Thursday, January 15, 2009

Taking notes

It's an oldy, but a goody:  Make notes.

This year I have resolved that very soon after I attend any martial arts class run by someone other than myself, I will make notes.  In the past I have made notes, true, but only occasionally.  This year I will do it every time.

After class, usually when I get home, I jot down the main points.  Some nice aspects of this process are:
  1. My attention is not split during class (unlike e.g. making notes during a lecture)
  2. It sharpens my memory
  3. It only takes a few minutes
  4. It helps turn reflection into a habit
  5. It is transferable to day-to-day life
Interestingly, every class so far has prompted me to make at least one small page of notes.  And seminars and advanced classes have me filling pages.

Naturally, reviewing the notes later also turns out to be really useful.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

excellent habit to be in. I learned this from a couple of books that read and it makes a tremendous difference to the understanding that i acquire after being party to the information. Good to see someone else gets up ridiculously early too.

Littlefair said...

Very much like your blog Dan; in terms of range of subject matter, interest and writing. Well done!

I particularly LOVE the 'contents style' page which I'd like to pinch if I may and recreate on my blog?

Michele said...

Note taking is an excellent idea. When I started training, a notebook was required equipment. I have gotten out of the habit of taking notes. Thanks for the reminder.

Dan Prager said...

Jason: Thanks for stopping by .. I wish I wasn't up this early.

Littlefair: Thanks for the kind words. You are very welcome to do a 'contents style' page. I think it would work well with your blog too as a way of guiding your readers. Let me know if you need any pointers on how to do it. I plan to write a how to" article on my other blog, maybe quite soon.

Michele: Happy to remind!