How I Remember Everything I Read  ## Metadata - Author: [[YouTube]] - Full Title: How I Remember Everything I Read - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [note-taking, reading-retention, productivity] author: Ali Abdaal source: YouTube reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g date created: 2024-12-19 00:00 --- # 🏷️ Title: How I Remember Everything I Read ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Set up systematic highlight review system — use Readwise for daily email #productivity - [H2] Create book note templates for fiction/nonfiction — 3-sentence summaries critical #reading - [H3] Build Evergreen Notes system for key insights — atomic notes with backlinks #knowledge-management ## 🧭 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) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [How I Remember Everything I Read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g) - [Readwise Service](https://readwise.io) - [Notion Templates](https://notion.so) ## 📝 Summary - Ali Abdaal presents a seven-level system for improving reading retention and application - The levels progress from passive reading to sophisticated note-taking systems like Zettelkasten - Key breakthrough is Level 5: writing three-sentence book summaries with quick reviews - Higher levels involve literature notes and Evergreen Notes for knowledge synthesis - The forgetting curve demonstrates why active engagement with reading material is essential ## 📖 Main Content The video addresses a common problem: reading many books but forgetting most content and failing to apply insights. Abdaal presents seven progressive levels of reading engagement, each building on the previous one. The system moves from completely passive reading (Level 1: The Muggle) through highlighting (Level 2: The Squib) to sophisticated knowledge management systems (Level 7: Dumbledore). The sweet spot appears to be Level 5, where readers create three-sentence summaries and brief reviews - a practice Abdaal wishes he had started earlier. Higher levels involve more intensive note-taking systems inspired by the Zettelkasten method, though Abdaal notes he hasn't fully validated their effectiveness yet. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=0) — [H1] Introduction to the Seven-Level System - Key idea: Most people read extensively but remember and apply very little - Evidence: "You've read a lot of books, but you've probably forgotten the vast majority of the stuff that you've read" #### ⏱️ [01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=90) — [H2] Level 1: The Muggle - Passive Reading - Key idea: Reading without any active engagement or note-taking - Evidence: "We're just reading it. We're not highlighting it, we're not taking any notes" #### ⏱️ [02:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=165) — [H3] The Forgetting Curve Problem - Key idea: Memory naturally decays without active consolidation - Evidence: "There is a phenomenon in memory research called the forgetting curve" #### ⏱️ [03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=195) — [H2] Level 2: The Squib - Highlighting - Key idea: Adding highlights or underlines to important passages - Evidence: "You're now reading stuff, but you are highlighting or underlining the things that particularly resonate with you" #### ⏱️ [04:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=270) — [H3] Problems with Highlighting - Key idea: Research shows highlighting doesn't improve memory retention - Evidence: "There is a mountain of evidence that shows that highlighting or underlining does nothing to actually improve our memory" #### ⏱️ [05:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=345) — [H2] Level 3: Hufflepuff - Systematic Highlight Review - Key idea: Using tools like Readwise to systematically review highlights - Evidence: "What Readwise does is that it automatically connects to your Kindle account and it pulls in all of the highlights" #### ⏱️ [07:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=420) — [H2] Level 4: Ravenclaw - Centralized Highlight Database - Key idea: Automatically pulling highlights into a central note-taking system - Evidence: "This is a system whereby you automatically pull in your highlights into a central note taking app" #### ⏱️ [09:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=555) — [H1] Level 5: Dumbledore's Army - Quick Book Notes - Key idea: Writing three-sentence summaries and brief reviews of books - Evidence: "If you can just summarize a book in three sentences, that's like a really fantastic way of actually engaging with the content" #### ⏱️ [12:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=750) — [H3] Book Note Template Structure - Key idea: Standardized template includes book summary, impressions, and key quotes - Evidence: Template includes "the book in three sentences, impressions, how i discovered it, who should read it" #### ⏱️ [15:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=945) — [H2] Level 6: Order of the Phoenix - Literature Notes - Key idea: Creating detailed summaries of particularly impactful books - Evidence: "What