On Note taking

(2 min read)

Picture from @andrewtneel in Unsplash

Did you know that most of us lose 60% of the information we learn in just 48 hours? Not only is there a learning curve, but there is also a forgetting curve. One way to remember more and learn effectively is note-taking.

Taking notes will help you recall information that would otherwise be lost. But taking notes the right way isn’t as easy as it sounds. It isn’t simply about jotting down everything that you hear. Taking notes is about summarizing core concepts as precisely as possible in your own words.

I read a lot of books, and if you do as well then you know how the ideas that we learn start fading away within days. By the end of the week, we hardly remember anything other than the main idea shared in the book.

Nothing is as empowering as active notetaking. It fundamentally changes the relationship between you and the information you meet. A good note-taking method will help you to review key concepts later on. It will help you to stay focused to pay attention and actively participate while reading books or any classes you attend.

My note-taking ideas and tips & tricks in few bullet points:

• Notes act as my second brain. I cannot remember everything I read, hear or see. I take notes and refer it to later
• I have created a WhatsApp group where I am the only member (yes, you can do that). I keep noting things on the go. Ideas which are very impromptu, some reading material which I can do later on, goes there
• There are many advantages with digital notetaking, so I would tell you to find a good App which you can use it everywhere. The cloud functionality of these Apps are gamechanger
• I use Microsoft OneNote app a lot (reasons are as follows)
• I can post my notes, hand drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries
• It keeps my notes well organized
• The main topics go on the far left of the page and I can add related subtopic in bullet points inside the main topics using indents
• Searching for topics is very helpful as tagging can be done to notes

Once you get a hang of it, note taking can revolutionize your life. It can make you productive and smarter. You can recall what you have learnt and become a better organizer of information by emphasizing what is important and what is not.

As a final thought, here is a good article which can help you with different note taking methods: Best note taking methods 

A layover in Vizag

(5 min read)

A story of an adventure which I didn't want, but was enforced upon me and I had no choice but to plan for it.

Prologue

"Is there nothing you could do?" I asked

"Sorry sir, we can't do anything else. There are only 2 things you could do. Either cancel the ticket and get a full refund or choose an alternate flight within 7 days of the travel"

I thought for a moment and said, "Cancelling is not an option for me. Is there any other direct flight in the next 7 days?"

"Sorry sir!" again from the other end. "No direct flight within a weeks' time."

I was dumbfounded. I disconnected the call. I sat there for a moment to decide on my next course of action. In the past few days, I had similar set of calls with the customer services of SpiceJet - supposedly the second largest airline of India in terms of number of passengers it caters to. And after the end of each of the calls I was left wanting for hope.

A month ago, I had booked a direct flight from Hyderabad to Kolkata which would take me only 2 hours. A week before the travel, I received a message from SpiceJet that due to operational issues my journey would have 6 hours of layover in Gwalior. Then, 2 days later I would receive another message that instead of Gwalior, the layover would be in Visakhapatnam (Vizag). A one and half hour journey to Vizag and then a stay of 16 hours and then a flight to Kolkata which would take another 2 hours. A 2 hour journey would become a whopping 20 hours journey. More than the duration of the journey my mind was focusing on the night sandwiched between the flights. Where would I stay? What would I do?

Customer is the king? Well, maybe not!

I tried few more options before finally accepting my fate. I tried Twitter - wrote an emotional post as a helpless customer. Got a reply to contact the customer service. I said I already did that. A response came, "Sorry sir!" 

Sent an email to the customer relations. Again, the response came, "Sorry sir!" I asked for compensation - an accommodation and couple of meal vouchers. Response came, "Sorry sir!"

On the fateful day, I reached the Hyderabad airport, vented out my frustration to the SpiceJet lady who asked me for my ticket. There too I heard the same words, "Sorry sir!" She also said she can have sympathy on me, but she can't be of any help. By that time, I had made up my mind to see how Vizag welcomes me. So, I told her she can keep back her sympathy. I also told her, that it wasn't my job to bear the problems of SpiceJet and that too without any compensation.

She wanted me to take my luggage with me while departing the Vizag airport and bring it back the next day when I will be travelling to Kolkata. I said that they are testing my patience and I wouldn't obey to this command of theirs. They should own this task and manage internally to send my luggage to Kolkata. They agreed without saying 'sorry sir'.

Help found in a surprising place

When I landed in Vizag, the first thing I checked on my phone was Google Maps. I was trying to see if there is any Masjid nearby. It was getting darker, and I was getting late for my evening prayer. Thankfully, I found a Masjid within 2 kms of the airport. I went straight to the place and offered my Namaz. The Masjid wasn't very big and the locality nearby wasn't much populated. After the prayers I spoke to the Imam (his name I got to know later was Muhammed Mustaqeem sb.). I explained my situation to him and told him that I would love to visit the beach and then probably find some place to spend my night before I go back to the airport.

 
"You can spend the night in this Masjid if you want" These words sounded so comforting at that moment, that I cannot explain here. A help straight from the divine. I thanked him profusely. I shared with him my ID card, just so that both of us can trust each other.

 
Imam Mustaqeem was probably my age if not younger. He explained to me the route to the beach and the places where I can have dinner. Another boy near the Masjid was about to leave to a place which was very near to the beach. I hoped on his bike and on we went.

Recalling Phil Knight's memoir

On my way to the beach, rain came pouring down. It was a proper welcome in Vizag. A couple of pit stops later I reached RK beach. On one side to me was a brightly lit Beach road, while on the other side was the roaring sounds of Bay of Bengal, fully dark with no moon to light it. Only a few boats at a distance would set up twinkling dots on the sea.

