You can learn to take better notes, and there are a number of proven note-taking methods you can try out. Find the one that works for you.

The Best Ways To Take Notes

This one involves dashing or indenting parts of your notes. It works best for classes that aren’t science or math. Here’s what you need to know:● The most general information should be aligned along the left side of your paper, with more specific groups of facts indented underneath.● The relationships between the general information and specific facts are made clear with indenting, rather than numbers.Thanks to the left-aligning and indenting, you’ll be able to broadly review the major points before diving into the specifics underneath.

The Outlining Note-Taking  method

This one involves a systematic format for condensing and organizing your notes without having to do much recopying.You’ll need to leave space of about two inches of your paper on the left and leave about six inches to the right for your notes. During your meeting, jot down information in that six-inch area as you hear it. After class, go through what you wrote down and add any additional information you didn’t have time to put in there.Finally, during your post-lecture revision, go back to that two-inch section. Use it to label those groups of notes with a cue or general idea.

The Cornell Note-Taking Method

This note-taking method is more of a graphic representation of the content you’re learning. You’ll write a key theme in the middle of your paper, then draw branches off of it.You’re not putting much detail into this and it will look pretty messy by the time you’re done, but if you’re more of a visual and participatory learner, this is a great option for you.It’s hard to know how much space you’ll need in advance, so don’t be afraid to redo your map more neatly when you’re revising.

The Mapping Note-Taking Method

This is best employed when you’re dealing with multiple topics. Use it to compare two ideas or break idea one down into multiple parts, like pros and cons.Divide your page into two (or more) columns and label each column to match what you’re hearing, whether that involves a comparison or a breakdown.Whenever you hear a relevant fact related to one of your labels, stick it into the appropriate column.

The Charting Note-Taking Method

The SQ3R method is only for when you’re reading or studying on your own and need to take notes● Survey: Taking three to five minutes to skim your reading, writing down major headings, subheadings, topics, and points● Questions: Write down any questions you have about the content after briefly surveying it● Read: Actually read the text, bit by bit, and keep an eye out for the answers to the questions you just wrote down● Recite: After each chunk of text, write down the major ideas, plus any answers to your questions● Review: Reread your notes when you’re done, to retain what you wrote down

The SQ3R Note-Taking method

Think of all the times you’ve looked back on your notes only to find they’re filled with incomprehensible nonsense scribbled in the margins and a bunch of totally disconnected ideas that probably made sense when you wrote them. You can learn to take better notes, however, and there are a number of proven note-taking methods you can try out.

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Reading & Writing

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Strategy

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Learning & Education

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Problem Solving

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Time Management

The Best Ways to Take Notes (Part 2)

In class and in meetings, jotting down what you’re hearing is key—so it’s worth it to figure out the best ways to take notes.
Here are some tips you should keep in mind:
<ul>
<li>Take your notes by hand whenever possible.</li>
<li>Use your own words.</li>
<li>Revise your notes immediately after class or a meeting.</li>
</ul>

The Best Tips For Taking notes

Hand-writing notes forces you to think critically on the fly, deciding in the moment what key concepts you need to jot down, since it takes longer than typing what you’re hearing. nd-writing makes you listen more attentively and prioritize only the most important elements of what the presenter is saying.

Take your notes by hand whenever possible

Verbatim note taking, has generally been seen to indicate relatively shallow cognitive processing. Individuals who think critically and use their own words to describe what they’re hearing tend to do better with the practical application of what they’re learning.

Use your own words.

While the content is fresh in your mind, you should go back through the notes and condense them, pulling out key words and concepts and using supplemental materials like a textbook or presentation slides to add in anything you originally missed.This helps with committing the information to memory.

