How to read and take notes like a PhD - easy, fast, and efficient

Main Ideas / Concepts

• Goal as a PhD: Don’t try to read every paper in your field. Instead, become “qualified” by quickly filtering the literature—separating what’s useful from what isn’t—then taking notes that help you find things later.

• Core problem with other systems: Plain note-taking or using tools like Excel, various online programs, or only a reference manager (e.g., Mendeley) didn’t work well for the speaker.

• Solution overview: Build a visual, searchable “paper database” inside a slide deck (Google Slides / PowerPoint) as the first-stage workflow, then do real detailed reading with printed/paper annotation when needed.

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Methodology / Step-by-Step Workflow (Detailed)

Stage 1: Fast Filtering + Note Capture Using a Slide “Literature Deck”

1. Create a slide deck template

   • Use Google Slides (free) or Microsoft PowerPoint.
   • Give each paper its own slide with fields:
     • Paper title
     • Paper link
     • Take-home messages
     • Interesting figures / other notes

2. Add a simple tagging system (why you cared about the paper)

   • The speaker uses tags representing the purpose of reading:
     • Literature review
     • Discovery (something new/sparks interest; maybe useful to discuss with a supervisor/group)
     • Must read (key “cornerstone” papers in the field)
     • Methods (a method you want to try/use—speaker notes can be renamed)
     • Idea (something to think about/mull over)
   • In the template, all tags exist initially; for each paper slide, remove tags that don’t apply.

3. Collect candidate papers quickly

   • Primary approach:
     • Start with Google Scholar
   • Recommended addition:
     • Elicit for question-based discovery

4. For each paper, skim before writing anything detailed

   • Skim abstract and conclusions to decide whether it:
     • Provides answers
     • Offers new methods
     • Sparks interest
     • Is useful for a literature review

5. Fill in the slide for that paper

   • Paper title and link
   • Take-home messages
     • Instead of rewriting manually, the speaker sometimes uses ChatGPT:
       • Example prompt idea: “Turn it into three bullet points”
     • Then copy/paste into the slide (speaker notes: “paste without formatting”).
   • Interesting figures
     • Scan for visual cues that summarize the paper (schematics, assays, diagrams, standout tables/figures).
     • For review articles, include light selection—enough to remember what’s inside.
     • If something is important, capture/copy it into the slide.

6. Time expectation

   • Estimate ~2–3 minutes per article for the “first pass.”
   • The emphasis is that over-investing in unhelpful papers wastes hours.

7. Stay organized once you have many slides

   • Use the deck’s search/navigation:
     • Rely on tags and take-home messages
     • Use browser/keyboard search like Ctrl+Find within the document
   • Jump quickly back to:
     • “All methods-related papers”
     • The exact slide containing the figure you remember

8. Use slideshow mode for fast recall

   • In presentation mode, flick through visually instead of scrolling through spreadsheets/notes.
   • This matches the speaker’s memory style: remembering by weird diagram/figure rather than text.

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Stage 2: Detailed Reading + Real Annotation (After Filtering)

1. Detailed reading is required

   • The speaker argues you cannot replace full understanding by just pasting into AI tools.

2. Get the paper in a readable format

   • Prefer printing:
     • Print PDFs and annotate on paper
     • The speaker notes that they don’t read well if it’s only on a computer screen as a PDF.

3. Annotate actively

   • Use underlining and write notes in margins / blank space.
   • Use red/green pen (or similar) for emphasis.
   • Avoid relying on heavy highlighting (speaker says highlighting is “weird” for them).

4. Focus on what the paper is useful for

   • If you tagged it as Methods, go directly to Materials and Methods.
   • Extract the specific procedure details you need.

5. Keep only what’s useful

   • The speaker eventually discards paper copies that are only filler after extracting the relevant sections.
   • This prevents overwhelm from printing too much.

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Project-Level Organization (Multi-File Approach)

• If you work on multiple research directions or projects:
  • Create separate decks/files per project/section.
  • Copy slides across projects only when there’s overlap.

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Lessons / Key Takeaways

• Filtering first prevents wasted time: a fast skim + structured slide notes is the entry point.
• Make notes findable: tags + take-home messages + key figures enable efficient retrieval.
• Be visual: figures/diagrams act as memory anchors.
• AI can help with summarization, but detailed understanding requires direct reading and annotation.
• Print + annotate can be more effective than digital-only reading (for this speaker).
• Iterate and discard: keep only what you truly need.

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Speakers / Sources Featured

• Speaker: The YouTube video narrator (author of the method). (No personal name provided in the subtitles.)
• Tools / sources mentioned:
  • Google Slides / Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Google Scholar
  • Elicit
  • ChatGPT
  • Mendeley (reference manager)
  • Vivaldi (web browser)
  • Newsletter / Academiainsider.com (promoted at the end)