I'm doing is I'm going through them again and I'm writing literature notes" #### ⏱️ [18:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=1080) — [H3] Publishing Book Notes as Content - Key idea: Book summaries can become valuable published content - Evidence: Derek Sivers and Nat Eliason examples of successful book note publishing #### ⏱️ [20:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=1230) — [H2] Level 7: Dumbledore - Zettelkasten Method - Key idea: Creating atomic, interconnected "Evergreen Notes" from reading insights - Evidence: "The idea behind Evergreen Notes is that they're notes on topics that you find interesting" #### ⏱️ [22:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=1365) — [H3] Uncertainty About Advanced Methods - Key idea: Author hasn't fully validated effectiveness of Level 7 approach - Evidence: "I'm not entirely sold on the power of it yet" #### ⏱️ [24:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=1440) — [H1] Recommendation: Focus on Level 5 - Key idea: Three-sentence summaries provide best effort-to-value ratio - Evidence: "If I were to give advice to my previous self, I would say that it's really, really useful to be at least a level five" ## 📚 References - [Readwise - Highlight Review Service](https://readwise.io) - [Derek Sivers Book Notes](https://siver.rs) - [Nat Eliason Blog](https://nateliason.com) - ["How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens](https://takesmartnotes.com) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Reading without engagement leads to poor retention due to the natural forgetting curve - Progressive systems from highlighting to systematic review to active note-taking improve retention - The optimal approach for most people is writing three-sentence book summaries with brief reviews - Advanced methods like Zettelkasten may provide additional benefits but require significantly more time investment ## 📰 Newsletter **Level Up Your Reading Retention with This Simple System** Many WordPress professionals read extensively about development, business, and technology but struggle to retain and apply what they learn. Ali Abdaal's seven-level reading system offers a practical solution, with Level 5 being the sweet spot: create three-sentence summaries and quick reviews of every technical book or article you read. This approach works especially well for WordPress learning materials - whether you're reading about Gutenberg development, site performance, or business strategy. The key insight: active engagement through summary writing dramatically improves retention compared to passive highlighting. **Quick Win**: Create a simple template in your note-taking app with fields for: book title, three-sentence summary, key takeaways, and who should read it. Use this for every WordPress-related book or substantial article you consume. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Developer education: Create book club around technical reading with summary sharing - Content strategy: Publish developer book reviews and reading lists - Community engagement: Host "reading retention" workshops for developers #### WordPress - Documentation: Apply three-sentence summary approach to WordPress Codex articles - Training: Incorporate active reading techniques in WordPress learning paths - Community: Create book recommendation system with community-generated summaries ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Three-sentence book summaries significantly improve long-term retention compared to highlighting alone - Systematic highlight review increases application of learned concepts to real-world scenarios - Progressive engagement levels create sustainable reading habits without overwhelming readers - Centralized note systems improve cross-book connection and insight synthesis ### 📊 Methodology - Compare retention rates between highlighting-only and summary-writing groups - Track application of book concepts in work/projects over 6-month periods - Measure engagement consistency across different complexity levels of note-taking systems ### ❓ Questions - What is the optimal frequency for reviewing highlights and notes? - How does the three-sentence constraint affect comprehension versus longer summaries? - Which book types benefit most from different levels of the engagement system? ### 🔮 Future Research - Long-term studies on knowledge retention across different note-taking methods - Integration of spaced repetition principles with reading note systems - AI-assisted summary generation versus manual summarization effectiveness ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Immediate improvement in reading ROI through simple template adoption - Education: Better curriculum design incorporating active reading techniques - Productivity: Reduced re-reading needs through systematic knowledge capture - Content Creation: Book notes as valuable published content for personal branding ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (accessible, conversational tone) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Clear level progression diagram, Notion interface screenshots - Improve: Flowchart of decision points for choosing engagement level #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Video format with clear narration and examples - Improve: Audio-only version for commute listening #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Concrete examples, book titles, specific quotes from templates - Improve: More analogies comparing reading to other skill development #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Step-by-step template setup, hands-on Notion demonstration - Improve: Interactive worksheet for practicing three-sentence summaries #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear seven-level progression, systematic template structure - Improve: Decision tree for selecting appropriate engagement level per book type #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: References to book clubs, sharing published summaries - Improve: Community challenges for reading retention practice #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Individual note-taking system, personal knowledge management - Improve: Self-assessment rubric for reading engagement effectiveness #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Organic knowledge growth through connected notes - Improve: Ecosystem metaphors for knowledge network development ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear heading structure, descriptive link text in video - Improve: Full transcript with timestamp navigation #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard YouTube video controls - Improve: Chapter markers for easy navigation to specific levels #### Contrast and readability - Present: High contrast text in Notion screenshots - Improve: Ensure all text meets 4.5:1 contrast ratio #### Media and captions - Present: Auto-generated captions available - Improve: Professional captions with technical term accuracy ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Universal reading challenge across cultures - Improve: Examples from diverse authors and global perspectives #### Inclusive language - Present: Conversational, accessible tone without jargon - Improve: Avoid Harry Potter references that may exclude some audiences #### Representation - Present: Focus on individual learning rather than demographic assumptions - Improve: Acknowledge different cultural approaches to knowledge retention ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear progression from research on forgetting curve to practical solutions - Inductive strength: Personal experience supported by memory research findings - Analogical strength: Harry Potter metaphor provides memorable framework #### Fallacies - Appeal to authority: Heavy reliance on personal experience without citing retention research - Hasty generalization: Assumes all readers have same retention problems as author #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Enthusiastic, helpful, self-deprecating ("I'm a dumb-ass"), conversational ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No defensive patterns detected - Attack: No attacks on alternative methods or critics - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender dynamics present - Emotional cues: Positive, encouraging tone focused on self-improvement ## 🎯 Conclusion The seven-level reading engagement system provides a practical framework for improving reading retention, with Level 5 (three-sentence summaries) offering the best effort-to-value ratio for most readers. While advanced methods like Zettelkasten show promise, the immediate actionable step is implementing systematic book review templates. This approach transforms reading from passive consumption to active knowledge building, particularly valuable for professional development in technical fields like WordPress development. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad ### [H1] Active engagement prevents forgetting curve decay > [!quote] [How I Remember Everything I Read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g) by [[Ali Abdaal]] via [[YouTube]]. Published 2024. Accessed 2024-12-19. > "There is a phenomenon in memory research called the forgetting curve, which just shows that over time, our memory for everything decays unless we find a way to engage with it." Memory research supports systematic engagement with reading material to combat natural decay. [view highlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g?t=165#H1) #xref #articleseed ID:rw_001 ### [H2] Three-sentence summaries maximize engagement efficiency > [!quote] [How I Remember Everything I Read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g) > "If you can just summarize a book in three sentences, that's like a really fantastic way of actually engaging with the content." Concise summarization forces understanding while maintaining practical time investment. [view highlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajox - Document Tags: [[h1]] [[xref]] [[reading]] [[knowledge]] [[productivity]] - Summary: How I Remember Everything I Read - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoxkxM_I5g In this video, I'm gonna take you throughthe seven