Revise your notes immediately after class or a meeting

Note-taking can help in class or a meeting—and if you do them right, they'll help you afterward as well.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

The Best Ways to Take Notes so You Actually Remember Information (Part 1)

You walk into a conference room, dinner party, or group of playground parents and make a comment that immediately shifts the ballast of the conversation. Eyes dart at you. Their message is clear: Dude, read the room. But you’ve already said or done something out of sync with what’s appropriate in the moment.It happens. But it’s avoidable.Here’s how to improve:

Reading the room is about listening, or more precisely shutting up and listening. If you’re talking, you’re not gathering.You want to practice, and like with a recipe or golf swing, you can get better if you invest the time. Find a partner who’s willing and will provide honest feedback. The immediate kind especially helps. When it’s positive, you’re more likely to repeat the behavior. When it’s negative, you’re less likely.

1. Get Comfortable With Silence

Look at how people’s shoulders are angled. Then notice where their chests are pointing. You also want to notice people’s expressions as you listen to what they’re talking about, keying in on the paraverbals — the cadence, tone, volume, pace. You put it all together and you’ll be able to tell tell whether someone’s response of “great” to “how’s it going?” is genuine, happy, sarcastic, or something else.“It’s not the words themselves, but how they’re saying them."

2. Tune Into Body Language

If you’ve mastered the basics, try to decipher what people aren’t saying, because people are usually holding something back or couching their terms. It will give you further insight.

3. Listen To What People Are Saying

Pay attention to the acoustics and size. Pay attention to the setting and atmosphere — are things casual, or more formal?You might know everyone there, and they might be people with whom you usually talk sports and use salty language. But this might not be the setting for that, and engaging in your usual dynamic can up people’s insecurities.“Let the room dictate it, not the relationship."

4. Notice Your Environment

When you’re reading a room, you’re not looking to be a perpetual observer. The goal is to observe and then engage. It’s more about slowing down your pace, assessing and eventually responding, not with mirroring but calibration.If the tone is sad, you don’t have to become sad. You just don’t have to tell jokes or talk business.

5. Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

Reading the room is about seeing and hearing what’s both spoken and unspoken. And it’s a skill well worth mastering. 

Understanding how to read the room — that is, learning how to slow down and pick up the social cues around you — is a helpful skill. Here's how to master it.

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Career

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Communication

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Teamwork

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Meditation

5 Tips To Help You Read The Room Like A Pro

When you start to speak you need to grab (and keep) your audience's attention.An empowerment promise is a simple statement that clearly explains what the audience can learn from you and why they should care. Use an empowerment promise to explain to your listeners exactly what you can teach them, how they will benefit, and why it's important.

Rule 1: Offer an empowerment promise

Once you've captured the attention of your audience, you need to keep it as you build a strong argument for your main point.The first way to do that is through cycling. You'll circle back to your main point at least three times during your presentation, using repetition for emphasis. At any given moment, about 20 percent of you will be fogged out no matter what the [topic]. So, if you want to ensure that the probability that everybody gets it is high, you need to say it three times.

Rule 2: Cycle the subject

Next, you'll build a fence around your idea in a way that distinguishes it from other ideas (and helps your audience avoid confusion).For example, you might acknowledge that there are similar products to yours on the market, but yours is unique because of x, y, and z.

Rule 3: Build a fence

No matter how skilled a speaker you are, it's inevitable that some of your audience members' minds will start to wanderGving a brief summary of what you've covered so far, invites the audience to refocus on your presentation. Do this every 5-10 minutes to ensure everybody stays with you.

Rule 4: Use verbal punctuation

Another way to help your audience "get back on the bus" is to ask a question.Avoid asking a question that's so simple someone would be embarrassed to answer it. At the same time, you should also avoid asking a question so difficult that no one will be brave enough to answer it.

Rule 5: Ask a question

You can't expect to capture the attention of your listeners if they're sleepy or sluggish.If possible, choose a time mid-to-late morning when your audience is most likely to be alert and receptive. It's also vital to speak in a well-lit room, as dim lighting leads to drowsiness and mental fog.

