Book SummaryHow to Take Smart Notes, by Sönke Ahrens

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of How to Take Smart Notes

If you’re someone who publishes original insights for a living—like a non-fiction writer or an academic—how can you make your writing process as efficient as possible? In How to Take Smart Notes, researcher Sönke Ahrens presents a method for doing so: The slip-box system is a method of taking notes and organizing them that fosters the creation and publication of original ideas. In the original version of the system, writers took notes on index cards and organized them in a “slip-box,” or cabinet; today, a digital version is more common.

Ahrens argues that since this slip-box system is specifically designed to help you both have and share original insights—and make the writing process easier...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary The Origins of the Slip-Box System

Ahrens explains that the slip-box system was invented by Niklas Luhmann, an incredibly productive German sociologist. Not only did Luhmann publish nearly 60 books within his lifetime, he also has several posthumously-published books to his name—thanks to the ideas he collected within his slip-box.

(Shortform note: Writers before Luhmann, who was born in 1927, also used note-taking systems similar to the slip-box system. Notably, in 1921’s The Intellectual Life, French philosopher Antonin Sertillanges also describes a note-taking system where you take notes on uniform sheets of paper, label them, and relate them...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary How to Use the Slip-Box System

If the slip-box system is only effective when you know how to use it, as Ahrens contends, you must learn how to properly use it. In this section, you’ll learn the specific steps Ahrens outlines to effectively use the slip-box system to create a publishable manuscript.

Step 1: Take Notes

Specifically, Ahrens recommends taking three types of notes: temporary notes, literature notes, and evergreen notes.

(Shortform note: Users of the slip-box system use several different terms to refer to these three types of notes; for example, Matuschak popularized the term “evergreen notes” and occasionally calls temporary notes “transient notes.” However, the term “literature note” is common—both Matuschak and Ahrens use it exclusively.)

1. Create temporary notes, which Ahrens calls “fleeting notes.” Most of us have random ideas as we go about our day. Jot these down so you don’t forget them, and put them all in one place—an in-tray, or what Ahrens calls an “inbox.”

(Shortform note: To write these as quickly as possible, [use...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary Why the Slip-Box System Is Superior

You’ve now learned how to use the slip-box system, but why should you? In this section, we’ll dive into five specific features of the slip-box system that Ahrens argues make it superior to traditional methods.

#1: The Slip-Box System Requires You to Write at Every Stage of the Creative Process

Ahrens contends that people who write using the traditional note-taking process are intimidated by the blank screen because that’s the first time they think critically about their argument. As Ahrens points out, traditional note-taking methods focus on capturing others’ ideas instead of thinking extensively about them. So even if you’ve taken lots of notes by the time you sit down to write, you still haven’t thought about or developed your argument. You only do that when you sit in front of your blank screen—and that’s what intimidates you, not the writing itself.

(Shortform note: As one writer points out, the blank screen may also terrify you because you’re afraid your writing will be terrible—in other words, that you’ll fail. However, in _[The Magic of Thinking...

Shortform Exercise: Should You Use the Slip-Box System?

You now know how and why the slip-box system works—but is it something you actually want to use? Answer the following questions to help you decide.

Think about the last time you had to write a manuscript in which you shared your original ideas. Describe the process of doing so—from researching to publishing.