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Mental Wizard Update #4

• How Does Your Note-taking System Rank in Effectiveness?
  Research shows that the traditional notetaking methods are least effective. A study from Exeter University on different kinds of notetaking gave the following rankings:
  From worst:
  
  1. No notes at all
     
  2. Complete transcript notes given by the lecturer or teacher
     
  3. Complete transcript notes made by the person learning
     
  4. Summary sentence notes given by lecturer or teacher
     
  5. Summary sentence notes made by the learner
     
  6. Keyword notes given by the lecturer or teacher
     
  7. Keyword notes made by the learner
     
  
  
• This study showed that the fewer keywords the better, the keywords giving the most relevant sense in the fewest words.
  
  
• This result seems odd until we realize that our minds do not work with sentences, but rather with keywords and images. Less than 5% of the words we hear, speak, or read are these necessary keywords.
  

  Prove It For Yourself!

  You can prove this to yourself by trying to recall all of the sentences of more than nine words you have retained. [Leave out songs and poetry, or sentences you have purposely learned by repetition.] Not very many are there, especially when you have been exposed to millions of sentences?
  

  Less Is Better For Notes

  
  So the first step in taking effective notes is to eliminate at least ninety-five percent of what you have been traditionally been writing down, and to write only the "keywords". Not only will this speed up your notetaking, but will actually improve your recall as you will not have to sift through mountains of unnecessary words.
  
  This is the basis of making your "Mind Map".
  
  
• The next step is a free insight into how your brain operates. When you are asked to recall all of the information you have about a subject, does this info line up in neat orderly lines of sentences waiting to get out? Not likely! You have in your mind "chunks" (or pictures) of the important objects or keywords, and you create sentences around these to express your thoughts
  
  
• This means that a different process is necessary to decrease the time you spend taking notes and studying, and to also improve your performance and retention. You can also use the same process for planning and brainstorming, or taking in ANY new information.
  
  
• To make the best use of your brain:
  • The first step is to transfer information into easy to understand note form that holds only the relevant points.
  • The second step is to convert this info from your short-term memory to your long term memory.
  Of course you will need to be able to do this in a way which is simple, fast, effective and hopefully fun!
  It does work - so pay attention. Life is about to get easier.
  
  
• As you listen to a lecture or begin a brainstorming session or start some planning, write down in the middle of a clean large piece of paper the subject heading, and then put down the subject headings, key phrases, important words/facts/figures. In a lecture this allows you listen for understanding, and eliminates the time wasteful task of writing down every single word. You are able to focus on what is important.
  
  

  Reinforcement Is Your Key To Success

  
  
• The mind map you create in a lecture is a first draft only, and as soon as you can after the lecture take time to redraw your mind map. This time take more care in creating it.
  
  
• There are four ways to improve your recall even further from your map. These are by using colour, 3-dimensional images and pictures, size variation, outlining and underlining. You can use arrows colours and special codes to make connections between your keywords, which immediately illustrate where relationships lie. This is far more effective than just lists of words, and your recall and understanding will jump.
  
  

  Commit Your Mindmap to Memory

• Now that you have created your nice mind map, the next step is to commit it to your long term memory.
  
  
• This involves regular revision because without it recall drops dramatically. After 24 hours you will have lost over 80% of the detail. This is because you are constantly being exposed to new stimuli which replace everything else in your short term memory.
  
  
• The simple way to fix your lecture into memory is within 18 hours of the lecture try to recall from memory your nice mind map. This should take less than 5 minutes, and most of it should come to you very easily. Check this new mind map against your nice mind map for accuracy. Correct any errors and fill in any details which had slipped away from you.
  
  
• Your lecture is now more firmly fixed, but will still slip away, but not as quickly as before. You must reinforce it again after a week by again recalling the mind map from memory, then correcting and filling in any detail which has slipped. Remember to make it nice, with colours, drawings, arrows, underlining, outlining, anagrams, etc.
  
  
• You will need to again reinforce it after one month and after 6 months. After 5 reviews you will not easily forget it - even if you wanted to! If you do not regularly reinforce the learned material, you will have to RELEARN it again from scratch. This will mean about six times the amount of time and effort as just reinforcing it.
  

  Lets go over that again

• You make your draft mind map in the lecture, and recreate it as soon as possible after with as much life, colour and interest that you can. Recall it from memory between 18 to 24 hours later, correcting and filling in any lost detail. Repeat this after a week, a month and after 6 months.
  
  
• To plan or organize a project at work or home use the same basic format. Put the project name in the middle of some paper and as ideas arise put them down, letting them flow in any direction. Stick to keywords but allow areas and directions to develop without restriction. You can include as much detail as you need. When you have finished simply place your objects or activities into an orderly, prioritized list for completion. [See Special Report on Your Personal Time Management]
  
  
• In conclusion, remember that mind maps are simple and fun, and with regular revision produce far greater recall with about one sixth the time and effort of conventional notetaking processes. As we say "Worker smarter, be happier and play more golf".
  

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