Not everyone is a great note-taker immediately, but that’s okay. Because, even if you aren’t that great right now at taking notes, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the potential to improve. Everyone can get better at taking notes while reading, it just takes practice and implementing a few simple steps that might help you in the process. Some people are great at taking notes and they can share their wisdom and experience to help you so that you don’t have to struggle and suffer trying to figure out what you’ve read, or disappointed with yourself because you took notes with information that wasn’t what you needed. Improve your note-taking game with these helpful steps and you’re surely to see a difference the next time that you need to take some notes. 

1. Leave A Large Margin

It’s good to leave a large side margin beside where you are writing your notes, this way when you are finished writing something you can always go back and add more to the topic. If you don’t have space on the side then it will be difficult to do that. Use a ruler if you need because that can help you to keep it looking neat and you’ll be able to study better because it’s clearer. 

Leaving large margins for taking notes while reading
Large margins allow you to easily go back to add information as necessary.

2. Try to Print Clearly

Typing your notes when you are reading can sometimes be better if you are able to type very fast because you will be able to read it later, and it will be more clear. If you can’t type that fast though it might not be the best option, it could slow you down while you are trying to learn. When taking notes while reading, remember to leave space, use acronyms if need, and take your time with thinking about what you want to say when you write your notes. 

2020 Goals written as a date on notes
Keep your writing clear! It’s more important to have information you can understand than more information you can’t!

3. Write The Date

You don’t want to forget when you took the notes, this can help you to find out which part of the book they might be related to etc or what exam they might be valuable for to study with. 

Handwritten calendar with goals
Noting the date will be more useful than you may think.

4. Use Different Colors

This can help you to better organize your notes so that you can come up with different categories, highlight things that might be more important, give your notes certain sections with titles etc. By not doing this, if you use only one color for everything then it can easily get quite boring. Keep it fun but still organized with some extra color but not too bright because that might be straining for your eyes. 

Creative colors and drawings on a page of notes
Get creative with your style of note taking – it will help keep you engaged with the content while helping you memorize.

5. Rewrite Your Notes Taken While Reading

You might not be happy with the first draft of notes and they might be too confusing to comprehend, if you want to get a better understanding of the notes and be able to clear things up then rewriting them is a great option. Sometimes this can be time-wasting, especially if there are many pages of notes. However, it can help you to remember the information better when you rewrite it and if you cannot understand what you wrote the first time then they are going to be useless to you. Make sure that you know the material and that you’ve written something useful, take a look again and maybe rewrite if need. 

Man Studying is Taking Notes While Reading

Now that you’re well on your way to making notes more effectively. Take some time to practice your reading comprehension to make the most of your time studying and power-up your ability to learn.