The troublesome aspects of using notebooks for notes are:
- Disorganized structure. Some content is realized and added later, but it has been a long time since the last note related to the content. There are many other notes between the new and old notes, resulting in a large gap between them.
- Unclear content. It is unclear how many subjects a notebook is suitable for recording, and whether related knowledge of the same category should be recorded together.
Specific Usage Method#
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Take a new notebook and label the page numbers in the footer.
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Pages 1 to 4 are designated as index pages; pages 5 to 8 are for planning (use as needed, this section can also be omitted).
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Knowledge notes are recorded starting from page 9.
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There is no need to leave blank pages specifically for "knowledge learned in the future" in order to maintain the coherence of certain knowledge. Simply record the knowledge learned each day in page number order.
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For scattered and related knowledge, simply mark their page numbers together on the index pages to connect the structured knowledge learned. Relevant knowledge can be easily found through the index pages.
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If you understand the recording method I mentioned that doesn't require a specific order, then you can record anything on the notebook, such as a check-in plan, excerpts, shopping lists, etc., just mark them on the index pages.
You may ask, "What is the benefit of recording knowledge in a scattered and disorganized manner?" That's a good question.
Rest assured, knowledge becomes unstructured and disconnected due to casual recording, but the index pages will give them structure and even more structure than notes that are only ordered but lack an index (table of contents).
If you have habits like check-ins, please make good use of a calendar, because "your calendar can measure success better than your bank account."
Example of Index Pages#
- 1 to 4: Index pages
- 5 to 8: Planning
- 9 to 20: All records for January 2023...
- 21 to 35: All records for February 2023...
- {{< mark text="30" >}}: 21-day fitness check-in plan
- 36 to 50: All records for March 2023...
Summary and Gains#
It is recommended to do a summary every week, which can be done using a new notebook, and a summary must also be done every month. Please think about it, if valuable experiences are not actively summarized into lessons and gradually disappear from life, compared to accumulating experience diligently each time, which one will bring us closer to realizing our dreams first?
Making plans is a gradual process, and it is difficult to complete all planned tasks at the beginning. Don't burden yourself. The reason for making plans is to verify your true efficiency. For example, you may find that you usually plan to do 7 things each day, but you can only accomplish 4 (in reality). Then you can draw an objective conclusion: try harder, and you can do a maximum of 5 planned tasks each day.
With a deeper analysis, you can determine how long it takes to complete a certain plan, which is beneficial for setting plans on a larger scale (such as a year) and reducing errors.
In addition to summarizing your true efficiency, you should also summarize the reasons for distractions. Socrates said "know thyself" more than two thousand years ago. Self-awareness is the foundation of all self-development. We need to know our weaknesses and shortcomings. From a logical perspective, only when a person knows and understands themselves can they make changes. Thus, achieving self-realization and surpassing oneself.
My summaries and plans are not in the same notebook.