Don't Overcomplicate Note-Taking
This is a note I took from a book I've read this year:
You don’t get a prize for starting a book or finishing one. Books are not trophies to collect or evidence you’ve learned anything. The only reward from reading a book like this one comes from putting what you learn into practice.
There are 2 ends to the spectrum. On one end there's the guy who reads a book, marvels at the amazing things he learned, and never looks back and forgets everything in a few days. On the other end, you have the zettelkasten/smart-notes obsessed voracious note-taker who reads every single book from cover to cover and takes notes marveling at his "knowledge graph".
I was both at different times. But now I've come to believe both of them are the same. Both not taking notes and overcomplicating note-taking are same but one just feels a little better.
Note-taking is good because it makes you an active reader and you start to interact with the material more. It becomes a problem when all you do is take notes and make that your full-time job. Read, take notes, revisit your notes. Have a simple enough system to help you remember and revisit ideas to help you apply them to your life. But don’t add unnecessary friction and make things harder than needed.
Why are you taking notes? This is the question most people miss. What you take notes for will determine how you take notes. For me at least, the point of learning is not to make notes, it is to apply things to my life in a real and practical way. So action is the benchmark.
In that case I always try to remind myself: The only the only rewards are those from what you put into practice.