Why Take and Make Notes  ## Metadata - Author: [[Sebastien Dubois]] - Full Title: Why Take and Make Notes - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [#NoteTaking, #NoteMaking, #KnowledgeManagement, #LearningStrategies, #PersonalProductivity] - #NoteTaking - #NoteMaking - #KnowledgeManagement Author: Unknown (YouTube Educator) Source: YouTube Video Reference: [Why take and make notes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4) date created: 2025-08-22 20:30 --- # Title: Why Take and Make Notes ## 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-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-belonging-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) --- ## 📝 Summary: The video distinguishes **note-taking** (capturing external information) from **note-making** (expressing internal thoughts and ideas). Note-taking allows us to record inspiring insights, retain knowledge, and reduce reliance on fallible memory. Note-making emphasizes creativity, self-expression, and reflection. Together, they create a powerful system for learning, retention, and personal growth. --- ## 📖 Main Content: The speaker explains that note-taking is about capturing external knowledge—facts, ideas, inspirations—from books, meetings, or experiences. It ensures we don’t rely solely on memory. In contrast, note-making is the act of synthesizing and externalizing personal thoughts, emotions, and knowledge. This creative process enables deeper learning and reflection. Combining both practices ensures comprehensive learning, creative expression, and long-term clarity. ### 🗒️ Notes - **[00:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=3) Note-taking basics** - Captures external inspiration and knowledge. - Used for learning, recall, and sparking future ideas. - **[01:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=68) Memory limits** - Brain is unreliable; forgetting is natural. - Notes act as backups for thoughts and information. - **[02:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=128) Organization** - Notes condense and filter important details. - Helps distinguish signal from noise. - **[03:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=185) Critical engagement** - Taking notes encourages personal commentary and research. - Links new info to prior knowledge, building stronger understanding. - **[04:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=248) Meetings** - Notes ensure accountability: decisions, responsibilities, actions. - Without notes, participants often leave unprepared. - **[05:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=311) Note-making** - Expresses personal insights, emotions, and creativity. - Journaling fosters self-awareness and gratitude. - **[06:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=374) Reflection** - Reviewing old journals provides perspective on growth. - Enhances daily enjoyment through recorded experiences. - **[07:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&t=438) Integration** - Combining note-taking and note-making maximizes learning. - Builds knowledge while also enhancing creativity. --- ## 📖 References: - Primary source: [Why take and make notes (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4). - Cognitive psychology literature on memory reliability (e.g., Ebbinghaus forgetting curve). - Journaling and reflection practices in educational theory. --- ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. Original: “Note-taking is capturing outside information... it’s not what you’ve produced but what inspires you.” **Paraphrase**: Note-taking involves recording external ideas and insights that spark curiosity or value, rather than generating new material yourself. 2. Original: “Note-making is about expressing what’s inside of us... thoughts, ideas, feelings.” **Paraphrase**: Note-making transforms internal reflections, emotions, and ideas into tangible form, helping articulate personal understanding and growth. --- ## 📰 Newsletter: 📝 Ever feel like your brain’s RAM is running out? This week we explore the difference between **note-taking** (capturing external inspiration) and **note-making** (expressing your own ideas). A recent video breaks down why both are essential—note-taking saves you from the limits of memory, while note-making unleashes creativity and reflection. 💡 Pro tip: Treat your WordPress learning like this—capture what inspires you (plugins, tutorials, code snippets) and then remix it into your own projects and blog posts. That’s how external info becomes internal knowledge. Watch the full breakdown here: [Why take and make notes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4) --- ## ✅ Action Items: - Apply this framework to WordPress contributor education: - Encourage contributors to **take notes** on tutorials, Slack chats, and Core meetings. - Support them in **making notes**—documenting personal insights, reflections, and proposals for improvements. - Connect this to OSPO goals: structured notes ensure transparency, sustainability, and contributor engagement. - Frame workshops on note systems as part of onboarding new contributors. --- ## 🧪 Hypotheses: 1. Combining note-taking and note-making improves contributor retention and project learning. 2. Contributors who journal reflections develop stronger long-term engagement. 