What note-taking taught me about developing insights.
Back in college, I had a class on advertising writing. We were taught about getting out of our comfort zones and learning about the world through different eyes. It could be either through having a conversation, reading or just being more curious while going through the motions of each day. Every week we were asked to develop insights based on a certain topic, and we’ll present it every meeting.
The problem was, I realized that I had a hard time creating insights.
I understood that insights are realizations that my brain reveals to me based on experiences and observations, I took down the notes and listed down every information that I gathered, but I always felt that my contributions were hollow.
Spoiler alert: I still passed that class, but it always left me wondering: what was missing?
Fast forward to 2021, That unsure feeling was still there when I started working. Taking notes during meetings, it was evident that I recalled what was being said, but I never understood what was needed to be done. Observing my mentor who usually leads the client pitches, I started to realize that any internal or feedback sessions were distilled into actionable insights. And in turn, it helped provide more context.
Tambayan404 introduced me to the concept of Zettelkasten note-taking. This was made famous by Niklas Luhmann, a German sociologist who published over 70 books and 400 academic articles. Its origins stem from the concept of a slip box, where each box refers to a piece of paper. Each slip of paper represents a distilled idea that is also connected to other concepts.
In its most basic form, the workflow consists of identifiers used to link each idea together. You have a section for fleeting ideas, another section for literature ideas that stem from a single source, and another section for permanent notes, which connect to other ideas.
- You have a section for fleeting ideas
- Literature ideas, which stem from a single source
- Permanent notes, which result from your understanding of different topics and connects to other ideas.
While adopting this form of note-taking, I got flashbacks of my writing class. I realized that I was just stuck at fleeting ideas and never really took action on asking the why and how of each observation or conversation.
There is a big difference between note-making and note-taking. To reveal strong insights, I needed to be more involved in the process, and not just leave it hanging.
It’s difficult to rely on experiences and conversations alone. One has to sit down and focus on writing down the meaning behind those experiences.
1. Ask “So what?”
It may seem off-putting, but this helps create tension in the idea, and you can internally defend it. This is also similar when you’re presenting work, think of it as a version of you presenting your idea to another clone.
2. Rephrase the original idea
This way, your brain can naturally form connections. Through this, you’re able to understand it in your own context. A similar way of describing this is when you look at your handwriting versus another person’s handwriting, you’re able to understand your own because it’s unique to you, while it takes a while to understand someone else’s handwriting.
3. Relate it to your personal experiences
Try to look for areas where you could relate it to your personal experiences. This way the idea feels genuine and relatable An example of this is what I’m sharing with you right now.
From seeing note-taking as a chore, it felt more enjoyable once I started to break down the information. And because of this, learning became more enjoyable.
