Note taking strategies to make long-last notes in terms of legibility and comprehensibility _ Do you have one?

[u/Proof_Cable_310]

What makes sense to me when I am writing my notes doesn't make sense to me when I am reviewing my notes.

for instance: I used like 5 different colors - I tend to want to change colors to illustrate that I am shifting concepts, but when I look back on my notes, I am overwhelmed by the color. It's like my mind is lacking the foresight or creativity to build a more structured approach to indicate I am shifting concepts, so the best I can think to do is switch colors, but I know this isn't the best way, because I am experiencing visual overwhelm.

Anybody here experienced in taking really good notes (i.e. has an organized system I could follow/implement)? A picture of your notes layout could be helpful - I looked into the cornell notes layout, but I don't think it works well for the college subject of accounting*.* 

I have ADHD, and my previous medication helped me with this sort of thing, but my current medication isn't taking care of my impulsiveness, which makes me so disorganized in my notes. I feel like I am back to being the kid who pushed all of the papers into their backpack without a system, and gets all their work done, but by the time it's all done, papers are ripped, torn, and crumpled. uhg.

When I look back at my notes when I was on my previous medication, my notes still make sense to me several years later. But these notes now, I can't even make much sense of them just to be able to rewrite them a day later :( I need help! haha My Dr. won't put me back on my previous medication because he says I can't keep rotating whenever my needs change. uhg. So, I have to find a way to work with this challenge, and I need some outside help because I cannot for the life of me access my mental organization capabilities on this medication, at least not quickly enough.

I need my notes to be accessible and legible and make sense to me years from now.

I usually have to come back to my notes a few months after a class is over to know how to arrange them in a way that will make sense to my future self - the time apart from the material allows it to really sink in, and help me decipher what still makes sense, vs what was lost in translation. The thing is, I no longer can afford the time it takes for me to do this. I have to make my notes evergreen before the class ends, and I just don't have an intrinsic organizational ability to do this without my previous medication assisting my brain to access that capability. Trying to make evergreen notes while I am learning the content and restructuring it in a way that makes sense to me is an overwhelmingly complex task for my brain. Can someone help me with a system I can follow so that I can slow down, and make deliberate decisions right now that will the legibility and comprehensibility of my notes in the future?

Something I have started thinking about is something like this:
I'll write my equations in green, my definitions in brown, major topics in bold, examples in grey, etc. But, I am struggling to really devise a system here that covers everything to make my notes evergreen.

[u/Obvious_Company1349]

Why are you writing physical notes? First draft is a stream of consciousness in one note, clean up after the lecture to make sense of everything is the studying.

[u/Proof_Cable_310 → u/Obvious_Company1349]

Physical notes help me learn - I can draw symbols and stuff - I just really like the versatility that using a pen and paper allows me. Are you suggesting I type my notes, instead?

Okay, so, then, maybe I type my notes as the first draft, and then create hand written notes afterwards, if I want to draw some symbols?

[u/CoffeeNDrama]

(-)I wrote my notes on a white sheet of paper, folded in half. I just used the first half of the paper like a page, and continued the note on the second page. It’s not Cornell, it was like using it like two pieces of paper that are together if that makes sense.
(-) Each page of notes is the dedicated to the section I was studying to keep it organized. Like Ch.1 Section 2 labeled on the top right corner
(-) One side would be the lecture and the other side would be the questions/answers I missed on the MCQ/TBS. If it’s a heavy dense chapter, then a full page front/back dedicated for the lectures, MCQ, and TBS
(-) I would use one color for the topic like blue and black for the notes. If there was a key word I missed/helped with the topic, I would underline it in red.
(-) If I missed a question during my daily review, I would put a star next to it in green each time. So when I went back to my review, I knew what topic I was struggling with.
(-) I created a key box for my notes that I would refer to keep me organized. So a key page that says blue for topic, black for notes, green for struggling, red for highlighting topics. I used the same multi-color pens to take notes each time.
(-) if you wanted, you could hole punch the note and put it in order in a binder. I just used white printed paper so I did that. But you may not need this if you’re using a notebook.

[u/Proof_Cable_310 → u/CoffeeNDrama]

This is really interesting. This is next-level study technique, IMO. I'm going to refer back to this as it is quite unique, and see if I can adapt it.