You may think note-taking is just for college students, but taking notes preserves the essence and context of what you’re taking in. If it’s a book, you could organize your thoughts with a commonplace book, which is a book containing excerpts from other books. Although it requires a bit more effort, it could also help you connect and organize your ideas in ways you couldn’t with a computer. You could also organize your book’s contents and your notes with an idea index.
When in doubt, err on the side of collecting more information than you think you will need. When a point borders on important or unimportant, take notes anyway (here’s how to do that well). It’s easier to discard what you have than to try to conjure a point from memory. Try learning shorthand if your writing can’t keep up with someone’s speech. If you’d like to perfect your note-taking techniques, read more here.
Read the rest of the Lifehacker article here: How to Better Retain Information from Books, Articles, and More