Is It Worth To Make Handwritten Notes?

Khyati Baria

Computer Engineering Student | Content Manager at LMT

Is It Worth To Make Handwritten Notes?

By Last Moment Tuitions

During schools and high schooling times, we used to keep separate notebooks for each subject and make notes during lectures, revise them and if required regularly update and maintain them. Looking back when we were in colleges as time fly’s we started feeling like taking notes is boring, nerdy, and not worth the time.

But deep down we all know it’s not true, or is it?

Being an engineering student, I’ll simply say life is hard. We have to deal with a lot of writing work as in assignments, practical sheets, projects, semester submissions we barely get a chance to take our semester subjects seriously unless exams dates are arriving, or in worst case day or two days before exams we start preparing.

Now here comes the most difficult part of the exam preparation i.e. from where to study? Thinking about this, we start panicking and trouble our friends asking them to study materials, textbooks, and reference books. But only end up using a local author’s book previous year question paper and few important teachers notes.

Here comes another most tedious task understating something from standard textbooks and reference books. At times it can be really difficult to understand a concept from notes which are not yours.

One of the worst disadvantages of not making notes is, during preparation we often study from a pdf for which we use either a phone or laptop which is more distracting than anything. We feel it’s convenient to study from a phone as it’s easy to carry and we can use it even while traveling to college. As we start preparation late we often don’t get enough time for it and we are struggling even for the very last minute. Thus we not confident nor satisfied with our preparations. On exam day in college just before exams we are nervous and mess and to feel a bit easy and clam we decide to join our friend’s group who are studying in a college library.

Suddenly one of the friends asks about an important question which you have not prepared. Now you feel even more stressed and panic and you decide to prepare that question from some random material and boom it creates hell lot of confusion.

You start regretting and doubting yourself with your preparations this stress destroys self-confidence. So is it worth to suffer so much stress?

Benefits of Notes

Even before knowing how to take effective notes. What’s more important is to know is why we should make handwritten notes.

It increases Concentration.
A better understanding of Concept
Improves Memorization.
During the preparation phase, we have organized and familiar notes.

So, how can we take Notes Effectively?

Use Blank Loose Pages to take notes instead of Notebook and if it’s okay with you leave a left page blank, So later while doing revisions we can easily add new concepts, Summary, flowcharts on the left page and if required can even add more pages in the end.
And then once notes of all chapters for a subject are complete, then you can bind the pages and your perfect notes are ready.
Make use of Colors in your notes, this will easily attract your attention to important concepts and diagrams, Use a highlighter for keywords.
Before taking notes of any chapter note down the important topics on the 1st page and make sure to cover them throughout your notes.
Take run time short notes during a lecture this will help you understand the topic better, and later refer to textbooks and add more.
Start a new concept /topic from a new page always. Add heading and subheading with colour pens underline it.
Always make pointwise notes. Draw diagrams properly using different Colors pens helps to memorize them for the long term.
Put important Formulas, Rules into Rectangular boxes, this way we don’t have to prepare extra short notes
Write short Summary after finishing the topic it will help to memorize it for the long term, and during revisions, it will save up lots of time.
Try making Flowcharts and Mind maps of topic/Concepts learn it helps to understand to better.

So decide yourself making handwritten notes are worthy or not?

These all are from my personal experience it works for me well, hope this will work for you as well. Thank you so much for reading till the end…