Name: 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎's review of How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
Item: How to Take Smart Notes
Rating: 4
Author: 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎

Sönke Ahrens

This is the second, revised and expanded edition. The first edition was published under the slightly longer title "How to Take Smart Notes. One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers". The key to good and efficient writing lies in the intelligent organisation of ideas and notes. This book helps students, academics and other knowledge workers to get more done, write intelligent texts and learn for the long run. It teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward. The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psychological insight and draws from a tried and tested note-taking technique: the Zettelkasten. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. It suits students and academics in the social sciences and humanities, nonfiction writers and others who are in the business of reading, thinking and writing. Instead of wasting your time searching for your notes, quotes or references, you can focus on what really counts: thinking, understanding and developing new ideas in writing. Dr. Sönke Ahrens is a writer and researcher in the field of education and social science. He is the author of the award-winning book "Experiment and Exploration: Forms of World Disclosure" (Springer). Since its first publication, How to Take Smart Notes has sold more than 100,000 copies and has been translated into seven languages.

One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking

How to Take Smart Notes

Martina Mancarella

The real enemy of independent thinking is not an external authority, but our own inertia.

𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎

Could’ve been just the afterword and the appendix.

Taís Massaro

Julien Sobczak

What great writers do to never face the blank page.

The book is based on the story of Niklas Luhmann, maybe the most important social theorist of the last century. Over his life, Luhmman collected more than 90,000 notes and attributed his productivity (30+ published books and even more publications!) to his note-taking system.

The Luhmman's system (called Zettelkasten in German or Slip Box in English) is something every nonfiction reader or writer must be familiar with. It's not an archiving tool but a tool to generate ideas and develop profound insights. The system has often been adapted like the Notecard system by Ryan Holiday. Luhmamm himself described his system but like any new life-changing habit, it's never easy to get started.

I found "How to Take Smart Notes" a great addition to the subject. The superpower of note-taking has never been as approachable. This book will provide you with all the background information to understand the what, the why, and the how. It will stay a long time on my list of the books I recommended the most.

But the book is not perfect. I found the title misleading, the content insufficiently organized, and sometimes too repetitive, but always interesting! The book is a great example of the kind of book you can write using this system, turning existing ideas into new insights to create something unique.

If you read non-fiction books, you must read this book. If you take notes, you must read this book. If you write articles, even occasionally, you must read this book. Do not wait for ideas to pop up. Creativity is a process. The book contains many answers to demystify it. Don't let your notes end up in a graveyard for thoughts.

As a side note, I love how the book focuses on principles, not tools. "Tools are only as good as your ability to work with them," says the author. And even if the author mentions a few tools that he uses, you will have no trouble adapting these principles to other tools. As a developer, I agree digital tools can help (at least for durability) but I'm afraid we still haven't found a clear winner. The software Zettelkasten used by the author is free and open source, but contributions are limited. Putting our notes in an application when we know any tool will become obsolete someday is the main obstacle you will face before applying the lessons of this book.

Ugis

Very well written book about making notes using the "slip-box" or better known as Zettelkasten method. Inspiring and full with other useful reminders about human psychology that should be taken into account in creative pursuits. Recommended for all knowledge and information-centric people who read, collect, think and write. [reading time: 6h29m]

Cams Campbell

I got a lot out of this book, but how to take smart notes wasn't one of them. I know what they are and how they work, but there were no examples of how to take them and I'm still not really sure how to start.

𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎 &
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens

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𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎 &How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens

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𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒎 &
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens