4 Mistakes Note Takers Make  ## Metadata - Author: [[Curtis McHale]] - Full Title: 4 Mistakes Note Takers Make - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: - #notetaking - #pkm - #productivity Author: Curtis McHale Source: YouTube (Curtis McHale’s channel) Reference: [4 Mistakes Note Takers Make](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI) date created: 2025-08-27 17:30 --- # Title: 4 Mistakes Note Takers Make ## Table of Contents: - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📖 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) --- ## 📝 Summary Curtis McHale identifies **four common mistakes** note takers make: 1. Blaming software instead of fixing their process. 2. Believing notes should eliminate the need to reread resources. 3. Failing to review notes regularly. 4. Overemphasizing input (quantity of notes, graph view) instead of focusing on meaningful output (writing, videos, research papers). His solution: build a **consistent process**, reread resources for deeper connections, review notes frequently, and measure success by outputs. --- ## 📖 Main Content The talk explains that effective note-taking is **process-driven, not tool-dependent**. Many users swap between apps (Obsidian, Tana, Notion, etc.) when the real problem is poor workflows. Good notes are not final answers; they’re **jumping-off points** for focused reading and projects. Reviewing notes is vital for generating new connections, while tools like the **Smart Random Notes plugin** can support creativity. Finally, output—not input—is the true measure of note-taking success. Graph views and note counts mean little compared to consistent publishing or project results. --- ### 🗒️ Notes - [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=0): Beginners and experts alike make recurring mistakes. - [0:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=40): Mistake 1 → blaming software instead of refining process. - [1:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=90): Switching tools ≠ solving problems; discipline matters more. - [2:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=132): Mistake 2 → assuming great notes replace rereading. Books require multiple passes for depth. - [3:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=237): Mistake 3 → poor review habits. Access ≠ usefulness. Schedule reviews weekly/daily depending on role. - [5:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=311): Smart Random Notes plugin fosters serendipitous connections across tags, sources, and books. - [7:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=476): Mistake 4 → focusing on inputs (graph views, note counts) rather than outputs. - [9:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&t=547): True metric = meaningful **outputs**: research papers, blog posts, YouTube videos. --- ## 📖 References - McHale, Curtis. *4 Mistakes Note Takers Make* (YouTube, 2023). - Newport, Cal. *Deep Work*. - Obsidian & Tana note-taking ecosystems. --- ## 🗣️ Paraphrase 1. **Original**: “People jump software because they have a bad process.” **Paraphrase**: The real challenge isn’t the app—it’s the lack of discipline and structure in the user’s system. 2. **Original**: “The output of your notes is the only metric that matters.” **Paraphrase**: A note-taking system should be judged by what it produces—research, writing, or learning—not by how many notes it contains. --- ## 📰 Newsletter 📝 **Are You Making These 4 Note-Taking Mistakes?** Curtis McHale dropped a fresh video breaking down the *four pitfalls of note-taking* that trip up everyone—from students to PhDs. Spoiler: your problem isn’t Obsidian vs. Notion, it’s your process. Takeaways: - Stop **blaming software**. The system matters more than the tool. - Good books deserve **multiple reads**; notes don’t replace original sources. - Build a **review habit** to turn notes into insights. - Judge your system by **outputs, not inputs**—blog posts, videos, research, code. 📌 Watch the full breakdown: [4 Mistakes Note Takers Make](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI) --- ## ✅ Action Items - Incorporate **note review practices** into contributor handbooks for WordPress training. - Frame contribution documentation as **output-focused**, not input-heavy. - Advocate for **process-over-tool thinking** in OSS contributor onboarding. - Build workshops teaching students and new contributors how to **connect notes into outputs** (docs, code, tutorials). - Apply PKM principles to OSPO dashboards: focus on outputs (adoption, contributions) instead of vanity metrics. --- ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Regular review of notes improves long-term retention and contributor engagement. - Output-focused systems correlate with higher contribution quality. - Tool-switching decreases consistency and productivity in OSS projects. ### 📊 Methodology - Run contributor surveys on tool-switching vs. process design. - Compare outputs (PRs, tutorials, blog posts) pre- and post-adoption of structured note review. - Study longitudinal contributor engagement with vs. without review habits. ### ❓ Questions - How can OSS projects measure **outputs of