At work, I frequently receive a large amount of paper that I choose to reuse. I hole punch each sheet and place it onto a clipboard, creating a refillable legal pad. When I finish a stack of pages for the day, I archive them in a large three-hole binder. This approach enables me to concentrate on the content of my notes and writing, rather than spending time on making them visually appealing or neat.
I've been exploring book summary services as a means to narrow down my reading choices. Once I have decided to read a book, I find it helpful to keep the summary on hand to improve my comprehension and keep track of the book's main ideas.
I was drawn to Draper's charisma at the start of the show, as intended. But as all the infidelities, abuses of power, and general narcissism piled up, I grew to dislike him. By the end of the series I felt a deep ambivalence for the man, but that's a testament to how well written and acted the character was.
(Second place is probably "getting good sleep" which has positive benefits for well, just about any challenge your mind faces)
I implemented a system of 9+ hours of sleep the night before an exam; this means I'll be in bed an hour and a half (maybe 3 hours) before my usual bed time. This provides a noticeable buff to my speed, accuracy, and recall on test day.
I just bought Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Audible. I take book recommendations on HN relatively seriously so I'm looking forward to this read.
I just picked up How to take Smart Notes. In undergrad a lifetime ago, I remember feeling that my note taking skills were woefully inadequate. My notes became more scattered, less comprehensive, and on the whole less reliable to use as semesters went on.
I think there's something important here to learn, so thanks.
edit: This reading is relevant because I'm going back to school, but I'm part way through and can see this will also be useful for all the books I read about stuff I find interesting. The idea of a slip box to capture, refine, and connect information sounds fun.
I've thought about this for awhile, and I think it's reasonable to read some books in their entirety to better understand certain things (although I will agree that some books are just fluff and can be condensed into a blog post).
Take for instance the Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande. We get it, make checklists because they're good for making sure you don't miss stuff. Got it. But in reading the stories and personal anecdotes, we get a felt sense for why and how we should implement a system of checklists to offload cognitive load so that we can focus on things that require more discursive thinking.
I guess what I'm saying is that you can tell someone to do something, but you may have a better shot at getting them to remember (edit: understand deeply) if you tell them a story. Humans may just be like that.
Not saying these authors aren't trying to hit publisher mandated word counts or whatever, but it may not always be that.
Yeah I do agree. I think some books are just obviously padded out, but others have legitimate repetition of the message, which does have value, eg. your example (great book!)
I really like the idea that projects really just consist of "the next step". What do I need to do to advance this project/assignment/thing by one step? Define that and put it away to act on at some point.
I've found that emphasizing the next action for the receiver in emails has been hugely beneficial. And sending summary emails after meetings that simply details the next actions, and who is responsible, is s simple thing but oh so effective.
Same. I had to force myself to continue with the book because I had the same thoughts: goofy, self help.
But I finished it and now implement the system across work and school (back to school in my mid 30s). It was like a level up in terms of how much I can handle at once while simultaneously lowering my levels of stress and increasing the feeling of control.
