I forget everything unless it’s been written down. If you’re anything like me, you rely dearly on your notes to get you through the academic rigor that is college. 

You’ve probably seen the pretty notes floating around the “studyspo” tag on Tumblr or in Buzzfeed listicles. Pretty notes are great, however I wanted to create a system that was: 

• Lightweight
• Inexpensive
• Minimalistic

Today, I’m sharing my personal note-taking system. (Get ready: It’s long and extremely detailed!) I’ll be covering how to: 

• Take lecture notes
• Outline textbook reading assignments
• Review both sets of notes and practice the information
• Archive everything. 

Read on for my top note-taking tips and a step-by-step guide to organizing and getting the most out of your notes.

Table of Contents

Supplies

First things first, what supplies should we use? Here’s what I recommend:

• 1 folder per class
• Packs of lined loose-leaf refill paper
• 1 colored pen or highlighter (excluding yellow) per class 
• 1 yellow highlighter
• Black pens
• A multi-section notebook (4-section if you have 4 classes, etc.)
• Not pictured: manila folder per class + post-it notes

I’ll splurge a bit on the black pens for writing fluidity (favorites include: Signo’s Uni-Ball and Pentel EnerGelX) and the multi-section notebook for durability (Mead Five Star all the way). 

I stock up during back-to-school sales and at dollar tree stores. Everything combined normally costs me about $10-20 per semester.

I try to match the folder colors with the highlighters/pens according to my whims or because the colors actually match: