Notes are only useful when they are read. That means we need a system where notes can be presented to us again, as a way to jog our memory of their content
I use Notion as a second brain to outsource my knowledge storage. But I also believe that a note that goes unvisited is a dead note. If we are not making changes and updating our notes, their impact on our lives and thought processes are stymied.
As part of my ongoing debate of RemNote vs. Notion , I am continually reevaluating my note taking system to make sure I am making Notes that are useful.
Now that #RemNote has worked out its linking system for Link ideas for better retention, (and given that it also has a graph view), it is very tempting to go and transfer all my notes to RemNote - despite the fact that it has now started charging for some of its features.
However, there is a significant feature that has turned into my main use of Notion that I have not yet discovered in #RemNote - a good process of resurfacing notes.
Resurfacing notes is vital in keeping ideas fresh.
David Drysdale says:
"True inspiration—real, transformative insight—arrives through the serendipitous collision between old ideas."
Rather than forget the notes I make, I have developed a system in Notion where notes resurface themselves. This means notes never gather dust for long and become part of my thinking more easily.
It also enables me to keep learning by continuing to grow my notes through Creative Recall (generative learning) because I want to treatLearning as a Generative Activity
Every note I make gets a 'retention rating'. Every note begins with one star. As notes are resurfaced, I increase their star rating.
I have introduced a #spaced repetition system where notes are resurfaced depending on their retention rating and the last time they were edited.
I work my way down this list of resurfaced notes. I don't aim for #Inbox Zero, but I do keep track of the 'review due' date to give me an idea of how close I am to being up to date.
I do this to give my notes time to mature. When I first take notes, at that moment in time every note I make feels like the most important note I have ever taken. If I give myself a month before I revisit a note, it gives me a chance to filter the wheat from the chaff.
I edit each note and then increase its retention rating by one or two stars, depending on how confident I am feeling about its content.
Editing most often includes highlighting, linking and annotations, usually following principles of Progressive Summarization .
Editing is an essential part of resurfacing.
It requires engagement with the ideas, not mere organisation.
Recognition is not the same as recollection
Once I have completed five or six of the one star notes, I move onto my two star notes and do some of those.
Two star notes and above tend to already have some highlights and links and so I usually find myself adding annotations and tidying up links, especially those to new notes I might have made in the intervening time since the note was last visited.