Here’s a quick trick I learned last week.
I wish I had thought of it. I wish I had heard about it sooner.
When I read to learn, I highlight profusely, and I add a little sticky tag hanging just off the page where the highlight is.
I end up with so many highlights and sticky tags that re-finding old insights is hard.
The latest edition of Brené Brown’s book The Gifts of Imperfection just gave me a way to find them again.
She calls it an Integration Index, and she puts it at the back of the book.
I’ll call it an index of insights, and I’ll track it in a separate document.
It’s really simple. Start with a list of topics or themes that your insights usually fall under.
In the document, have a section for each theme.
Every time you come across a new insight in that theme, write down what it was and where you found it.
Then, when it’s time to reflect on a theme and how it impacts your upcoming decisions, you’ll have ready access to the insights that mattered to you. And you’ll have a quick reference to see that insight in its original context.
My color-coded sticky tags only went so far. There were only so many colors, and some colors ran out faster than others.
An index of insights will solve both of those problems.
How about you? How do you keep track of the things you’ve learned from your studies?
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