](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1706)) - Luhmann’s slip-box contains about 90,000 notes, which sounds like an incredibly large number. But it only means that he wrote six notes a day from the day he started to work with his slip-box until he died. ([Location 1721](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1721)) - You could therefore measure your daily productivity by the number of notes written. ([Location 1727](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1727)) #### 11.2   Think Outside the Brain - We reinvent and rewrite our memory every time we try to retrieve information. The brain works with rules of thumb and makes things look as if they fit, even if they don’t. It remembers events that never happened, connects unrelated episodes to convincing narratives and completes incomplete images. It cannot help but see patterns and meaning everywhere, even in the most random things (cf. Byrne, 2008). ([Location 1745](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1745)) #### 11.3   Learn by not Trying - And even though it sounds paradoxical, forgetting actually facilitates long-term learning. ([Location 1821](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1821)) - active inhibition ([Location 1849](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1849)) - Learning would be not so much about saving information, like on a hard disk, but about building connections and bridges between pieces of information to circumvent the inhibition mechanism in the right moment. ([Location 1867](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1867)) - There are no natural cues: Every piece of information can become the trigger for another piece of information. ([Location 1878](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1878)) - “involuntary memory” for a reason: we can’t retrieve it on purpose. ([Location 1879](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1879)) - our brains have a built-in preference to learn meaningful information ([Location 1896](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1896)) - Memory artists instead attach meaning to information and connect it to already known networks of connections in a meaningful way. ([Location 1903](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1903)) - But elaboration is nothing more than connecting information to other information in a meaningful way. ([Location 1913](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1913)) - retention is facilitated by acquisition conditions that prompt people to elaborate information in a way that increases the distinctiveness of their memory representations.” ([Location 1918](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1918)) - The slip-box is forcing us to do the exact opposite: To elaborate, to understand, to connect and therefore to learn seriously. ([Location 1943](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1943)) - 11.4   Adding Permanent Notes to the Slip-Box ([Location 1952](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1952)) ### 12   Develop Ideas - Because the slip-box is not intended to be an encyclopaedia, but a tool to think with, we don’t need to worry about completeness. ([Location 1988](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1988)) - We only write if it helps us with our own thinking. ([Location 1989](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=1989)) #### 12.1   Develop Topics - Every consideration on the structure of a topic is just another consideration on a note – bound to change and dependent on the development of our understanding. ([Location 2020](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2020)) - Note: This makes developing obsidian difficult. Notes are contextual. Amplifies the importance of specific titles and atomised notes - The archivist asks: Which keyword is the most fitting? A writer asks: In which circumstances will I want to stumble upon this note, even if I forget about it? It is a crucial difference. ([Location 2023](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2023)) - Keywords should always be assigned with an eye towards the topics you are working on or interested in, ([Location 2046](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2046)) #### 12.2   Make Smart Connections - Luhmann collected up to 25 links to other notes on these kind of entry notes. ([Location 2069](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2069)) - These note-to-note links are like the “weak links” (Granovetter 1973) of social relationships we have with acquaintances: even ([Location 2089](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2089)) - It is important to always keep in mind that making these links is not a chore, a kind of file-box maintenance. The search for meaningful connections is a crucial part of the thinking process towards the finished manuscript. ([Location 2099](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2099)) #### 12.3   Compare, Correct and Differentiate - we actually move forward in our thinking towards uncharted territory, instead of just feeling like we are moving forward. ([Location 2116](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2116)) - we tend to overstate the importance of information that is (mentally) easily available to us and tilts our thinking towards the most recently acquired facts, not necessarily the most relevant ones. ([Location 2142](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2142)) #### 12.4   Assemble a Toolbox for Thinking - If the facts don’t hang together on a latticework of theory, you don’t have them in a usable form. You’ve got to have models in your head. ([Location 2170](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2170)) - A truly wise person is not someone who knows everything, but someone who is able to make sense of things by drawing from an extended resource of interpretation schemes. ([Location 2174](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2174)) - The beauty of this approach is that we co-evolve with our slip-boxes: ([Location 2182](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2182)) - Pay attention to what you want to remember. 2.  Properly encode the information you want to keep. (This includes thinking about suitable cues.) 3.  