A 7-Word Trick for Better Book Notes

25 Jan 2026 #misc

Books only matter if you act on them.

The first step is to highlight, underline, or write in margins.

The next step is to take notes. The problem is copying passages without processing them (or letting AI do it). The Zettelkasten method (and my tweaked version) solves that by finding connections between notes.

But today I found another note-taking idea: The 7-word summary.

After a chapter or section, or a whole book, write a 7-word summary. That forces you to condense big ideas into your words.

Tip: For better organization, keep your 7-word summaries in a single place.

That’s a perfect partner to a 10-idea list.