3. Regular note reviews increase community accountability and transparency. ### 📊 Methodology: - Survey contributors on their current note-taking/making habits. - Track retention and engagement metrics for those using structured journaling. - Analyze meeting productivity with vs. without structured note-taking. ### ❓ Questions: - How can note-making be integrated into open-source governance? - Would public contributor journals increase transparency or risk burnout? - How can AI tools support hybrid note-taking/making? ### 🔮 Future Research: - Cognitive effects of note-making in distributed communities. - Comparative analysis of tools (Obsidian, Notion, WordPress) for collaborative note-making. - The role of reflection notes in preventing contributor churn. ### 💡 Implications: - Could advance sustainable contribution practices. - May shape OSPO education frameworks. - Improves accountability across open-source ecosystems. --- ## 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: - **Visual**: No visuals in video → add diagrams/infographics. - **Aural**: Video format supports auditory learners. - **Verbal**: Strong narrative, but limited resources → add reading lists. - **Physical**: No hands-on prompts → add exercises (e.g., journaling prompts). - **Logical**: Strong reasoning but could use charts/structured models. - **Social**: Weak → suggest group note-sharing exercises. - **Solitary**: Journaling strongly supports. - **Naturalistic**: Absent → could add analogies from nature cycles of memory. --- ## 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - Transcript available (good). - Needs captions/subtitles for accessibility. - No alt text or visuals → recommend adding slides with descriptions. - Ensure readable color contrast if visuals are added. --- ## 🌍 DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) Assessment: - Language neutral and inclusive. - Neurodiversity: supports clarity by distinguishing note types but could simplify further. - No global/cultural diversity examples → opportunity to add. - Recommend adding varied representation in examples and visuals. --- ## ✅ Logical Validity: - Strong **deductive reasoning**: If memory is unreliable, external recording is necessary. - Good **causal reasoning**: Notes improve retention. - Logical flow: clear contrast between taking and making. - No major fal - Summary: Note-taking and note-making are different, but complementary. Discover the difference between both and why they're both really useful. This video is based on the ideas that I've shared in the following articles: https://www.dsebastien.net/2022-11-28-note-taking-vs-note-making/ and https://www.dsebastien.net/2022-11-16-why-take-notes/ If you want to support me, subscribe to my channel and to my newsletter: https://www.dsebastien.net/newsletter. Also, check out my Knowledge Management products on Gumroad: https://developassion.gumroad.com and the Obsidian Starter Kit: https://obsidianstarterkit.com - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KE6WXI5Dw4&ab_channel=SebastienDubois hello everyone in this video we aregoing to explore the difference betweennote-taking and note makingfirst let's talk about note taking sonote taking is what we can do to captureinformation from the outside world sobasically everything that we come intocontact with and that is inspiring to usbecause that's the point you want totake notes for things which areinteresting which are things that youwant to learn about things that you wantto retain remember things that inspire you basically anything that youencounter that you want to make sure tobe able to come back to at some point intimeso taking notes is really aboutcapturing outside information so stuffthat you come across that you think yeahthis is something I want to remember orsomething that I care about somethingthat I find inspiring something that Iwant to come back to at some later pointin time and that's actually it notetaking is really about capturinginformation it's not information that you have produced yourself but thingsthat you come across and there are manymany many examples where you want totake notesso note taking is really all aboutcapturing information from the outsideworld that's the case when you want toremember things but also when you wantto be able to come back to informationthat you've encountered readingnon-fiction books while reading articleson the web anything that you come acrossand that you think ah this is somethingI care about I should take note of it it's stuff that I find inspiring and Iwant to come back to to inspire myselfand come up with new ideas and explorefurther if you don't take notes thenbasically you are relying on your brainand yeah science tells us that it's notthe best idea because the brain is notso reliable we can remember informationwe can train ourselves to rememberthings just like we did when we werekids but the thing is that the brain isnot reliable we will forget a lot of what we try to memorizeit will not always be easy to access theinformation that we've stored in ourbrain because sometimes it's just notaccessible like you know the surname ofsomeone but for some reason when youneed to tell it to someone else then youcan't remember it and it happens to allof us that's why I choose not to relytoo much