Spending excessive time organizing notes leads to forgetting more with the help of your brain. The more advanced or fancier your note-taking system becomes, the worse your memory functions.
This is caused because your brain believes, there’s no need to recall that information, it is stored safely. Scientists refer to this as The Google Effect or Digital Amnesia.
Why your structured notes are backfiring on you
Have you ever thought about why you remember conversations way better than carefully tagged digital notes? There is a reason behind that.
When the task at hand is figuring out where to file the note, what kind of tags to assign, and how to categorize everything, there’s no space to actually process the information. Working memory has limits.
Picture trying to listen to a lecture while trying to sort your desk at the same time. Both efforts will be poorly executed due to half concentration.
Research suggests that people who take deeply embellished notes often recall less information than those who simply listened. Your brain, at that moment, assumes the note-taking application will deal with the remembering, so it doesn’t bother encoding the information correctly.
The cognitive load trap
Each time you launch a notes application, the thought where should this go crosses your mind. You are already adding extraneous load cognitive researchers would term as extraneous load. Cognitive load here refers to the mental effort expended on sorting and structuring information as opposed to comprehending it.
Your brain’s processing power is limited. If a considerable amount of mental effort is spent resolving filing and folder structures, there is significantly less mental effort allocated to the learning segment.
Complex note taking processes are more likely to make one forget things, especially information heard earlier in a session. Organizing tasks often interfere with memory encoding at the moment when the memory is being formed.
What actually works better
Remembering things works better for almost everyone if procedures are kept simple.
Flow-based note taking works better because it follows the natural thinking processes in your brain. Ideas are captured as they arrive, made connections through fluid processes, with no mental expenditure on structure.
Daily notes and inbox or unstructured approaches reduce friction. Ideas or information are dumped in one location initially without any prior structuring, and then organized only if needed later. This approach maintains context and the relationships between ideas.
Mind mapping benefits learners because it demonstrates relationships without strict, hierarchical order visually. Your brain cherishes patterns far more than rigid categorization.
Even the most simple bullet points outstrip complex systems as they turn your attention to key ideas rather than management tasks.
The science of memory behind it
Unlike storing a computer file in folders, your brain does not partition memories into neat categories. Everything interlinks within intricate networks of relations.
In attempting to impose rigid arbitrary taxonomies on information, you are working counter to how memory functions. You may remember the system that you used, but forget what was actually filed away.
More than any form of organizing information, processing information into your own words enhances memory retention significantly. This phenomenon is known as The Generation Effect, which is one of the most reliable findings of memory research.
Writing, especially by hand, considerably allows for stronger memory retention because you cannot copy every word verbatim. You must condense and rephrase, which builds strong memories.
Why simple systems win
Striking the right balance in a complex system of ideas proves fatal in achieving momentum in not taking. With every thought requiring three decisions, you begin completely avoiding the method.
Simple systems focus on functionality. You generate more ideas instead of spending time managing the stream.
The most efficient method of note-taking is the one that you have in practice. As be is often counter productive when trying to achieve something, in this case, intrisinc intricacy contradicts stablity.
Consistent reviewing trumps achieving flawless organization. It is always better to look at disorganized notes on a weekly basis than never revisit a well-kept system.
Taking notes should complement your thoughts, not take their place. If you start treating a notes app as mere a database, you will lose most of the advantages that come from the act of taking notes.
Cognitive overload results from too much structure, stifling the ability to form solid memories. Your brain will compress the work needed to remember something, weakening innate memory functions. Strategies based on simple structures that follow the flow of thought and work with natural thought patterns counter. They minimize mental strain and enhance the processing of information.