Ginger

Thinking of giving up?

just-another-obsession just-another-obsession

I want you to close your eyes and imagine something with me:

It’s a beautiful day, of summer next year. You wake up to birds singing outside, and the sunlight streaming through your window. You get out of bed, your thighs don’t touch and you slip on your size 00 shorts, that are a little big on you. You stretch, and your t-shirt raises just enough to see the protruding hipbones. You walk into the kitchen, and get some coffee and sit down to drink it. You reached your ugw and you are completely happy with yourself.
This could happen next summer, if you don’t give up. If you slip up, just be better the next day. We’re all human, we make mistakes, and we can fix them. A new day, a new start, a new you.

How to Take Notes From a Textbook

When I first started university, long textbook readings were the bane of my existence. I used to dread cracking open the book, knowing that I’d need to read 50+ long and tedious pages. Either I’d skip the readings all together (0/10, don’t recommend!) or I’d painstakingly spend hours reading and re-reading seemingly meaningless words, ending up with a massive pile of notes that I couldn’t make sense of (gah, also terrible!).

Now that I’m a 3rd-year student, I’ve come up with some tips and tricks to make textbook note-taking more bearable. I wanted to share these tips with you guys in the hope that it makes your textbook readings easier!

(excuse the lil graphic thingy, there’s a reason I’m not a graphic design major :P)

1. Use textbook sections to divide info into chunks.

The author/publisher has already gone to the work of dividing the information into headings and subheadings. I find it’s often helpful to incorporate this structure into my notes. (Sometimes they’re absolutely irrelevant, but often they’re helpful.) I write these down first in my note-taking software of choice, OneNote. This also helps to give me a preview of the ideas that are going to be discussed in the textbook reading, before I actually get into the reading.

2. Look for key words/bolded terms.

Skim over the assigned pages, and try to pick out key words/concepts. These will often be bolded or italicized. I usually add these key words under their respective sections in my notes, and use this as a kind of outline structure to follow while doing an in-depth reading. I find the combination of sections and key words helps me from getting lost in the endless paragraphs. I find it also helps to reinforce what I’m actually supposed to be learning/focusing on. It helps prevent that awful feeling of reading 4 pages and then thinking - what’s the point? In other words, it prevents me from missing key information, or from doing the opposite - writing down every little unimportant detail - which causes the bigger, important ideas to get lost.

3. Focus on how the ideas connect.

How does one key term connect to the other? Is there a group of key terms that relate to a central concept? What are the differences between key ideas and what makes these concepts all belong in the same chapter/section? This will help to make sure you actually understand and process the information you’re reading.

4. Relate the textbook reading to your lecture.

Are there any concepts in the textbook that your teacher has also discussed in class? It’s very likely these concepts will be on the test! If your teacher has talked about them, and also wants you to read about them, you can be pretty sure that these are central/important concepts to the course. Identifying that overlap can also help to make your notes more concise, especially if you’re consolidating your lecture and textbook notes together.

5. Take breaks!

I find that the above steps help to keep me on track, but after 10 pages, I’m starting to lose focus. That’s ok! A short, focused break is good! I find that the pomodoro method (25 min reading/note-taking, 5 min break) works great for textbook note-taking, too!

–

Finally, remember that there is more than one way to take notes from a textbook! This is just the way that works for me, but everyone learns/studies differently. I hope this gave you some good ideas to try, and feel free to message me if you have any questions/comments, or if you want to share your own textbook tips!

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

More you might like

Thinking of giving up?

Daily Intake:

How to Take Notes From a Textbook