Practice recall. ([Location 2197](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2197)) #### 12.5   Use the Slip-Box as a Creativity Machine - “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.” (Steve Jobs) ([Location 2211](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2211)) - Steven Johnson, who wrote an insightful book about how people in science and in general come up with genuine new ideas, calls it the “slow hunch.” ([Location 2232](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2232)) #### 12.6   Think Inside the Box - Comparing, differentiating and connecting notes are the basis of good academic writing, but playing and tinkering with ideas is what leads to insight and exceptional texts. ([Location 2254](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2254)) - To be able to play with ideas, we first have to liberate them from their original context by means of abstraction and re-specification. ([Location 2256](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2256)) - find ways to confront ourselves with our errors, mistakes and misunderstandings. ([Location 2290](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2290)) - focus on the main ideas behind the details, to grasp the gist of something. ([Location 2291](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2291)) - Those who think of themselves as being open-minded are often even more prone to stick to their first understanding as they believe to be without natural prejudices and therefore don’t see the need to counterbalance them. ([Location 2306](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2306)) - Note: Agree but where is source? - As marketing expert Robert McMath assembled the biggest-ever collection of supermarket products, he realised midway it was becoming almost exclusively a collection of failed products because ([Location 2319](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2319)) - Note: Great anecdote - We can make it a habit to always think about what is missing when we write down our own ideas. ([Location 2362](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2362)) - practice asking good questions when we sort our notes into the slip-box ([Location 2363](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2363)) #### 12.7   Facilitate Creativity through Restrictions - Each note should fit onto the screen and there should be no need of scrolling. ([Location 2374](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2374)) - the common idea that we should liberate ourselves from any restrictions and “open ourselves up” to be more creative is very misleading indeed ([Location 2406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2406)) - 13   Share Your Insight ([Location 2410](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2410)) - Now you can spread out these notes on your desktop or use the outliner of the Zettelkasten, ([Location 2420](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2420)) - and it will show the gaps in the argument ([Location 2421](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2421)) #### 13.1   From Brainstorming to Slip-box-Storming - More people in a brainstorming group usually come up with less good ideas ([Location 2446](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2446)) - we also made a decision about the aspects of a text we regarded as relevant for our longer-term thinking ([Location 2458](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2458)) #### 13.2   From Top Down to Bottom Up - Being intimately familiar with something enables us to be playful with it, to modify it, to spot new and different ideas without running the risk of merely repeating old ideas believing they are new. ([Location 2490](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2490)) #### 13.3   Getting Things Done by Following Your Interests - When even highly intelligent students fail in their studies, it’s most often because they cease to see the meaning in what they were supposed to learn (cf. Balduf 2009), are unable to make a connection to their personal goals (Glynn et al. 2009) or lack the ability to control their own studies autonomously and on their own terms (Reeve and Jan, 2006; Reeve, 2009). ([Location 2505](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2505)) - The risk of losing interest in what we do is high when we decide upfront on a long-term project without much clue about what to expect. We can mitigate this risk considerably by applying a flexible organisation scheme that allows us to change course whenever necessary. ([Location 2510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2510)) - If we accompany every step of our work with the question, “What is interesting about this?” and everything we read with the question, “What is so relevant about this that it is worth noting down?” ([Location 2513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2513)) - Organizing the work so we can steer our projects in the most promising direction not only allows us to stay focused for longer, but also to have more fun ([Location 2537](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2537)) #### 13.4   Finishing and Review #### 13.5   Becoming an Expert by Giving up Planning - Experience doesn’t seem to teach students anything. ([Location 2599](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2599)) - it doesn’t help when athletes imagine themselves as winners of a race, but it makes a big difference if they imagine all the training that is necessary to be able to win. Having a more realistic idea in mind not only helps them to perform better, it also boosts their motivation (Singer et al. 2001). ([Location 2605](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2605)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Zeigarnik effect (Zeigarnik 1927), in which our brains tend to stay occupied with a task until it is accomplished (or written down). ([Location 2628](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2628)) #### 13.6   The Actual Writing ### 14   Make It a Habit - Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.” (Whitehead)[43] ([Location 2659](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2659)) - Note: Man is rich in accordance to that he can leave alone - the long-term, cross-topic organization of notes, which is guided only by one’s own understanding and interest, is very much at odds with the modular, compartmentalised and top-down approach in which the curricula of universities and colleges are organised. ([Location 2699](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2699)) - Learning, thinking and writing should not be about accumulating knowledge, but about becoming a different person with a different way of thinking. ([Location 2707](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2707)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - To reap its benefits, we need to change our working routines. And the basis for that is a deep understanding on how and why it works and how the different steps and tasks of writing fit together. ([Location 2712](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B06WVYW33Y&location=2712))