To go beyond your raw notes you need to ask yourself questions:
- Why do i find this idea interesting?
- How could this idea be applied?
- Could this idea be wrong?
- Could it be right?
- Is it related to any other ideas I have come across?
- Could I combine or compare it with other ideas?
- Who's the author? What's their background? Why do they think this?
Think about your future self:
Context
- Where and when did I read this?
- Is the context relevant?
Applications
- How can this be useful later?
- Is this pertinent to my work?
Action items
- What's next?
- Is there anything I should do based on this?
Make one note for each idea
3 questions to ask yourself to know whether an idea deserves to have its own separate note:
- Reusable: Is it useful and worth revisiting? (practical tools, helpful templates, frameworks, quotes)
- Relevant: Is it personal and pertinent? (personal thoughts, insights & inspiration, niche knowledge, interesting experiences)
- Recurrent: Is it frequently turning up? (popular concepts, recurring conversations, trends, underlying patterns)
If something is reusable, relevant, or recurrent it probably means it should have its own note because it means that then you can start using it as a building block to create your own original content.