levels along the journeyof trying to remember everything that we read.Hey friends, welcome back to the channel.If you knew him, my name is Ali.I'm a doctor based in the UK, and on this channel,we explore the strategies and toolsthat help us live healthier, happier, more productive lives.And if you're anything like me,and you're interested in personal development,lifelong learning, becoming a better thinker,and all that stuff, you'll know that readingis a very important part of this.But if you're anything like me, you've read a lot of books,but you've probably forgotten the vast majorityof the stuff that you've read and probablyhaven't yet applied it to your lifein the way that you'd like. A few months ago, I realized that this was a big issue for me.And so I've been actively working to try and remedy it.And so in this video, I'm gonna share what I thinkare the seven levels along this pathof trying to remember more of the stuff that we readand apply it to our lives. We start off our reading careers at level one, the Muggle.This is basically where we read stuff,but we're just reading it.We're not highlighting it,we're not taking any notes.We're not really engaging with the material. Beyond just passively reading it.And when we're muggles trying to learnabout a new topic like entrepreneurship or whatever,we'll end up just reading loads and loads and loadsand sort of hoping we're going to passively absorb stuffby diffusion, by osmosis, whatever,but we're not actively using any brain powerto engage with it.This is fine if we're reading fiction, but for nonfiction,and when I read nonfiction, I kind of want toget some insights from it.I want to learn stuff.I'm a dummy and therefore, I just forgeteverything that I read and therefore,this isn't good for me.And it's probably not just mebecause there is a phenomenon in memory researchcalled the forgetting curve, which just showsthat over time, our memory for everything decaysunless we find a way to engage with itor consolidate our memory of the thing. At some point, we might realizethat our Muggle existence is pretty unfulfilling.And so we'll come across level two of the journey,which is The Squib.And when you become a Squib at level two,you're now reading stuff,but you are highlighting or underlining the thingsthat particularly resonate with you.This is easy enough to do if you read on a Kindle. Or you can use one of these old school things.I don't even know what to call them anymore,because we haven't used this stuff.And this is what I was doing since I first got a Kindlein around 2008, 2009, all the way through to 2018.When I discovered that actuallythere were more levels along this path.And this is fine because highlighting stuff is kind of nice.And it's kind of fun to useone of these old-fashioned antique devices.But the problem with highlighting stuff iswe actually don't remember the stuff that we highlight,and there is a mountain of evidence that showsthat highlighting or underliningdoes nothing to actually improve our memory of the stuff.And we also run into the issuethat we've got all these highlights,but they're sort of hidden away inside our bookor inside our Kindle, and we don't really have a reasonto go through them. So that was me from 2008, all the way through to 2018.Those were the dark days.But then in September 2018,I reached level three, which we're calling Hufflepuff.And level three, Hufflepuff, is when you havea systematic system for reviewing your highlights.So in September 2018, I discovered this amazing servicecalled Readwise.Link in the video description.And what Readwise does is that it automaticallyConnects to your Kindle account and it pulls inall of the highlights you've ever highlightedfrom all the books that you've read. And what they do is that every day,they send you an email with five random highlights.So I started using Readwise in September 2018,and I've been getting this email every day.For the first few months,I was religiously reading this email and I found,oh wow, this thing that I highlighted five years agois now very relevant to me todayand the Readwise email has surfaced it for me,which was really awesome. But over the last two years, I've kind of becomeless and less religious about readingmy five daily things in the Readwise email.I still get it.I still open it from time to time,but it's a bit too passive for my liking.And that is when we get to level four.And we're calling level four Ravenclaw,because I couldn't think of anything else.And I deeply apologize for playing into the stereotype.I didn't mean it. I'm working, trust me. But level four is what I talked about in my videoabout the magical Insight Logging Framework,which will be linked to somewhere up here.And basically this is a system wherebyyou automatically pull in your highlightsinto a central note-taking app. And so we can see here, I've got my Readwise database,which has all the books and it showsall the highlights I've made in each one.So I can look at the books and we can seeI've got 126 highlights from "Tools of Titans",all of which are going to be in here.And it also links very nicely to the locationand it opens it