learning** instead of inputs? - What frameworks scale note review across contributor teams? - Should contributor handbooks include **PKM best practices**? ### 🔮 Future Research - Compare PKM practices across OSS ecosystems (WordPress, Drupal, OpenJS). - Study effects of note review on **maintainer burnout**. - Research automation tools (plugins, bots) to nudge review habits. ### 💡 Implications - Could reshape OSS education to focus on **outputs as metrics**. - Provides a case for **funding PKM and mentorship programs**. - Strengthens contributor retention strategies in OSPO models. --- ## 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment - Visual: Graph view present but misleading → needs infographics on workflow. - Aural: Video format supports auditory learners. Could add podcast/audio-only. - Verbal: Rich explanations, stories → ✔ effective. - Kinesthetic: Minimal. Could add guided exercises (set review schedule). - Logical: Strong structure (4 clear mistakes). ✔ - Social: Limited. Suggest discussion prompts for community groups. - Solitary: Encourages self-reflection → ✔ present. - Naturalistic: Not present; no analogies to ecosystems or environments. --- ## 📊 Accessibility Assessment - Video captions available. - Visual graph lacks alt-text description → improvement needed. - Pace may be fast for some; transcripts help accessibility. - Could add chapter markers for easier navigation. --- ## 🌍 DEIB Assessment - Inclusive tone, accessible language. - No representation of diverse case studies—could add global examples. - Neurodiversity not directly addressed → recommend chunking, summaries. - No exclusionary language detected. --- ## ✅ Logical Validity - **Strong deductive reasoning**: If process > tool, then switching tools won’t solve note-taking issues. - **Sound inductive reasoning**: Personal experiences (students → PhDs) illustrate patterns across demographics. - **Fallacy spotted**: Slight **hasty generalization** (all graph views are useless). Improvement: acknowledge niche valid uses. - Tone: Practical, direct, conversational. --- ## 🔍 DARVO Analysis - No DARVO present. - Tone focused on guidance and critique of bad habits, not deflecting blame. - No reversal of victim/offender roles. --- ## 🔍 SEO Evaluation - Keywords: “note taking mistakes,” “PKM,” “productivity” → ✔ included. - Title strong and concise. - Meta description missing → add keyword-rich summary. - Headers clear (H1 for title, H2 for mist - Summary: Note takers, especially beginners, often make four common mistakes. The first mistake is thinking that the problem lies with the note-taking software rather than their own system. This leads to constantly switching between different software without addressing the underlying issues. The second mistake is only taking notes once and expecting them to be sufficient for future reference. However, revisiting notes is important for deepening understanding and making connections. The third mistake is neglecting to review notes regularly, which hinders the ability to make connections and derive insights. The final mistake is focusing too much on input (collecting notes) rather than output (using the notes to create content or achieve specific goals). By addressing these mistakes, note takers can improve their effectiveness and get more value from their note-taking system. - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtVHyAagYI&ab_channel=CurtisMcHale welcome today we're going to take a lookat the four mistakes that beginner notetakers make and I say beginners but it'sactually everyone I think it starts withbeginners and then as uh note takerskind of go on as you keep doing yourresearch you keep doing your notesit continues because you never recognizethose so I've seen this and everythingfrom students to like researchscientists that have multiple phds I'veseen the exact same mistakes in them solet's dig into them after we talk abouthow you can support the channel become amember criticail.ca membership uh members get all my courses or you canjust take a Course Curtis mchale.caeducation buckle up let's dive into thefour mistakes that no takers makemistake number one is that people new tonote taking uh figure that they'reanytime they encounter a problem thatthe problem is with the software theyhave it's not with their system I thinkclearly I'm using obsidian or it doesn'twork for me so I need to try Tanaclearly Tana doesn't work for me to trywhatever the latest hot one is that yousee a whole bunch of people talkingabout and they continue to jump between softwares when realistically a goodprocess a good system for taking noteswill live between multiple pieces ofsoftware it can work I use essentiallythe same system and obsidian that I usedin craft it's very very similar there'snot there are some differences for surebecause the tools work different butultimately I use Tag notes which I'vetalked about I use tags to denote statusright to read to summarize I have avideo on that so I'll link that up aboveultimately there is no perfect pcamsettle casting system there never will be once you get past a very low minimumfeature bar one Note software is aboutas good as the next there's not a