How to Take Notes While Reading: 7 Methods Ranked by Retention | Chapterly Blog
How to Take Notes While Reading: 7 Methods Ranked by Retention Quick answer: The most effective reading notes are written from memory, not copied from the page. After reading a section, close the book and write what you remember in your own words. This recall-based approach produces 2-3x better retention than any form of copying, highlighting, or transcription. Below are seven specific methods, ranked from least to most effective for long-term retention. There is a paradox at the center of reading notes. The more carefully you transcribe what an author says — copying exact quotes, highlighting key passages, creating detailed margin annotations — the less you tend to remember. Your notes look impressive. Your retention is poor. This happens because most note-taking methods optimize for the wrong thing. They optimize for capture: getting information out of the book and into another location. But capture is not learning. You can transfer every important sentence from a book into a notebook or app and still forget 80% of it within a month. The act of copying creates a feeling of productivity, but it does not create the neural pathways required for recall. The methods below are ranked by how effectively they build...