We all take notes, but not everyone takes them in the most efficient way.

We all take notes, but not everyone takes them in the most efficient way.

In today’s post, we will discuss a 4-step technique for taking notes as efficiently as possible.

This method is called: The CCCC Technique — Consume, Collect, Connect, and Create.

1.- “You are what you consume”: The information our brain retains is like food for our body. It’s likely that if we have a balanced and nutritious diet, we’ll feel better and healthier than if we eat processed food. The same goes for information. On the internet, we are constantly bombarded with information that is not useful to us, which distracts us from the information we want to read and retain. So if we want to take better notes, we need to regulate what we consume.

In my case, I use my Instagram to view posts about inspiration, from websites, design, fashion, and productivity. And I’ll let you in on a secret: I have 90% of my friends muted, haha.

Once you can filter the information you want to consume, it’s time to collect it.

2.- Collecting everything in one place is your goal. It’s worst if we use different ways to take notes, whether they’re text or digital, as it will be very difficult to locate what you want to revisit to read. Loose notes are our enemies; they waste our time and we can’t connect back to our notes. For my part, I’m a very digital person and take notes digitally, and beyond which app I use, I think the most useful tool I have is “CMD+F” for those who have a Mac or “CTRL + F” in Windows to find the phrase or text I want to read.

3.- Start connecting your ideas.

Your ideas are the sum of what you have consumed in the past. When sleeping or being bored, your brain creates connections between all the ideas. For too long, people have classified their notes into folders or using labels. While it seems to make sense on paper, this process prevents you from making meaningful connections and generating great ideas. This is why labels and folders don’t work. If you’re looking to generate creative ideas, find new solutions, and stand out, you want to mimic the way your brain generates ideas and transplant them into your note-taking system. Enter: backlinks. Backlinks are how you connect your notes to each other. It’s the next generation of effective note-taking. To create great backlinks, simply ask yourself a question: What does the note I just took remind me of? Link the corresponding note. Done.

4.- Create value for others.

Ideas are meant to be shared.

If you’re like us, you love discovering and sharing knowledge, as the saying goes “Money grows by saving it, but knowledge grows by sharing it.” That’s why, thanks to the other 3 steps, you can create value from all notes and ideas, it will help you better retain information and have better conclusions with your ideas.

For this, I use 2 apps which I’ll talk more about at the end of this mini-series.

And you, how do you keep your notes and ideas?