Rule 6: Choose the right time and place

The medium(s) you use to present your ideas play a major role in how engaged your listeners become -- and how much information they retain.When teaching or informing, using some type of board is preferable, because the speed you write on a board is approximately the same speed that your listeners can absorb ideas. Watching someone write also activates the brain's "mirror neurons," which increases the chances of your audience remembering your main points.

Rule 7: Use boards, props, and slides

The most effective communicators know that simply conveying information isn't enough. They also need to inspire their audience to take action.People feel most inspired when they witness someone who's passionate about what they're doing. In other words, your enthusiasm (or lack thereof) is contagious to your listeners.Whether you're talking about an innovative idea, a new product, or groundbreaking research, be enthusiastic.

Rule 8: Inform and inspire

You have no more than five minutes to convince the listener that your ideas are worthy of their time and attention.Compelling storytelling not only drives home the main points but also persuades and convinces your audience that you've done something worthy of their consideration.Remember: Facts and figures win minds, but stories win hearts.

Rule 9: Facts and figures help, but persuade with stories

Your introduction and the way you build your argument are important, but your audience is more likely to remember your conclusion than any other part of your speech.For that reason, it is recommended that after you summarize your take, you salute the audience -- that is, you tell the audience how much you value their time and attention and what it says about them.

Rule 10: How to conclude: Salute the audience

Your success in life depends on your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas -- in that order. No matter how amazing your ideas are, no one cares unless you can convey them in a clear, compelling manner -- and with emotional intelligence. To become a highly skilled communicator, whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, or leader, these 10 rules will help you 

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Personal Development

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Leadership & Management

10 Simple Rules That Will Teach You How To Give A Great Speech

To speed up your learning, skip the laptop and take notes the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper. Research has shown that those who type in their lecture notes process and retain the information at a lower level. Those who take notes by hand actually learn more.The act of writing out the information fosters comprehension and retention through muscle memory.

1. Take notes with pen and paper.

The better your notes are, the faster you'll learn. Knowing how to take thorough and accurate notes will help you remember concepts, gain a deeper understanding of the topic and develop meaningful learning skills. So, before you learn a new topic, make sure you learn different strategies for note taking, such as the Cornell Method, which helps you organize class notes into easily digestible summaries.

2. Have effective note-taking skills.

This method involves distributing multiple practices (or study sessions) on a topic over a period of time. Using short, spaced-out study sessions will encourage meaningful learning, as opposed to long "cram sessions," which promote rote learning. The first step is to take thorough notes while the topic is being discussed. Afterward, take a few minutes to look over your notes, making any additions or changes to add detail and ensure accuracy. Do this quickly, once or twice following each class or period of instruction.

3. Distributed practice.

Research shows a strong connection between sleep and learning. It seems that getting some shut-eye and taking short breaks are important elements in bolstering how our brains remember something. Deep sleep (non-rapid-eye-movement sleep) can strengthen our long-term memory if the sleep occurs within 12 hours of learning the new information.And students who both study and get plenty of sleep not only perform better academically; they're also happier.

4. Study, sleep, more study.

If you're learning a skill, don't do the same thing over and over. Making slight changes during repeated and deliberate practice sessions will help you master a skill faster than doing it the same way every timeThis only works if the modifications are small -- making big changes in how the skill is performed won't help. So, for instance, if you're practicing a new golf swing or perfecting your tennis game, try adjusting the size or weight of your club or racket.

5. Modify your practice.

One of the best ways to memorize a large amount of information quickly is to use memory techniques like a mnemonic device: a pattern of letters, sounds or other associations that assist in learning something.Mnemonics help you simplify, summarize and compress information to make it easier to learn a new word or new skill.

6. Try a mnemonic device.

Information overload is a real thing. In order to learn something new, our brains must send signals to our sensory receptors to save the new information, but stress and overload will prevent your brain from effectively processing and storing information.The best way to combat this is by taking a "brain break," or simply shifting your activity to focus on something new. Even a five-minute break can relieve brain fatigue and help you refocus.

