Sticky Notes and a Highlighter: A Simple Way to Study and Plan on Your Computer
By Ahmed Mahmood
If you study, plan projects or simply keep a lot of notes, you know the problem. Everything ends up looking the same, and finding the important parts takes longer than writing them.
Two old paper habits fix this: a highlighter and sticky notes. Here is a simple way to use both on your computer.
Give each colour a job. For example, yellow for key ideas, green for examples, pink for things you must remember. Decide once, and keep it the same in every notebook.
Highlight less than you think. If every line is coloured, nothing stands out. Aim for the one phrase in a paragraph that you would want to see again.
Use sticky notes for anything that is not part of the notes themselves. A reminder, a question for someone, a task for tomorrow. They sit on the page, so you see them when you open it, but they do not mix into your writing.
Review in two passes. First read only the highlights. Then read the sticky notes and decide what to do about each one.
In PaperStyle: Digital Notebook both are built in. For the highlighter you pick one of five colours and drag across words to highlight them, like a marker pen.
For sticky notes you put a coloured note on the page and write on it. There are five paper colours, and the note grows as you write, up to a limit. You can move it, resize it, turn it, or let your text flow around it.
Both work the same on Mac and Windows.
If you are a student or learner and want help turning this into a study routine, book a session and we can build a plan around your own subjects and schedule.
The best system is the one you actually use. Pick your colours, add a few sticky notes, and start there. 📝