Five Essential RemNote Tips
I wish I knew these before I started using RemNote.
What the f#@% is RemNote?
RemNote is the best tool on the market for memorising content. Its gimmick is that your notes are your flashcards—there is no need to write your notes and flashcards separately. With its versatile features and intuitive interface, RemNote empowers learners to organise, retain, and comprehend information like never before.
Whether you're a student striving for academic excellence, a professional seeking to enhance your skills, or simply a knowledge enthusiast on a quest for personal growth, I promise you that RemNote has a place in your life.
In this article, I will delve into five tips that will unlock the full potential of RemNote, helping you optimise your learning experience and achieve your goals with greater efficiency and effectiveness.
1. Use the Concept-Descriptor Framework
It’s easy to create Q&A-style flashcards since the item you are expected to recall is clearly defined in a question.
While this may work for simple concepts, it quickly falls apart when you want to express more complex ideas and there are many pitfalls.
To address this issue, use the built-in Concept-Descriptor Framework (CDF) to take effective and concise notes to memorise complex topics.
The benefit of the CDF style is that it transforms your flashcards into smaller, key pieces of information that can be actively recalled, rather than just dictionary definitions.
Try use the /tc and /td commands to turn a Rem into a concept or descriptor respectively.
2. Create atomic flashcards
When writing flashcards, aim to make them easy to understand when you read them back and structured to help you actively recall the most important information during reviews.
Therefore, do not include all the key information about an idea into a one-line definition. Instead, utilise descriptors. Remember, you are writing flashcards for your own benefit—not a dictionary.
Notice that I haven't relocated all the definition text from "Mario Kart." If certain details are essential to the core definition of the concept, they should remain there. However, I've moved "Publisher" and "Release Year" to the descriptor section instead.
3. Ensure conceptual hierarchy
Concepts that are directly related to each other should generally be ordered hierarchically within your notes.
If enabled in settings, RemNote will prioritise testing you on higher-level concepts before lower-level ones, enhancing your understanding of large topics.
4. Reference repeated concepts instead of re-writing them
You will often find yourself repeating the same concepts and ideas throughout your knowledge base, especially if are you using RemNote to study a specific subject such as Medicine.
For this scenario we will consider diabetes. There are dozens of diseases where diabetes is implicated, and it is not necessary to repeat how diabetes works each time. Instead, simply reference existing Rems on diabetes.
To create a reference, simply type [[ and start typing the name of the Rem you wish to reference. Rems with references to each other may also be tested in clusters helping your broader understanding of a topic.
5. Use universal descriptors
Universal descriptors are an advanced form of descriptor that is used throughout your knowledge base and not specifically tied to one concept.
Take the following Rems about two made-up people.
Imagine we have a knowledge base of thousands of ordinary people. It’s highly likely we'll want to know their birthdays. For example, both John and Jane have a birthday, but only John has a notable achievement.
Instead of manually writing the "Birthday" descriptor for each entry, it's more efficient to create a single "~Birthday" universal descriptor. This can be quickly inserted as a Rem reference whenever needed.
Universal descriptors may seem daunting at first, but they are game-changing when you understand how to use them and what their benefits are.
Closing statements…
The beauty of RemNote is that it is ultimately your personal knowledge base. You may create, organise, and style your notes and flashcards in any way you want. Do not take this article as the best way to use RemNote. Experiment and explore with your own finesse and find what works for you.