You can view part one of the series on computer organization by clicking here.

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Introduction

Over the course of the next two weeks, I’ll be posting a series of three articles on how to get and stay organized for school. I’ll be covering how I use my computer to stay organized, how I take notes in class with paper and pencil, and how I stay productive in my dorm room. I’m not productivity maven—see Merlin Mann of 43folders or any of David Allen’s work, including the GTD system—, but I am organized and I do get a lot of work done. I hope these tips help you as they’ve helped me.

Today is the second post in the series and I’m going to be covering how I take notes in classes in which it is infeasible to do so on the computer—e.g. math and science. I’ll show you examples and attempt to explain my methodology. To be thorough, I’ve used examples from my current and previous semesters. This includes an example of annotating handouts and an example of annotating books.

I had this librarian at my elementary school that I adored and respected. She was a fascinating and very intelligent woman, so I took whatever she said with such weight. She told me that being organized leads to increased productivity. This later proved itself to my young brain when I saw disorganized classmates. The sight of papers haphazardly shoved into a notebook or thrown into a book sack really disgusted me. I might not have the best handwriting—my dad always told me I was to be a doctor because my handwriting was abysmal—, but I take painstaking measures to have organized notes. As I progressed in age, I subscribed to the minimalist aesthetic, so my layout very much adheres to this now.

Medium

Before I begin, let me say one thing about medium. I currently take notes in a spiral-bound, multi-subject notebook. Previously, I had taken notes in binders. I switched this semester to experiment with something different. Plus, they’re a lot smaller and easier to carry around. A couple of weeks ago, I asked the Twittersphere what they used. Most people used notebooks. (You can still vote by clicking here.) I inquired as to what “others” could be and these responded with “legal pads” mostly. I use these as well, which is discussed below. For pens, I recommend the Pilot G-2 .05; for pencils, I recommend the Pentel Quicker-Clicker 0.5.

Math

Calculus II

I took Calculus II last semester. It was a very good and enjoyable class. For anyone at LSU, I highly recommend Professor George Cochran. He is an excellent, articulate teacher who is very enthusiastic about his teaching. This was an Honors College class, so it was small. Plus, he’s the world champion 9-wicket croquetter!

For my note taking, I would begin each day with a subject (underlined) in the header of the paper. I also put the date (in mm/dd notation) in the upper-right-hand corner. Subheadings are written on a line by themselves and underlined. Whenever I number, I do so in outline form with Roman numerals—i.e., I. A., etc. One unique thing about my notes is that I break underlines whenever the letter falls below the baseline—e.g. a P, G or Q. I also tend to use a lot of curly brackets to group inset contiguous blocks.

I have a unique system of minor subheadings. I place these in the margins and underline them. For Calculus II, I developed a specific set of three-letter acronyms I used in the class: Thm is theorem; Pff is proof; Ex is examples. For example, Thm (underlined) would be on the same line as the theorem; on the next line, I would write Pff (again, underlined) and then continue with the proof.

The image of my notes can provide further detail.

Differential Equations and Linear Algebra

I’m currently enrolled in this class. Aside from a change in medium, my strategies in Calculus II apply here as well. I use the same system of headings and subheadings and underlinings. The only difference is in my organization. Things changed a bit because I switched to a notebook and my new, less awesome professor teaches differently. Each day is begun on a new page in the same way I did in Calculus II, usually a section number accompanies the heading. I also put the homework in the same format as my computer notes.

Pages of notes per day vary, but usually is about one page front-and-back. When he goes over homework questions the next day, I usually place this at the end of the page from the previous day. This makes sense because the placement corresponds with the material it covers. I denote the new day by placing the day in the margin in the same notation as above. If there is no room, I simply continue onto the next page and start the new day after that—accompanied by some liberal whitespace.

The picture has more detail.

I do my homework in another subject of my aforementioned multi-subject notebook. I do it in order and label it with the same section as it comes from.

Science

Chemistry

I took this class last semester. It was the best chemistry class I’ve had to date. I highly recommend Professor John Hopkins. Not only is he a great teacher, but he also gives great life lessons. Pay attention to him and you’ll learn a lot. This was also an Honors College class, so it was small, relative to other freshman Chemistry classes. It really surprised me, because there were about 75+ people in the class and each day attendance was about 90-95%. That’s pretty incredible, all things considered.

One of the great things about this class was that he didn’t required a textbook. Instead, he copied the notes, which he typed, and taught directly from those. For obvious reasons, I organized this class into a binder. This is an example of annotating handouts.

Physics

I am currently enrolled in this class. It is also an amazing class. I highly recommend Dr. Phil Adams for the same reasons. He is very clear and thorough in his explanations. Although this isn’t an Honors College class, it is very good.

This class is in another subject of my multi-subject notebook. I use the same methodologies as above. In this class, it’s important to write down things he says as well, so I take extreme measures to filter the information and transcribe what is important. I also pay careful attention to the diagrams he draws for each problem. Again, notice the Roman numerals and curly brackets. We use a couple of tables in our problem solving. Those are well organized as well.

The homework for this class is online, so I do all of that homework on a legal pad that I carry around for handing in class work and other miscellaneous scribbling. I apply the same methodologies as above, but I pay less attention to it since I won’t be revisiting it.

The picture provides more detail.

Annotating Books

I have to annotate all the books I am reading in my Ethics class. This picture is of Plato’s The Republic. Notice the organization and curly brackets. I also use three different colored pens (the G-2s I mentioned earlier): blue for before class reading; red for in-class teacher’s notes; black for after class reading.

Conclusion

This is how I stay organized with my note taking. There is one more post to come, and it’s on how I stay productive in my dorm. Stay tuned for it.

How about you? How do you take notes in class? Do you have any suggestions or do you use similar methods?

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