How To Take Smart Notes (3 methods no one's talking about) | Highlights and Annotations by Gistr.

This video explains the "illusion of competence"—the feeling of learning without genuine understanding. The solution is "smart notes," a three-pronged approach: actively restructuring information using the Q/E/C (Question, Evidence, Conclusion) method; creating atomic, independent notes; and connecting new ideas to existing knowledge using the Zettelkasten method's compass (origin, similarities, opposites, future links). This process combats the illusion by fostering deeper comprehension and retention. one, here's a great one to get started: it's called Q/E/C. Q/e/C. it stands for question, evidence and conclusion. this is what I used in law school even if you are not studying for law, this still works because professor Cal Newport from Georgetown University, who's written lots of books on a deep work on time blocking on digital productivity, he uses this method, and actually he was the one that named this the Q/E/C note-taking method. you look for only 3 things when you're reading: the questions, the evidence and the conclusion. this way it doesn't matter what you're reading, which order the author puts his ideas in. you can always find these three things and link them together. professor Newport even has a system for identifying them while you read. for any conclusions, ideas, you put a dot next to it. for the evidence and examples, you put a dash across it. and when you review your notes, you think about which question are these ideas trying to answer and which evidence links to these ideas. let me give you a quick example with the book atomic habits. James clear, like his name, he's a very clear writer. so, many of his headings are actually already questions. then you go down the page and you look for new ideas and put a dot next to them. he gives great examples and anecdotes, so you put a dash across them. once you've finished reading a section, then you can put all these notes together. start with question, give the evidence and write the conclusion down. this is how it can look like. now, most people stop here, right? I've got the question. I've got the evidence I've got the conclusion.