Overview

Most of us learned to take notes the old way - writing down everything in order, subject by subject. But that’s not really what we need. What we actually want is to be able to quickly find and use the information we’ve learned. That’s where concept-based notes come in. Using a tool like Obsidian, you can break down information into small, connected pieces that make sense to you, regardless of what subject they came from. This way of taking notes helps you remember better, understand things more deeply, and make new connections between ideas. The end result? You spend less time studying and more time actually doing things.

Takeaways

The Real Goal: Access to Information, Not Just Notes

The fundamental premise is that “nobody takes notes just to have them what we’re really after is the information.” The problem is not note-taking itself, but “an information problem” where a lack of readily available knowledge interrupts workflow and creativity. The ultimate objective is “quick access to lots of relevant information.”

Sequential vs. Conceptual Note-Taking

Sequential Note-Taking

The traditional method involves “copy[ing] down basically everything the teacher wrote on the board” in a linear fashion, often in separate notebooks for each course. This is described as “basically everything the teacher was saying as being important.” This method is seen as inefficient, time-consuming, and leads to a lack of engagement with the material. It also results in “old notes decaying in a box under your bed,” making it difficult to leverage past knowledge.

Conceptual Note-Taking

The proposed alternative focuses on identifying and capturing core “concepts” during a lecture or learning process. Instead of transcribing, the individual actively listens and evaluates if information is “unimportant, self-explanatory or easy enough to memorize on the spot.” Notes are made for new concepts or added to existing notes for related ideas. This involves breaking information down into “atomic” pieces and linking related ideas together. The goal is to “make it as atomic as possible instead of writing your notes sequentially write them conceptually.”

Improving Memory and Learning

The author suggests that we tend to remember things that we “a think about often and b can view from many different perspectives that is things which are linked to lots of other things.” Conceptual note-taking naturally encourages this by requiring active engagement during the learning process and the linking of concepts. This active learning in class means “you’ll have to study less if at all later since you already learned the stuff during class.”

Leveraging Old Knowledge and Facilitating New Learning

Conceptual note-taking, by keeping all notes together and linked, allows individuals to “lean on old concepts for support” when learning new material. This prevents the “nightmare” of having to relearn fundamentals constantly. Old notes don’t decay but “grow in time if you take them conceptually.”

First Principles Thinking

The conceptual approach strongly supports “first principles thinking” by preserving and emphasizing “a strong knowledge of the fundamentals.” Sequential note-taking is seen as actively “eras[ing] your knowledge of the fundamentals.”

Breaking Down Disciplinary Silos

A key argument is that “there are no such things as disciplines in the world there is no biology chemistry physics economics or history it’s all just the universe it’s just a bunch of concepts ideas floating around and highly linked together within and across the traditional quote-unquote disciplines.” Traditional sequential notes, organized by subject, arbitrarily limit thinking and make it difficult to draw connections between seemingly disparate fields. Conceptual notes allow for these cross-disciplinary links.

Fostering Creativity

Creativity is described as “making something new but oftentimes that happens by making a connection between concepts that nobody’s ever thought of before.” Conceptual note-taking encourages the exploration and creation of unique connections between ideas, going beyond the established links provided by teachers or textbooks. “If you only focus on the connections that everybody already knows about then you’ll never create anything new.”

Personalized Knowledge Organization

Sequential notes force individuals to organize information in the way it is presented by the teacher. Conceptual notes allow for a more fluid and personalized organization that “makes sense to your individual brain.” The author emphasizes that “your knowledge is constantly changing but your sequential notes will always stay the same.” Conceptual notes on a computer allow for easy modification and merging of ideas as understanding evolves.

Utilizing a Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) System (e.g., Obsidian)

A PKM system is recommended as a tool for implementing conceptual note-taking. The author specifically mentions Obsidian as a preferred program due to its concept-based structure and ease of linking. The PKM system serves as a “second brain” or “secondary database” for information that cannot be held in memory. The system should be easily searchable (using a search bar) and allow for navigation through “link jumping.” The system should be low-stress and personalized, reflecting the individual’s personality and interests. “your notes don’t have to make sense to anybody except yourself.”

What NOT to Memorize/Note

The author advises against trying to memorize or note down information that is easily accessible elsewhere (like small facts or quick explanations searchable online) or information handled by other tools (like dates and appointments using calendars). This frees up mental bandwidth.

Focus on “Doing” over “Knowing”

The ultimate goal of this approach is not simply to accumulate knowledge (“the goal is not to learn as much as possible the goal is to do as much as possible”). By generalizing knowledge into concepts and breaking down silos, individuals can learn to do things more quickly and effectively. This leads to “more doing for less studying.”