The Power of Index Cards
A better tool for note-taking and self-testing has not been invented!
In our digital world where we tell tools what to put on our to-do list and which music to play, and we use to program our lights to go on at different times while also alerting us to weather emergencies, I propose that the best note-taking invention of the last however-many-years is the basic index card.
Index cards are nothing new, yet the simple 3x5 card (I prefer blank ones on both sides, often in muted, pastel colors) is the hands-down best note-taking and study tool ever invented.
Hear me out . . .
The notion of taking index cards and writing the main idea or thought on one side with the definition or a practical example on the other is brilliant.
In fact, if you use index cards to summarize books or chapters by writing the main idea for every section heading or chapter portion, then you will likely not have too many while also summarizing the main ideas of whatever author or text you are trying to recall.
Index cards have often been abused, but using them for any old notes (compared to only the main ideas) or for trying to write complicated thoughts instead of just main ideas is what you want to avoid. Thin . . . main ideas!