up in the Kindle web appif that's what I want to look at.We also have articles over here.So this is taking all of my highlights from Instapaperand we even have Tweets.So these are tweets that I've saved to Readwisethat are automatically coming into Notion. And we have podcasts that, this is podcast "air quotes"that I've taken through the app Air to IO.Again, a lot more details about the systemin my magical Insight Logging Framework video,which will be linked up there.And so this is level four.This is where we've got a toolthat automatically pulls in our highlights. And because I use Notionfor absolutely everything in my life, pretty much,it's all very convenient when it's sitting there.But level four is still a little bit problematic,because this is still very passive.All we're doing at this pointis we're bringing in highlights and we're hopingthat our future selves will at some point. Revisit the highlights just because we want to.And again, I've been doing this for a few months now,but I found that inevitably, other things were coming upand I was not finding the time or making the timeto actively review the highlights of the stuffthat I'd read in Notion. And this is where we start to get into the fun territory,because now we have level five, which is Dumbledore's Army.And when you're at level five or a member of the DA,you engage with books by taking quick noteson the stuff that you've read.Now I'm gonna show you how I do this in Notion. So I've got this book notes database that hasall of the books that I read, fiction and nonfiction.And for each of these categories, fiction and nonfiction,I've created templates that I usefor my very quick book reviews. And so if I've just read a nonfiction book,I will put a nonfiction book template here.So it asks me to give the title of the book.I can select a genre, so let's say productivity,philosophy, and magic.Why not?And I can say the date that I finished it,let's say that was today. And basically what this Notion template does is thatit creates these categories for me.So firstly, the book in three sentences,impressions, how I discovered it, who should read it,how the book changed me, and my top threeQuotes from the book. So this is actually very quick.And this level, level five, is what I regret not doingwith everything that I've ever read.Because if you can just summarize a book in three sentences,that's like a really fantastic wayof actually engaging with the content.And as someone like Richard Feynman would say,it's a way of actively ensuringthat you actually understand the concepts in the book.And so here are some notes that I tookon "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon.The book in three sentences:Share your thoughts, your process,and your work online for free.You don't need to be an expert to share your work.Beginners can easily help other beginners,and by sharing your work online,you'll attract an audience of people who careabout the same stuff as you do,and this can change your life.So that was kind of my three sentence summary of the book. Then I've got impressions where I justsort of write subjectively what I thought about the book.I have who should read it.Occasionally I have how I discovered the book,if I remember how I discovered it,and here's some notes on how the book changed meand my top three quotes.Now the point of this system is thatIt does take a small amount of time to actually think about,but it's not a large amount of time. And like, I really wish that if I'd done this for every bookthat I've ever read, I know I'd be like today.I'd be infinitely more knowledgeableabout all this stuff than I amjust because I never consideredengaging with this stuff. So level five is, I think, a good sweet spot betweenthe amount of effort it takes to do this,i.e. it doesn't take that much effort,but I think it also gives you a lot of valuewhen you can start summarizing books in three sentences.And if we're doing it for fiction,this is what the template looks like for that. So we've got a section about what it's about,how I discovered it, general thoughts, and who would like it.So again, all of these templates are linked in the video description,so you can check it out.And if for some reason you don't yet have a Notion account,you should follow the link in the video descriptionand get it for free. Notion is an absolutely amazing app that I've been usingsince early 2019, and I think it's fair to saythat it's probably changed my life.I organize my entire life around it.I organize my whole business.I use it to take notes at medical schooland to prepare for a number of my medical exams. I used to track my workouts.I use it to write book reviews.I use it to script all my videos and to work with my team.It's just got so many different use casesand I've got tons of videos about Notionthat will be linked in a playlist over there.And best of all, it is completely free.You only pay if you're going for one of the team plansor if you need additional bonus features,but most people can use Notion completely free of chargebasically for as long as you want.So hit the link in the video descriptionif you haven't got