If you’re a book nerd this might sting, but you need to hear this if you want to improve your reading comprehension.
Your notes are holding you back.
Today you’ll discover the main step in taking better notes by the end of this essay and in future we’ll cover full study strategies, but first…
What are notes for?
Many have a crippling dependency on writing things down.
While notes do have their place, folks often confuse note-taking with actual learning. They aren’t the same, and you need to sit with ideas longer than the time it takes to record them. If you don’t understand or can’t explain the core idea, then the other details don’t matter.
Learning happens in your head.
The first step to better notes is simplicity
If the goal is reading retention, you first need to simplify without dumbing down.
The book Make it Stick defines Commander’s Intent as; a concise statement that specifies the goal and desired outcome of an operation, without resorting to a play-by-play.
We want something similar. This sounds obvious, but it is much easier to remember one thing than an list of things. Another case where less is more.
The real trick to improve your reading comprehension is reducing what you’ve read down to it’s core intent.
How do we find the core intent?
Start with the Dobzhansky Template. In The Narrative Gym, Randy Olsen used this to pinpoint the core of a narrative, but it works universally for any topic of study.
Nothing in (main topic) makes sense, except in the light of (the connection).
- Nothing in taking notes makes sense, except in light of simplicity.
- Nothing in pre-reading makes sense except in light of priming!
- Nothing in creating headlines makes sense except in light of capturing attention.
How does this relate to the Commander’s Intent?
Nothing in (this mission) makes sense, except in light of (the main objective)
- Nothing in school makes sense, except in light of good grades.
- Nothing in policing makes sense, except in light of public service.
- Nothing in business makes sense, except in light of making a profit.
Try reading a section or chapter or listening to a lecture first without taking notes.
Take in new concepts and wrestle with them. Rotate and look at them from different angles in your mind. Then reduce them to their core. Remember: the more notes you write, the less you’ve thought. Learn the roots and build the trunk of understanding in your mind.
It will be far easier to follow up with lighter notes to fill in the branches and leaves.
The more you refine ideas to their core, the more you’ll make what you’ve read stick.