The “undergrad” note style

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, keeping notes in Emacs can be overwhelming, even though Org Mode gives you a rich set of functions for managing notes. It should be easy! But the process can stall before it starts for artificial reasons:

• Deciding on a package to use
• Wondering what to write about
• Deciding how to organize notes

None of these reasons really matter when it comes to the simple, physical action of taking notes.

Keep it simple.

To get over this initial hump of overthinking, I suggest quantity over quality. Just start taking notes and see if you can make a mad dash to the first hundred. By then you’ll have something you can look at and see what’s working.

Try this: different note styles. One easy note style you can try, particularly if you take notes on literature, is what I call the “undergrad” note style.

This type of note follows a simple, repeatable pattern:

• Make a claim (your own idea)
• Provide a quote or example
• Explain or justify your claim

Here’s an example of a undergrad note on “Notes From Underground” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

[claim] The underground man uses intellect as an excuse for inaction.

[quote or example] "Now, I am living out my life in my corner,
taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an
intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the
fool who becomes anything. Yes, a man in the nineteenth century must
and morally ought to be pre-eminently a characterless creature; a man
of character, an active man is pre-eminently a limited creature."

[explanation] The "spiteful" belief that only fools succeed in the
world reveals the narrator's frustration with attempting to connect
with others, instead wallowing in his private world---in which he can
safely justify his inaction.

Is that right? Did I interpret the text properly? It doesn’t matter. It’s just a note. I can save it, come back to it, develop it over time, or just let it linger. It only took a few minutes to create it, but it could be the seed of bigger ideas, or just a stray thought.

There is a notion that once you start creating notes you’ll get a magical flash of insight from whatever course of study you’re engaged in. That can happen. But you will have to create a lot of notes to get there. Just like lifting weights or training for a marathon, there’s no instant gratification, but there’s magic and transformation on the other side of that effort.

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