Archiving your notes, and how to
properly preserve them
Keeping control of your notes is
vital to ensuring a positive trajectory for your academic path. No one can get
through the university process or high school without maintaining some kind of
previous knowledge from the previous levels.
This is especially important as
you move into adult learning as it doesn’t require sequential learning. As the
ultimate consequence if you don’t keep on top of your previous studies you’ll
be the one that suffers. Here are three quick tips to keep building a pyramid
of knowledge and not a maze of information.
1. Establish
a proper administration system in your home office
It sounds a little fancy but
don’t be put off this is totally easy to begin. You probably already have a
system like this – it might just be very inefficient and maybe making your life
harder than it needs to be.
a) Drop
and run box
This aptly name space in your
room exists. Usual places for it to be are the bed or your kitchen bench. It’s
the point where you drop things after a long day at home and head straight to
bed. Think about where you dump things as soon as you get home.
This is where you need to put a
little box which can hold all the papers. They say the less visible mess you
have the better off you will be and this is true for anyone who is managing a
stressful academic and work schedule.
Try to keep this drop box A4
sized and no more than four inches deep. Too big and you’ll never sort through
the box. The key idea is that you will have to empty it a maximum of every
three days.
I like to go through mine in the
morning or at lunch time when I’m having a bit of a relax. It’s a matter of
putting your note books back in place or moving work or bits of paper that you
need to do something with to somewhere that you’ll remember.
b) Squish
files
I call them squish files mostly
because I just shove the papers in here and then sprint off to class. This system
is great because that’s all you have to do. The different squish files that I
have are;
i.
Course 1
ii.
Course 2
iii.
Course 3
iv.
Course 4
v.
Language learning
vi.
Work
vii.
YouTube
viii.
Tumblr/Instagram
ix.
Blog
x.
Medical
xi.
Family
I keep them stored in my
bookshelf. I can do this because I bought zip files from Daiso which are super
simple to use and you can zip them up so that nothing falls out. I prefer to
use this over manila folder as you can store them in a bookshelf just like
books. This space saving method are perfect for people who prefer the
minimalist look or are living in a small apartment.
Alternatively, you can get some
neat manila lined folders from Kikki K which are perfect for anyone who wants
to use a more traditional system.
c) Sorting
time
To make sure that nothing gets
forgotten I check my folders twice a week to see what needs to be done. I check
them on the Monday and the Friday and then use my kikki
k planner to pencil in when I’ll organize those activities.
I use Staedtler
pens to make sure that I can identify quickly and easily which category
each task is in. E.g., pink for medical, green for family and blue for
academics. I try to group the categories together during the day so that I can
sweep out one big block of tasks to get done and avoid having to travel all
over the city to get stuff done.
For people who struggle to make
themselves focus grouping together similar activities can be very useful for
maintain focus because it will allow you to block out thoughts about the other
areas of your busy life and instead focus on straightening out this mess. While
your planner will make sure that nothing gets badly neglected.
d) Command
center
Unlike a planner a command center
only manages a very short space of time. Your planner will ensure that over the
course of the year, month and week every area of your life is attended to.
However, your command center helps to create a more flexible lifestyle and can
help to manage the spontaneous events and issues that will inevitably crop up. I
explain how to make and use a command center here.
While it’s not compulsory I would
highly recommend one as it allows you to write down and keep track of your
daily activities and if anyone wants to invite you out for a quick drink or you
have an appointment to attend you won’t get swept up trying to complete the
other tasks of the day.
e) Rubbish
bin
Do not forget this. As simple as
it is – many of us forget that if there’s nothing to be done with a piece of
paper you need to bin it. A cluttered desk is useless and will only serve to
make you more stressed. Do your best to make sure that you dump any papers or
items that don’t help you to succeed in your day.
f) Archive
box
There are some documents that you
don’t use daily but you can’t throw away. Some examples of this might be
academic transcripts, passports or scripts. These are all vital documents and
you’ll want to maintain an out of the way box or drawer that will allow you to
keep these documents without creating more clutter to deal with.
g) Back
pack
Find somewhere useful and obvious
to keep your backpack. It is best practice to maintain a backpack that you take
with you when you do tasks. It’s not the same as your study bag – and while
it’s probably a little cumbersome to have multiple bags if you dedicate one bag
to carrying the things you need to complete your tasks you will never forget
anything again.
If you don’t often have to drop
books back to the library or return bulky items you may be able to limit this
‘back pack’ to a single envelope folder which can fit into your backpack or
handbag when you head to work.
2. Summarize
the end of year information into a maximum of three pages
Because most of us to big and
long complicated courses it is impractical to keep all the notes that you
create. Some effective ways to use these notes are to load them on to online
student notes websites. Some of them provide return credits that will allow you
to purchase study notes to guide you through the upcoming courses.
However, you should maintain a
quick and easy guide that you can flip through to ensure that you retain the
essential foundational knowledge. These study guides should include the
following;
a) Mind
map
This should cover a basic outline
of the entire course.
b) Dot
points
Any topics that were important
should have 6-8 dot points explaining the course (especially those topics that
were covered in the exam!)
c) One
practice exam answer/feedback assignment
If you got some valuable feedback
from a convener or you were given a template that explained how an exam answer
should be answered keep this too. That way you can refer to it later if you are
struggling in a course.
3. Begin
the coming course as quickly as possible
Of course, if you start this
process in the middle of the semester it’s going to be rather difficult to
collate your knowledge. However, next semester, begin early and make sure that
you remember that you’ll be archiving your notes as you go through. Some
helpful hints to get you started in the semester include;
a)
Read course guide
b)
Read reviews online
c)
Find an online textbook
d)
Look over some online notes
As you go through the semester
try to make up your mind map and end each topic with 10-12 dot points
explaining what you spoke about.
To get the best of feedback make
sure that you drop in to visit your convener throughout the term and ask
questions or just for clarification on weekly homework.
