Digital notes in college changed my life. It allowed me to swap from a large backpack to a small purse when heading to class. It also allowed me to take notes more efficiently live when in lecture and even made it easier during study days.
My Notes Setup
I used an Ipad Air with the Apple Pencil to take my notes. But you can use any digital tablet with a pen to take notes. I also have a cheap $7 bluetooth keyboard that I got off amazon for when I prefer to type over writing cause my hand hurts.
The software I use is called Good Notes 5. It is a paid app, but it’s a one time purchase and absolutely 1000% worth it. You can also use any writing software that allows you to write in different colors and import images. This is just my preference!
Where can you get a tablet for cheap?
You can get great deals on tablets during Black Friday or getting them second hand at sites like unclaimed baggage, eBay or refurbished from amazon.
Colors
I use 3 colors to take my notes in college
- Highlight/Titles: This is typically a Bright Color. I use this for Titles of each section and glossary terminology
- Body: This is typically solid black. This is for all descriptions and notes I take on each topic
- Additional Information: these are notes that are probably not important but I’m writing down just in case. Or used for additional examples that are not a main focus.
For ideas on color palettes for your notes. You can download my hex code note colors freebie.
Setting up Your Notes Page
Before the lecture or at the very beginning I like to setup a few notes pages so I don’t have to scramble while the professor is going 1000 words per minute. To setup….
- Draw a line down the middle
- At the top middle of the page write the topic of the lecture
- Add the class name in the top, date of lecture
- Repeat this process on a few pages so that way your ready to take notes on the next page
Writing the Notes
I write my notes starting on the left and working my way down. Then I move on the the right column and work my way down the page. This allows me to fit as much content as I can on one page, but also allows me to use the location on the page to remember the concepts.
Topic
I always write the topic in all caps and left centered, then I draw a line through the rest of the space on that line so my topic header is easy to spot. Every lecture normally will cover 4-8 topics at a time.
Body
The body of the notes is normally a brief explanation of the topic summarized. And a couple of examples provided. (Make sure to not write every little thing the professor is saying. It’ll make your notes hard to study later!)
Highlights
I always highly recommend writing glossary terminology and important concepts in another color, box or highlight. This will allow you to easily spot it when it comes to studying and recall testing.
Sticky Notes
Sometimes I’ll also use sticky notes for examples, key concepts and stories related to the unit.
Sticky notes are also great to highlight key concepts the professor may call out that are on the exam!
Examples
Here is an example of notes I took in my algorithm class… The magenta was the main color while the highlights were in cream. The examples were boxed in and I could zoom in if I need further context behind the concept.
Here is an example of how I used a sticky note and highlights to remember an acronym and what it does
How do I differentiate what’s important from what the professor is saying?
Focus on the facts, if your professor is teaching with slides take a look at how the professor organizes the slides. Typically the more important content will be bigger, highlighted or bolded.
If your slides all look the same, try referring to your syllabus. Most of the time, the syllabus of the course will tell you what topics are listed there. That will give you an easy idea of what notes to narrow in on during the course.
How do I best study these notes?
I normally take the topic headers and glossary terms place them on a blank page. That way I can have the blank document up and I will try to recite the concepts and terms from memory. If I forget a concept I go back to the original content document and read through; give it a few minutes and try the recall exercise again.
I’ll also download the notes page or screenshot them to be able to have them on my phone. That way when I’m waiting in line or running errands I can take a brief look at them to help make studying easier in the future!
Closing
Note-taking styles vary from person to person and course to course, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The key is to start, no matter where you are in your journey. With practice, you’ll discover the strategies that work best for you. You’ll be capturing and organizing information like a pro in no time!
Remember to download my note taking color palette guide to save you some time!
Wishing everyone the best in their courses and studying!!!