7. Use brain breaks to restore focus.

Drinking water can actually make us smarter. According to one study, students who took water with them to an examination room performed better than those who didn't.Dehydration, on the other hand, can seriously affect our mental function. When you fail to drink water, your brain has to work harder than usual.

8. Stay hydrated.

When you use multiple ways to learn something, whether it's language learning or speed reading, you'll use more regions of the brain to store information about that subject. This makes that information more interconnected and embedded in your brain.You can do this through spaced repetition or by using different media to stimulate different parts of the brain, such as reading notes, reading the textbook, watching a video on social media and listening to a podcast or audio file on the topic.The more resources you use, the faster you'll learn.

9. Learn information in multiple ways.

The more you can relate new concepts to ideas that you already understand, the faster the you'll learn the new information. According to the book Make It Stick, many common study habits are counterproductive. They may create an illusion of mastery, but the information quickly fades from our minds.By finding ways to fit new information in with preexisting knowledge, you'll find additional layers of meaning in the new material. This will help you fundamentally understand it better, and you'll be able to recall it more accurately.

10. Connect what you learn with something you know.

Learning new things is a huge part of life -- we should always be striving to grow and learn a new skill. Whether you're learning Spanish or want to do math fast, it takes time to learn each lesson, and time is precious. So how can you make the most of your time by speeding up the learning process? Here are 10 proven ways you can start being a quick learner.

From foreign languages to math skills, we're always trying to learn more information faster. See how to learn fast with these hacks. 

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Health

How to Learn Fast: 10 Ways to Boost Math and Language Skills

College teachers do not have the time — and are not required — to coddle students who are struggling before freaking out when it's the end of the semester and grades are due.When you are struggling with anything, communicate this to the adult in charge. Be proactive and honest, and take responsibility for your part in the problem. Being polite about it is important, too.

1) Communication - Clear & Honest

Many freshmen get a major taste of freedom in college and make poor dietary choices — gaining 15, or more, pounds during their first semester.They don't have their parents preparing and serving them meals anymore. Between the meal card and the access to alcohol, students can quickly spiral. So take charge of your own health. Utilize university fitness center. Seek assistance from the university's mental-health-service center.

2) Take Charge Of Your Health 

Many students rack up debt — and quickly. The taste of college freedom can feel euphoric, and students don't always make the best financial decisions; they're too busy having fun.Learn to budget your funds and keep track of your money. Make sure that you have opportunities to earn your own money - because people treat money differently when they realize how hard it is to earn.

3) Learn How To Manage Money

Many students are not ready for life beyond high school, and it isn't their fault. They need to learn some basics before they walk across the stage and accept their diploma.

The author taught in college for nine years and shares three things all parents should be teaching their kids before they head out to college.

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Money & Investments

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Parenting

Learn these 3 life skills before you're done with high school.

Most people spend so much time trying to understand their low self-esteem, that they don’t have any energy left to build higher self-esteem. If you want better self-esteem, focus on identifying and building consistent habits that will improve your self-esteem. Here are four pretty good ones to start with.

Self-esteem is something you can build with better habits.

The people you consistently spend time with affect your wellbeing and self-esteem too. If you constantly hang around people who don’t particularly like you, that’s gonna rub off and it’s going to be harder to like yourself more. On the other hand, if you spend a lot of time with people who genuinely like you and enjoy spending time with you, it’s going to be much easier to like yourself more.

1. Spend More Time with People You Actually Enjoy

Self-talk is a behavior. It’s something we do. And sometimes, it’s something we do so often that it becomes a habit. If you’re constantly cruel to yourself, you’re going to feel the same as if another person was constantly cruel to you. The best way to undo a habit of overly negative self-talk is to focus on one simple idea: gentleness.Be gentle with yourself and you’ll find it a lot easier to like yourself.