on my brain and instead usenote-taking tools where I can store myinformation safely I can back it upwhich is not possible with my brain either at least I didn't find a way todo so so farwhen we take notes usually we condensethe information because yeah there's notenough bandwidth for us to recordeverything and it doesn't make sensemost of the time there is noise and whenwe take notes what we want is capturethe sigma the useful information in whatwe hearanother aspect where taking notes isreally useful is that the fact that whenwe capture the notes ourselves we arealso able to add our own thoughts about the material so let's say that we arefocusing following a course and we arelearning about something interesting whywe take the notes about the subject wecan add our own point of view to theinformation we capture we might say okaythis is interesting but I'm not too sureabout it I need to check it out I needto check it up I need to check someadditional references do some moreresearch to to understand more of thesubject matter or maybe I havecontrarian ideas and I think that yeah Idon't agree with what is being said here and I want to take note of my thoughtsso that I can further explore thoselater ontaking notes is a great opportunity forus to connect the new information thatwe are acquiring with the mental modelsand knowledge that we already have inour brains uh it's a perfect opportunityopportunity to do that taking notes isfantastic because it will help you bemore reliable so when I attend meetings I always have a notebook with me and mypen and I always take notes they don'thave to be digital that's not soimportant but the mere facts that I'mthere focused and taking notes makes itso that at the end of the meeting I havecaptured what was important during thediscussions I know which subject werecovered which decisions were taken whichaccents were decided who is responsiblefor whatand believe me or not but in companies most of the time this is not the casemany people don't bother taking thosethey just come in and discuss and theyare not prepared and they come outwithout much information retained andthey cannot tell you what happened inthereand they are missing out the simplefacts of taking notes will help you getto the next level and it does make adifferencelet's focus now on Note making notemaking is not about scatteringinformation from the outside but aboutexpressing what's inside of us it's about expressing our thoughts or IDs orfeelings everything that we have insideand that we would like to share with theexternal world not necessarily othersbut also ourselves when we take time totake our thoughts and ideas out of ourown brains and onto paper in digital orpaper form whatever we just Express apart of ourselves we express ourknowledge we express our feelings weexpress our emotions and that's a great way to explore theway we work to explore what we know andwhat we don't know to find out the gapsin the knowledge that we haveso it's a way to know ourselves betterbut also to be able to express and sharewhat we have inside with othersso note making is really complementaryto note taking note taking is aboutinspiration it's about capturingknowledge and ideas and what making isabout mixing all of that with what we already know and express it in some waythat is useful either to ourselves or toothersso not making is really a creativeactivity so whenever I have theopportunity to write things down I takeit because it's something that I findreally enjoyable whether it's about myDaily Journal taking notes for newarticles writing some ideas down writingideas for a project that I'm working onthoughts that I have the emotions theexpressing the gratitude for the goodtimes I had during the day a matter or smaller so journaling reviewingexpressing finding out what I thinkabout some topics what I know about sometopics what I don't knowthese are all things that I do thanks tonote making and that I make my day moreenjoyable and looking back also when Ihave a journal and I just go backthrough the entries so let's say that Ilook back one year ago what I wasworking on what I was thinking the challenges that I faced it's always goodto be able to look back in that way andif you don't write things down then it'ssomething that you cannot easily doagain you are just relying on your brainand on your memory and it's flaky it'snot reliable so why not take notesand so the Best of Both Worlds isactually combining not taking and notmaking you take notes to captureinformation that you come across inthings that inspire you and by doing soyou're memorizing stuff you're enabling your future self to look back and toexplore and to research and to compareor just enhance the ideas you have andthe knowledge you have and when you aremaking notes you are capturing what'sinside what you are thinking what youarewanting to express and share with othersthat's it for this video I hope that youfound it useful and that you have aclear view about the difference betweennote-taking and not making the value of both because both are valuableactivities one is way more creative thanthe othersbut still note taking is really valuableand something that you should integratein your own habits daily habits justtogether with lovemaking, Why Take and Make Notes, Sebastien Dubois, 01gy7v6hbs33h2cx34hjy8magr.