hugedifference in many of them theimprovements are minimal at the veryleastin almost every case people jumpsoftware because they have a bad processand aren't disciplined enough to fixtheir process they aren't going to youknow do the next things we're going totalk about so they figure that softwarewill be a magic fix for them thishappens also in task management my taskmanager isn't working so they you knowpick whatever other one to do is theyswitch from todoist to tick tick to OmniFocus to whatever and almost alwaysthe problem is you that your process isbad has nothing to do with the softwareanother big issue with Note takers isthat they only take notes once there's afallacy around note taking that if youtake excellent notes you'll never haveto read a resource again this isentirely a lie I've read deep work byCal Newport at least three times I thinkactually Four now that I really thinkabout it and each time I've got a bitmore out of it I've found ways that itrelates to other resources I've readsince the last time I read it good booksalways have more in them than you were able to glean the first timethe other time you're gonna need to reada research resource a second time or athird time is if you have a specificproject you have specific questions inmind if you have a writing projectaround a particular subject you'll lookat your notes and find things that youalready read that relate right when yougo back you'll say hey I've read thisbefore I read this between and you'llfind in your notes that you have thingsthat relate to your research project yesyour notes are jumping off point but nowthat you have a specific question inmind you'll have a more focused readingof a resource to do because you havethese questions you need to answer them this is where you don't help you save somuch time if I was to look up basicincome in my notes I'd have a number ofwhole books that talked about it I havea number of times it was referenced insingle sections of books I'd have lotsof places that had just a paragraph or ashort chapter on it and I can use mynotes to go back and check the sourcematerial and make sure that I'munderstanding the views of the author inlight of my focused projects to answerthe questions I have right now with thewriting project I'm going to do in thiscase what I use my whole pcam systemwhen I really think it is the largeindex of all the resources we've lookedatit will help you narrow down your search faster and prevent you from Readingentire books looking for a singlemention of a topic that you just can'tquite Place anymore it's like a hugeindex of all of your research materialyou're gonna have to go back and readresources a second time sometimes thethird time to make sure you understanditum really good books be to get more outof it and also to just with when youhave specific questions in mind you willhave specific questions you need toanswer by the text you will read it inlight of that new question another bigissue that or a big mistake that notetakers make is they don't review their notes lots of people talk big about itbut most people I coach from studentstwo research scientists two programmershave a poor Note review practice weeasily think that we can merely accessinformation that it's useful to usmerely being able to access informationdoesn't make it all useful to us at allit's like it's great it's there it'sjust because you get access it doesn'tmean it has any use to you it's havingdeeper thoughts and connections thatmakes information useful it's spendingtime thinking about the notes we haveand finding the gaps in them that makesthe whole note-taking process useful tousyou should have a regular practice ofreviewing your notes to make connections after two years I've spent a bunch oftime reorganizing my notes really justthis weekend A lot of it to better fithow I'm using it now this is meant overthe course of about a week I've touchedalmost every single one of my 4 300notes I still have some research or somesorting to do of my writing notes Butultimately I have pretty much everythingI've touched again and read throughevery note againto that end you really need to set asidesay at least an hour a week to reviewyour notesum if you're a student in your primaryfocus is to learn set aside more time you should be setting an hour a day toreview your notes from the class thisweek I talked about that in my videolast week about a student vault whichyou'll see up above linked uh freestudent Vault if you missed that thathelps you it you know shows you how Iwould set it up for students how I'vehelped students set up their vaults forschoolif you are a researcher say a scientistif you are supposed to learn and havenew thoughts then by all means youshould be reviewing your notes regularlybecause that's your core job function tohave new thoughts and make newconnections and then produce researchpapers we'll talk about production in a secondone great way to do this is the Smartrandom notes plugin with this plugin Ican set up searches and then useworkspace to say them once you've donethis look for a random note and thenmake connections so let's even look atmy quick setup I will do a whole videoon this coming upso you can see here