Steven Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is note-taking in work and school.

Jill writes in, could you please do a podcast on note-taking tips?

I take notes nearly all of my classes and I'd like some tips on how to make my notes more effective.

Jill, taking great notes depends on your circumstances.

The quick and dirty tip is to know how you plan to use your notes and take notes accordingly.

You'll do something different, whether you're learning or memorizing versus using your notes for action.

Notes are the greatest things since sliced bread.

They let you remember things without having to actually remember things.

Of course, what to remember depends on your situation.

You, Jill, are a student.

You're taking notes to learn, probably while reading a book or hearing a lecture or listening

to a podcast. You'll lecture or listening to a podcast.

You'll read or hear facts and reasoning.

Facts, you jot down if you think you'll need them later.

If you hear, the population of Zorbia is 346, just write down POP, Zorbia equals 346.

Generally, facts are easy to find in books, so in taking notes, my priority

is to listen for reasoning. Reasoning is when you hear why things happen or how one thing

affects another. That's the real meat of learning. When you encounter cause-effect words,

like why, because since or so, you've found reasoning. For example, since Zorbia is so small,

it has no negotiating power in the United Nations. Bingo! You now know that size is related to

negotiating power. And some people say size doesn't matter. Ha! When listening, don't try to

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