2. Practice Gentle Self-Talk

Having clear values means you have a well-defined vision for the things that matter most to you.The term values includes everything from traditional virtues like honesty and integrity all the way down to more mundane but still important commitments like maintaining your physical health through exercise or spending quality time with good friends.When your values are unclear, they’re not very motivating.

3. Clarify Your Values

People with low self-esteem are usually really good at keeping their promises to other people and really bad at keeping promises to themselves. They’re so concerned with other people’s wants and needs that they end up constantly compromising what they want. And when this compromise becomes a habit, their self-esteem takes a serious hit.True self-esteem comes from balancing the wants and needs of others with the wants and needs of yourself.In order to feel good about yourself, make sure you’re putting fuel in your own tank. And the best ways to do that is to keep your promises to yourself.

4. Keep Your Promises to Yourself

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Psychology

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Habits

4 Simple Habits for Better Self-Esteem

Humans have been trying to master lie detection for thousands of years — and failing miserably. In fact, polygraphs aren’t reliable. With as little as 15 minutes of training, people have been able to consistently beat the test.So is there any way to detect lies based on real science? Actually, yes, and it involves understanding the psychology behind how liars think.

How to tell when someone is lying—and get the truth out of them

You have to get the liar to like you. To open up. To talk a lot. And to make a mistake that reveals their deception. The HIG ( High-Value Detainee InterrogationGroup ) report found that “bad cop” isn’t effective, but “good cop” is. Everybody wants to be treated with respect. And when people are, they’re more likely to talk.

1. Be Nice

Aldert Vrij, a psychology professor and leading expert on lie detection, says body language cues are rarely predictive.HIG’s review of the research found that “gaze aversion has never been shown to be a reliable indicator.” They look people in the eyes more often than truth tellers.

2. Don't Rely On Body Language Too Much

Start off with expected questions. This is non-intimidating and gives you info — but more importantly, it gets you a baseline. Then, throw them a question that’s easy for a truth teller to answer but that a liar would not be ready for.For example, ask an underage-looking person at a bar how old they are and you’ll hear a confident “I’m 21.” But what if you asked them, “What’s your date of birth?” That’s an exceedingly easy question for someone telling the truth, but a liar will likely have to pause to do some math. Gotcha

3. Ask Unanticipated Questions

You did your homework in advance, right? Good. Build rapport. Get them talking. Lead them to say something that contradicts the info you dug up.You want to incrementally reveal evidence. Repeated contradictions may get them to simply confess out of embarrassment. More likely it will make their lying increasingly obvious.

4. Use Strategic Evidence

If you immediately start questioning what they say or accuse them of lying, not only might they shut down, but they also might start altering their story. Why would you want to help them tell a better lie? The goal is to make them want to put it all out there and paint themselves into a corner.

5. Don't Challenge Them Too Early 

Psychology expert and bestselling author Eric Barker explains how to tell when someone is lying — and get the truth out of them.

Do These 5 Things To Get The Truth Out Of Liars

Understanding which foods contribute to chronic inflammation of the gut and brain is a powerful step in managing your mood and energy levels. Always try to avoid these five types of foods that can make you tired and stressed:

Foods that can cause anxiety and fatigue

Consuming unhealthy processed foods like baked goods and soda, which are loaded with refined and added sugars floods the brain with too much glucose. This “sugar flood” can lead to inflammation in the brain and may ultimately result in depression and fatigue.Instead, reach for nutrient-dense whole foods like fresh or vegetables and clean proteins like organic grass-fed beef .

1. Processed Foods

The industrialization of the food industry has led to the development of inexpensive, highly processed oils created from the byproduct of abundant crops like soybean sunflower and palm oils.Through processing, these oils become incredibly high in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids and devoid of anti-inflammatory omega-3, which promotes brain health. Studies have shown that people who consume foods high in omega-6 fatty acids are at higher risk of depression compared to those who consume foods high in omega-3s.Opt for other alternatives like extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil when cooking.

