Whether you are studying from a book, reading it with a view to using some ideas in your own work or just trying to understands the notes you have taken during a lesson, you might find these learning tips useful.
The index system
So you are working with a written material and are trying to understand it in the most efficient way. If the material is not your own notes taken in a particular way making it easy for you to understand them later, you might be willing to introduce a handy index system.
In such a case, you might find the index system quite convenient. What you need to do is to create your own set of symbols you are going to use for making particular pieces of information. You can use anything you want starting from question marks for the information you need to learn more about up to marking your ideas with squares. All you need is to use the symbols in a consequent way so that they will not get mixed with each other.
Making notes with your own words
One of the best ways of remembering information is trying to summarise it on your own using your own words. According to many researchers, this is making the process of memorising a way more efficient than memorising the exact words of another person. Of course, in some situations it is required to remember a quote, but if it is not the case, you should try the method of taking notes not golf the exact words of another person but of your thoughts which appeared in your mind after listening to some information.
Certainly, it might not be possible to use such a method during all of the classes because sometimes the pace of the meeting is too quick for paraphrasing the ideas. Still, you can at least use it while learning from a textbook when you are not at a rush to note at least anything and can think well about the information you are writing down.
Mental cards for writing the information down and searching for solutions
One of the most efficient ways of representing information is a mental card which seems to be rather complicated, however, in the reality, it is useful and pretty intuitive. If you look at a mental card with some information, you will see how much it differs from regular notes. That is so because the most crucial thought is written in the centre whereas other information is connected to it with arrows or brunches.
As you can imagine, such division of information allows to create layers of information which is actually very systematic. With the help of such a method you will be able to understand all of the steps you need to take to reach your goals.
It is recommended not to create more than four levels of information. You can also connect particular brunches with each other.
As you can imagine, this method is great for writing down the information and also for planning.