I've alreadyinstituted smart random notesright there and I have this is lookingin my path of notes or path of tagsor path of books or pathof the sources so that corresponds to my folders right so that goes into I'llclose theseso it goes into my path of what was itbooks right so that's actually undersources books so anything in sourcesanything and notesright which is my notes my thoughts onthe subject anything in tags this is tagnotes right so it'll be applicationssometimes it will be ableism right willbe one stuff like that I'm actuallygonna do a full video once I've donereorganizing My Vault on how it's set up and how you can use it and so when I'vedone that what I can actually do is I'llgo back to search and then I can hit therandom dice right here and in my mainwindow it's going to bring up somethingit's going to bring up say cancelculture and I can look at that and sayokay what other things linked mentionsunlinked mentions while meeting parentssit on kids smoothing all problems and Ican say oh let's link thisand let's link right we have more inhere when do we stop supporting someonelet's link that this is from otherwriting I've done and so then I can come through here andI can say okay cancel culture I don'tmaybe I don't have anything to say rightnow and I'm not going to do it right nowI'll do a live session where I work onmaking connections and that's how I'llshow you how I use this I can hit itagain this is joinery right so this is aFurniture thing not going to do thatright nowtodoist specifically look at how somepeople have done a Time blocking courseresearch right so reclaim your scheduletime blocking so I would look at thisright I continue to go through this sayfor an hour or two until I have foundmore connections so this is another one publication noise in the city title ofscientists think peace and quiet shouldbe a human right so I'd read throughthis and I'd look for more connections Ican make in here and I do that say anhour a weekto make sure that I am making moreconnections and I am again doing what Ithink is the most important thing whichis our last mistake that beginner notetakers make the final and biggest issuethat beginner note takers uh make orthey have with their system is that theydo not focus on output I don't know howmany times I can like drive this home to people they do not focus on output theyfocus on the input side of note takingeveryone's like how do I get my notes inthe best how do I take the best notes onbooks they talk about how many notesthey add to their system in a week theylook at their huge pretty graph Viewultimately I find the graph view almostentirely useless unless it's just therefor pretty there's very few things I useit for I occasionally use it to findnodes that have nothing else attached tothem because you know at one point itwas racism I found that I hadn't reallyread one resource on racism and nothingelse I'm a white dude I probably shouldread more about racism um but they look at it and say oh I mustbe doing good because I have lots ofstuff in my graph view entirely uselessmetric how many notes you added thisweek entirely useless the number ofnotes you have in your graph here areentirely useless as a way to judge ifyour note-taking system is working infact there's Simply Self flagellatinglike they're just congratulatingyourself on doing nothing you're puttingyourself through pain for nothing usefulwhen you start your note process youshould have some idea of what type ofoutput should come from your notes forme it's YouTube videos and writing on mysites for members in that case I shouldonly be judging my note system by the output how many did I get a YouTubevideo every week did I write my membersstuff on uh Saturdays did I get pcamweekly out there if you want to getWeekly News on uh personal KnowledgeManagement Curtis mikhail.ca slash uhPKM Dash weeklythose are the only metrics that matterin my note system am I continuing toproduce good thoughts am I producinggood writing am I producing good videosthat YouTube is likingthat's the only thing I should bejudging it on is it helping me find goodideas for writing these things if it's not doing these things the window systemis broken in some fashionmaybe I'm not using my time effectivelyto work on notes and write maybe I fallinto collector's fallacy which is wheremost of you fall in the just collectcrap and it's not even useful whateverthe issue is you need to focus on theoutput of your note-taking systeminstead of the input side so if it's astudent how are you doing on your testso you're getting your assignments outyou're a research scientist again howare you are you producing more papers ifyou're a coder are you learninglanguages like those are the things youshould be focusing on the output of yournote-taking system not the inputif you've got other ideas our mistakes people make let me know in the commentsI'd love to hear about them otherwiseyou can support the channel by becomingmember curts2kale.ca membership take acourse curtiscale.ca education and ifyou're already on skillshare find linksto my courses on skillshare belowhave an awesome day, 4 Mistakes Note Takers Make, Curtis McHale, 01h414f11eqe0m3s64p45wgkad.