When studying, many high school students resort to the traditional reading and rereading. Even though it might seem to do its job, there are much more effective ways to study, and to do it right from the start. 

Not so many students take notes in class, and the ones who do don’t always do it as effectively as it can be done to make the process as effective as possible. When taking notes the right way, you can be sure that they will do a huge part of the studying process, making it less overwhelming when studying for an upcoming test.

On top of that, making sure you develop this skill in high school is a must! When you are in college, you will be thankful that you devoted time to earning effective note-taking skills.

Even though taking notes might seem straightforward, it doesn’t just mean writing down what the lecturer says. There’s much more to taking effective notes than that!

You should find out the method that works best for you to write down your notes. Whether you prefer the traditional pen-to-paper way or find out you would rather use a digital device, resort to what you feel more comfortable with.

Organization is a must in every step of the studying process. If students are organized from the beginning, that is, from the note-taking step, it will go a long way in starting off the right foot.

If you can’t make out a word or if you mix up topics, notes won’t be helpful at all! Keeping notes clean and organized will help you find the information you need more quickly and understand what you wrote. Make up a system that works for you, whether it is based on colors, font-sizes or any other kind of system you come up with. 

Writing everything down is not possible unless you have super-power level typing skills. Don’t try to write down everything, not only it isn’t possible, but it will make it really hard to pay attention to what the lecturer is saying. Capturing key concepts and phrases will enable you to understand the topic more easily and keep your notes clean.

Abbreviating words you can easily remember and skipping nonessential words, the ones you know you’ll be able to recall later, will enable you to write faster and make sure you write down what really matters.

Being able to listen to lectures while going through your notes will help you learn key information more easily. In addition to that, recordings are useful to make sure what you wrote is right. 

Reading your notes when the time to study comes will help you study more efficiently. However, going through your notes right after a class, making sure you understand what you wrote and your notes go hand in hand with what you remember from the lecture will come as a quick review, which will help you take in what you have learned in class more deeply. This way, when you need to study, you will already have taken in a lot of information, and you will only need to review your notes.

Getting a study partner or study group can help you study more effectively, as others can give you other perspectives and help you understand some topics better. Plus, sharing the notes you take will benefit everyone involved, as you will get feedback on your note-taking and allow others to learn from what you have written.

Being able to take notes in an effective way will go a long way in helping students make the most of their lessons, getting the most important aspects of a lesson and, at the same time, having a useful and insightful resource for prosperity, when the time of studying for an exam comes. Make sure you do everything in your power to study effectively. We hope these tips help you take effective notes!