a Notion account for whatever reason. And if you do, there'll be a link to my kind of book notes,template thingy so you can duplicate thatinto your own Notion workspaceand then you can start taking notes from books,which will kind of get you to level five.But yeah, thanks to Notion for sponsoring this video.Let's not move on to level six.Now this is where we start to get really interestingbecause level six is the Order of the Phoenixand the only difference between level five and level sixis that in level six, you're still doing all of this stuff.You're still writing kind of book in three sentences,the impressions, how it's changed your life.But we also have a section for a summaryand notes on the book itself.So what I'm trying to do with all of the booksthat have particularly resonated with me over the years,Books that I would write five starsor books that I think have changed my life. What I'm doing is I'm going through them againand I'm writing literature notes.I'm sort of creating my own mini summary of the book,but I'm focusing on the pointsthat have particularly resonated with meor points that I found particularly interesting,insightful, or surprising.And I think this is just a really great wayof engaging with the book, but it does take absolutely ages. So for example, the other day,it was one o'clock in the morning and I was in bedand I couldn't sleep.So I got up my iPad Pro.I switched everything to dark modeand I had Kindle on one side of the screenand Notion on the other side of the screen.And I was taking literature notesfrom the "E-Myth Revisited," which is a bookabout how to kind of build a small successful business. I first read it, I think in July 2019,and that book completely blew my mind.And so I was revisiting it and relearningsome of the lessons from it.And as I was doing that,I was taking my literature notes.I was sort of summarizing bits in my own notes.And although it took absolutely ages,I still haven't finished it. Only halfway through the book,it's actually giving me a lot of new insightsbecause it's so rare to find a bookthat's genuinely sort of actually life-changing.And so when you do like, or now when I do,I'm going to make a point that I'm going to write my own summaryof this book so that I can reallyconsolidate the points for me.There are a few things to keep in mind about this.So firstly, there's a very good bookcalled "How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens. And I've actually done my own summary of this.Yeah, here's a summary that I've doneusing the toggle feature in Notionwhere I've basically written like a whole lot of stuffand even drawn my own diagramsand tables and things about.Oh my goodness, that's quite a lot of stuff here.How many words is this?This summary, plus some of the highlights, is 6,851 words.So I've spent a very long time taking notes from this meta book,taking notes from this meta bookcalled "How to Take Smart Notes,"but this is really good.And this book talks about the Zettelkasten methodof note-taking, which is kind ofwhat inspired this video and sort of one level of thisis as you're reading stuff, you're taking literature notes,but the idea of literature notes,like these summaries that we're making for ourselves. Is that we want to avoid copying and pasting quotesfrom the book.We want to actively try and rephrase things in our own words,just to make sure that we understand the concepts,and the other benefit of taking our own book notesis that if you are interested in sharing your work online,you can actually publish your book notes. The first person I saw do this was Derek Sivers,whom I've been following since 2016and who featured in a deep dive on this channel,which was very kindly of him.He’s basically been taking these detailed noteson every book that he’s read.And he’s got like hundreds of these on his website, siver.rs.Again, that’ll be linked in the video description,and also my friend, Nat Eliason,who again was featured on the Deep Dive,has this amazing website. His blog generates six figures a year for him in revenue,maybe even more than that.A big part of his most popular postsare his summaries, notes, and reviewsfrom books that he’s read.So this is kind of the level where I want to get to.In the future, on my website,aliabdaal.com/booknotes,you'll find all of these summaries of books.And I think this is just like an incredible resource.If anyone's considering startinga personal blog or a website or a YouTube channel,Taking notes from books is such a big value-add becausea lot of people don't have time to reador think they don't have time to read. And there are also so many good books out therethat if you can act as the curator,someone like Matt or Derek,or what I'm trying to do,if you can curate the best books,"Antifragile" by Nassim Taleb, for example,he's got his notes on here,he's got a podcast episode about this.This is such good content.And this is the sort of stuff that reallykind of helps you build your own brandas a sharer, as an educator.And it's just a pretty fun thing to do. So this is where I'm kind of aiming with level six,but then we come to level seven,which is Dumbledore