Best PromptsBook Notes That Stick
Turn a book, course, or long article into durable notes: the argument, the evidence, what you disagree with, and what to actually do.
Source material: """ [PASTE THE TEXT, YOUR HIGHLIGHTS, OR YOUR CHAPTER NOTES] """ Turn the material above into notes I will still find useful in a year. My situation and why I read this: [YOUR CONTEXT, e.g. "running a 6-person team and struggling with delegation"] Produce: 1. **The argument in one paragraph.** What is the author actually claiming, and what would have to be true for it to hold? Not a table of contents in prose. 2. **The 5-9 ideas worth keeping.** For each: the idea in one sentence in plain language, the evidence or example the author gives for it, and how strong that evidence is (a study, an anecdote, an assertion). Label which it is. An idea supported only by a memorable story is still worth keeping, but it should be labeled as a story. 3. **Quotes.** Up to 8, word-for-word from the material, each with why it earns the space. Never paraphrase inside quotation marks. 4. **What I would push back on.** The 2-4 weakest points: claims that overreach the evidence, cases where the author's context does not match mine, and anything that contradicts something else in the same material. 5. **What this changes for me.** Given my situation above, 2-3 specific things to do differently, each concrete enough to start this week. If the material does not actually support a change in my situation, say that instead of manufacturing action items. 6. **Open questions.** What the material raised and did not answer, and what I would read or test next. Rules: work only from the material provided. If your knowledge of this book extends beyond what I pasted, do not use it, since I need notes on what I actually read. Mark anything the material only implies as [INFERRED].
How to use
The evidence-strength labels are what turn a summary into notes you can trust later: six months on you will remember the claim and not whether it rested on a randomized trial or one founder's anecdote. Section 4 is the one most people skip and the one that makes the notes yours rather than the author's. Pasting your own highlights instead of the full text is usually better, since the selection is already a signal about what mattered to you.
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