# Characteristics of good notes Good notes should: - Be written using your own words. This will train your information synthesis skills, and will help you re-understand the information later. As an added benefit, it also helps memorization - Be short, and concise - Be clear, and easy to understand - Stand on their own, and focus on a single idea (cfr [[Atomic notes]]) - Be connected to other notes (cfr [[How to connect ideas]]) - Include links to similar ideas, related ideas, ... - Include references: sources, examples, ... - Include enough context: why you created it, what you were doing at the time, why it was relevant, etc - Be associated with one more more [[Map of Content (MoC)|Maps of Content (MoCs)]] - Be associated with time: you should know when you have created and last updated your notes ## Related - [[Permanent notes should be portable, independent and atomic]]