himself.And this is where we're really going full hamon this Zettelkasten Method of note-taking.This is sort of where I'm hoping to go, eventually.I've only really done it for a handful of books,but every time I've done it,I found the exercise to be quite useful. And the idea behind this is that once we've takenour literature notes about the book,what we're going to do is we're going to turn theminto permanent notes as in these Zettelkasten Methodor Evergreen Notes as Andy Matuschak. Who's this also kind of note-taking guru on the internet?That is sort of the vibe.I prefer the phrase "Evergreen Notes"because I think it sounds a bit better.And so, for example, I have got this databaseon Notion of Evergreen Notes,and the idea behind Evergreen Notes is thatthey're notes on topics that you find interestingor that particularly resonate with you,but they are atomic notes in their own right.Like the note is self-contained and very heavily linkedto the other notes you've got in your system,and the slip box. Again, Sönke Ahrens talks about thisin "How to Take Smart Notes."This is, I think, Zettelkasten translates to slip box. It was like a method that this Germancalled Luhmann used to use back in the day.And he churned out loads and loads and loadsof manuscripts and publications and booksbecause he had the systematic way of taking notesfrom the stuff that he read.And so, for example, what I've got isI've got these different sections:life, happiness, meaning, work, reading, luck,improvement, relationships, marriage,helping people, decision-making, money, lifestyle,writing, et cetera, et cetera.So, like, all of these are topics that I'm interested in.And as I read stuff in books,articles, podcasts, tweets, whatever,What I'm trying to do slowly, very slowly over timeis turn these into Evergreen Notes,and then have an index for Evergreen Notes. So, for example, "The 4 important things in life,"what's in this one?This is money, love, relationships,mental health, well-being, happiness, and physical health.And I found this from an episodeof the Samantha Ryan podcast that Naval was on.And so I turned it into an Evergreen Note. I linked to the source, and Notion now has back links.And so, for example, if I want,I can see what links to this page.So the idea of money leads to happiness, links to this page.So that is related to the note, and we can seeusing the back links how this all kind of relates together. This system, this kind of level seven,Zettelkasten slip box, Evergreen Notes,Dumbledore note taking, whatever you want to call the system,this is a little bit niche, and I'm not entirely soldon the power of it yet. I can see from reading "How to Take Smart Notes"and from reading the work of other people on the internetwho have done this sort of thing.People say it's really useful.Like, me personally, I'm very slowlystarting to head in this direction,but I don't think I've given it enough timeor stuck with it long enough to actuallybe able to comment on whether it's actually helped me. It is kind of nice in a way, because it helps youconsolidate your thinking on all sortsof different subjects, especiallyif you have a lot of interests. It can be kind of hardto keep track of all the stuff that you've read.But this is one layer of abstraction above the thingsthat you read, figuring out a wayto consolidate the insights from them, for example. So coming full circle, if I were to give adviceto my previous self, I would saythat it's really, really useful to beat least a level five of the system.It is very, very easy to get to level five.Basically, you get to level fourby following the magical Insight Logging Frameworklinked up here, and for level five,all you have to do is you can use my Notion templateif you want, but you don't have to. All you have to do is just write a summary of the bookin three sentences.Three, because it forces you to be conciseand it doesn't take very long.And just write a few wordsabout what you thought about the book.This is the stuff that we used to dowhen we were in primary school,where teachers would say, write a book review of this,this book that you read. And again, like if I could give a single pieceof advice to myself, when I was like 12, I would say,"Look, Ali, me. You need to just write summaries in three sentencesof all the books that you've readand just write your thoughts on them.Because in 10 years’ time, in 20 years’ time,you're going to be so incredibly gratefulthat you've got this treasure trove of knowledgeinside a system other than your brain,because you're a dumbass and you're going to forgeteverything that you read otherwise."If you like this idea and you haven't yet seen the videoabout the magical Insight Logging Framework,which is this automatic wayof capturing highlights from books, articles,podcasts, and tweets, then click the video over here. That will be the video aboutthe magical Insight Logging Framework. Thank you so much for watching.Do check out my Notion template in the video description,and hopefully I’ll see you in the next video.Bye bye.(pleasant music), How I Remember Everything I Read, YouTube, 01ka7zbjvbnaa8xygrjmbq66sx.