Use all or parts of these suggestions to improve the way you take notes, both in class and from your textbook reading. This method SAVES TIME!!
The goal, here, is to spend the least amount of time possible writing (taking notes), and the most time listening to your teacher. Do not ever simply copy down words; not from what the teacher says and especially not from your textbook. Always write information in your own words (this means you have, in your brain, processed what has been said--or what you have read--and you understand it).
1. Summarize information from reading or taking notes
Reading: read at least a paragraph before you take any notes or highlight any text, then translate that information into a central "main idea" that is no more than the length of a normal sentence; shorter if possible. If you're taking notes, this main idea must be in your own words, if you're highlighting, it must encompass the main idea of the paragraph. In order to do this you must think about what you read and understand it, not just write (or highlight) words. Every author begins his book by creating an outline. Try to re-create that outline of main ideas with your notes or highlighting.Listening from lecture: do, essentially, the same thing: listen to what your teacher is saying, process that information in your own mind so you understand it, then write what you have learned in your notes in your own words.
2. Omit Words
In your notes, write only necessary words. Never write words like "the" or "a" or any conjunction ("and" or "but") or simple prepositions ("near" "at"). You can assume these words in the context of what you write. Omit only standard and obvious words.
3. Use abbreviation and symbols
Abbreviate all words you can, but make sure your abbreviations are standardized and obvious. Always use the same abbreviation for the same word, and make a list of those abbreviation somewhere, like the inside cover of your notebook. After a while, you will need to refer to this list only to add new abbreviations.Make generous use of whatever symbols you wish. Obvious choices might be a slash (/) when you want to compare two things, w/ for "with"; or if you think you need to use the word "and" somewhere, use an ampersand (&) instead of the entire word. Other symbols might include such things as @ for "at", # for "number", or math signs (i.e. "+" for "also").
4. Use an outline style
Use the basic idea involved in outlining, which means to indent and write below an idea information that is a part of that idea. Don't waste time using outline form (I, A, 1, b, and (2)), only use the indenting part. Be sure, when beginning a new main idea, to return to the left margin. You could use the subsections of your textbook, for instance, as major points on your outline. When teachers begin a new main idea, it's pretty obvious from what they say and how they say it. Use those hints to know when a new subject or topic begins.
5. Use the opposite-page note-taking style
If you're taking notes on reading that will later be used in lecture: in any notebook open to two pages, use one side for book notes, the other for class notes; that is, consistently take book notes on one side, class notes on the other. If you have already written an idea on one side, don't write it again. Instead, emphasize (by a standard method such as highlighting, using an asterisk [*], etc.) something from your book that your teacher discusses in class, or vice-versa. If a teacher is not going to use something from your book, cross those notes out so you won't waste time later studying them.
6. Study your notes for 5-10 minutes every day
Most students spend hours cramming for a test the night before they take it. Instead, take five minutes (no more) each day to study your notes (but not your text book--you have that information summarized in your notes). You could even use the commercials during a TV show (not recommended, but it is much better than not studying them at all). If you consistently do this, you'll find that by the night before the test, you'll know the information, and will need to only study briefly. The most important benefit of this is that you'll retain the information longer. The immediate benefit for you is that you will spend much less total time studying.