On notes

I think one of the biggest steps towards my goal of not failing the course, or better yet, doing well in it, is to stop taking notes. Counter-intuitive at first, but it makes sense in the end. Allow me to explain.

I've found that lately, while taking notes on the lecture material, I fail to absorb any of it. It's all m = e - 1 + b, where I don't know what m, e, or b are, or why they have such a relationship. Some people pick up on this stuff better. They can write notes, and keep up with the lecture, while also knowing what everything means. And they can even think ahead, as evidenced by the seemingly super-human ability of some people to actually answer questions that are posed in lecture. I don't know how they do it, I haven't even had time to comprehend the question before someone has answered it.

Furthermore, especially with recent material, there isn't a lot to really even take notes on. It's a lot of examples and strategy for proofs instead of real concrete notes about proofs that one can write down and study for later reference. There's the odd thing here and there, but more than anything, I've figured that it's just beneficial for me to watch, and absorb as much of the lecture content as I can. It's often not stuff I'll want to later refer to, but general thinking that will help in the future.

Plus, what notes there are are posted online, with helpful annotations. So, I can copy them online after. As such, I've gotten into the habit of copying any necessary notes from the last week, on Sunday. It also serves as a convenient refresher for getting ready to study for the Quiz come Monday in tutorial.

So far, this strategy has been wildly successful. Sure, I don't get everything in lecture - all it takes is thirty seconds of zoning out, thinking about food, the weekend, a significant other, or any other manner of things to become entirely lost with the lecture content. But in a few minutes I'm back up to speed and following along. And in any case, it's still a net positive over the absolute nothing I was getting out of lectures before. I definitely encourage anyone else who, like me, was struggling with understanding the material to take the big leap and just stop taking notes.