2. Industrial seed oils

Apart from pastry desserts, sugar can also be found in surprising foods like ketchup, salad dressings and savory items like french fries.Added and refined sugars exacerbate inflammation and overwhelm the body with more sugar than it needs, which can create increased anxiety and unstable mood levels.

3. Added and refined sugars

A 2016 study looked at 715 factory workers and measured their levels of depression, resilience and fried food consumption. It was found that people who consumed more fried foods were more likely to develop depression in their lifetime.Fried foods are likely mood killers because they’re usually fried in unhealthy fats.

4. Fried foods

Sugar replacements are increasingly common in foods that claim to be “healthy” by helping you cut down on calories.Science implicates many artificial sweeteners can contribute to depression. One study showed that people who consume artificial sweeteners, mostly via diet drinks, are more depressed than those who don’t consume them.To cut down on artificial sweeteners, put natural sweeteners like honey or agave nectar in your beverages.

5. Artificial sweeteners

Probiotics: yogurt with active cultures, tempeh, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, and certain cheeses
Prebiotics: beans, oats, bananas, berries, garlic, onions, asparagus, artichokes and leeks
Low-GI carbohydrates: brown rice, steel-cut oatmeal and chia seeds
Medium-GI foods, in moderation: honey, orange juice and whole-grain bread
Healthy fats: monounsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, nut butters and avocados
Omega-3 fatty acids: fish, tuna, herring and sardines.
Vitamins: B9, B12, B1, B6, A and C
Spices: saffron and turmeric
Herbs: oregano, lavender, passionflower and chamomile

Foods that fight fatigue

The gut and the brain are in constant two-way communication, and the health of one directly influences the health of the other. We rarely think about the impact food that we eat, on our brains, mood and energy levels. When inflammation is present in the gut, less energy is available to the brain and body.

If you're constantly feeling tired and stressed, evaluating your diet might be a good place to start. Harvard nutritionist and brain expert Dr. Uma Naidoo shares the types of foods she avoids at the grocery store to maintain healthy energy levels and a happy brain — and what to eat instead.

food

Food

A Harvard nutritionist and brain expert avoids these 5 types of foods that can make you 'tired and stressed'

The five-hour rule was coined by Michael Simmons, founder of Empact, who has written about it widely. The concept is wonderfully simple: No matter how busy successful people are, they always spend at least an hour a day — or five hours a work week — learning or practicing. And they do this across their entire career.The five-hour can be embraced by breaking the rule into three parts :

What Is Five-hour Rule ?

Reading can give you a good head start; this is often what your peers cannot obtain. Compared to others, readers are more likely to know other industries' strategies and tactics. Even if you can't commit to an hour or more of reading every day, start with 20 to 30 minutes. You could also try audiobooks during your daily commute or when exercising.

1) Read

The five-hour rule also includes reflecting and thinking. This could be just staring at the wall or jotting down your thoughts. Focusing on the past gives you a chance to learn from mistakes you've made, as well as assess what you did correctly. As a result, you'll be better suited to achieve your goals and improve your life.

2) Reflect

The third and final part is rapid experimentation. We have Gmail because Google allowed employees to experiment with new ideas.The reason experiments are so useful is because you have facts, not assumptions. Experiments show you what's working.By investing in a reading habit, you can ensure you're growing yourself — and your company — every day.

3) Experiment 

A five-year study of more than 200 self-made millionaires found that they don't watch TV. Instead, an impressive 86 percent claimed they read — but not just for fun. What's more, 63 percent indicated they listened to audiobooks during their morning commute. So how do they find the time to read daily? They adhere to the five-hour rule.

The most successful people on the planet are also the people most likely to devote an hour a day to reading and learning.

The Best Ways to Take Notes (Part 2)

The Best Ways to Take Notes so You Actually Remember Information (Part 1)

5 Tips To Help You Read The Room Like A Pro

10 Simple Rules That Will Teach You How To Give A Great Speech

How to Learn Fast: 10 Ways to Boost Math and Language Skills

Umar Farooq Mir