Non-fiction books educate you. Create digitalized notes to remember the knowledge that the author gives you.

Books I Read

In the last 6 months, I have read lots of books if we compare how much I read before that: none.

When I wanted to get into reading books I needed to know what books to read and in what order. While I was searching for that I had to figure out how can I remember the knowledge from the books. I exactly knew what books should I read in what order and how I will master them.

Books I read:

1. The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco
2. Atomic Habits by James Clear
3. Dotcom Secrets by Russell Brunson
4. Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
5. Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson
6. Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
7. Essentialism by Greg McKeown (currently reading)

All the books listed above are non-fictional, meaning they are filled with powerful knowledge. I starved for the information in them, so I noted them out.

Notes

Noting out things with handwriting is really beneficial, especially for me. It helps me remember it by just writing it down, plus I can reread it in minutes whenever I want. You can also have a quick scan for the essential things and get the information you want to find.

Just simple notes on a keyboard can help me too! I usually use Markdown for my notes because you can format it quickly.

I started to take notes from the first book I read, and I have been doing it since. There are two types of noting techniques I used:

• Read a chapter then note down what you remember from it. This will filter out what is really essential (currently).
• Read a chapter then go back to the start of it and kind of reread it and note about every essential information on the page.

I prefer the last one. I am making a note because I want to reuse it in the future. How will I know what will be essential for my future self? I don’t know. That is why I need to note out everything.

Digitalize

I digitalize every note of mine. (There are exceptions where I already write it on my PC.) There were times when I reread the book and digitalized the notes during it, that way I really burn that information into my brain.

Why are digital notes good?

• It won’t get lost, no one can just throw it in the trash. I can also duplicate it and save on other places.
• Easily searchable. I have all my books noted out and on my PC and if I need something out of a book I can just search for it and read about it. There were already countless times when I needed information and found them this way.
• I can easily reformat it. Edit it however I want (for example highlight sections), or effortlessly send it to a friend. Cards can be made out of it anytime!

Highlighting in the Book

Noting, highlighting, drawing in the book isn’t it for me. Writing in a book won’t make me remember it. In my opinion, you are just destroying the book in some way. I would rather keep my books how they are when I get them.

I can write some dumb things in it by mistake. I can regret the drawings. I could use the wrong highlighter pen and my book will sink in ink. There are so many things that could go wrong. What do I even get out of it?

At the end of the day I may give my book to someone else …