A sense of accomplishment engulfed me. I thought, "I was not supposed to be here. The weather wasn't kind when I landed in Vizag a couple of hours ago. Now, I am standing here and witnessing something brilliant." Although not completely visible but splashes of waves on the rocks beside the road would put me in state of immense gratitude.

Not long ago I had read Shoe dog by Phil Knight - the founder of Nike. At that moment I remembered he wrote that how often he would go on a run. Without thinking twice, I started running on the pavement beside the road. I looked up to the sky, drizzle falling on my face, the sweet sound of the waves - I wanted nothing but to keep running. I would have run a kilometers or so, when I realized that I had to go back to the Masjid.

Wait for an early day tomorrow

It would have been a10:30 PM when I reached the Masjid near the airport. I met with the half-asleep Imam. He was kind enough to provide me with a pillow and a mattress (which he had it in the Masjid for weary travelers like me). Before I dozed off, we exchanged our stories, talked about our native places, and about the locals surrounding the Masjid and their likes and dislikes. He also explained to me as this is an airport area, police would often do a round and ask about people's ID (hence I was asked to share my ID earlier).

The Imam woke me up at dawn for an early morning prayer. We had breakfast together and after that I bid goodbye to him not unknown to both of us of a mutually formed friendship.

Epilogue

On reaching Kolkata, I reflected on the memories that I have gathered, on the new friendship that I built. All these were good memories, happy memories. But I couldn't forget what SpiceJet had done and the treatment I received. In one of our conversation with the customer care executives, I told them without any hesitation that they have lost a customer in me. 

Problems are one thing but the way you deal with it is another. 

I guess that I applies to both me as an individual and SpiceJet as a company.

Is audible similar to reading a book?

“Audiobooks are like cheating”, someone mentioned to me once. She meant they’re not really like reading a book. Technically she was right. Listening to an audiobook isn’t the same as reading a physical book.

People learn differently. There are 8 different ways to learn. Audio and visual both works for me. Human beings have been sharing information orally for tens of thousands of years, while the printed word is a much more recent invention.

Few things I have observed, while experiencing both physical books and audiobooks and they are as follows:

• You want to feel a book? Get the essence? Hold a physical copy of the book or a kindle
• Want to kill time productively? Audiobooks should be your friend
• Multitasking? Listen to audiobooks while jogging, running, cooking food, washing dishes, etc.
• I always listen to fiction books on Audible. For non-fiction I prefer to sit down with pen and highlighter to take notes, which I couldn’t do while listening
• Audiobooks are relatively quicker. You can also increase/decrease speed according to your choice
• Comprehension wise audiobooks should be avoided. Hence a novel is preferred for audiobooks

A love of reading shouldn’t have parameters or rules as to what type of reading “counts.” Personally, I have found an immensely rewarding common ground in my reading life with both audiobooks and reading. Each creates differing experiences and memories, but neither is better or worse than the other. I can’t imagine my reading life without an abundant mixture of both audiobooks and reading.

Why I do not read all my messages and why you shouldn't too

Look, I acknowledge this is not a very popular opinion. I feel guilty when I do not respond as quickly as the concerned person would have wanted. I also admit that I feel insulted when someone doesn't text me back right away.

My WhatsApp unread chat count

As you can see from the screenshot above, I have too many unread messages. Yes, I know it is 'too many'. Some may feel it's too messy or I am too unorganized.  But before you judge me further, let me clarify few things:

1. I am part of many WhatsApp groups where both way interaction is not required; groups where information related to jobs are posted. I can share any information about job vacancies (if I have) and choose to ignore the rest of the message (since I am not the recipient)
2. Most of the unread chats ended with "okay", "fine", "Thank you" and other such concluding remarks. I choose to not open the chat to read them. Those are anyway seen from notification panel
3. I could be at work. I choose not to get interrupted while I am at work. Text messages are a high value interruption, especially if we respond to each other right away
4. There are many family groups, uncles and aunts who keeps wishing everyone Good morning and good night. I can choose to ignore those kind of messages without any repercussion
5. Too many festive greetings. Some friends and groups are there only to wish festivities. I look away from those (well most of them, not all)
6. I may not be in the mood. I could be a bit cross with certain things in my life and I may not be in that situation to respond emotionally
7. One very important reason of not responding it soon enough is that phones and messages were made for me, and not the other way round. I don't want to be slave to a mobile device. When I find time I read text message. It could be on weekends, or later in the day

It's not like I am too busy. I am very much active in the chats where my attention is required. But the good thing is that I can choose the time and duration of this wonderful technology. The technology does influence us how we think, but let it not drive us crazy. I do respond to each text, wherever required. 

In no way I am defending certain people who:

• Is too lazy to respond
• Reads the message and ignores and never replies back because they 'forgot'

See, it's your life and you only get to live it once. Live it to its fullest. And it’s too short to worry about people being mad that you don’t reply to their text right away.

How to start investing in stocks?

For a few months till now, I have been having a lot of discussion with many of my friends on stocks, share price and about finance in general. See, a lot of people in India are not financially literate. In fact, India hovers at around 24% in financial literacy rates, which compared to 55 per cent in developed countries, is woefully insufficient. I too would consider myself among the unfortunate 76% illiterate in finance. But things have changed a bit in the past 1 year. Our life revolves around a lot of things related to finance and hence it is incumbent upon all of us to educate ourselves with regards to things related to money. I have previously written a post about how important it is to be financially literate, you can find it here.

Basic points to act upon while being in 20s and 30s

Lack of knowledge in money, loses money. We are unable to save, and even if we save, we are not able to invest it further to make it grow. Now, these are the points which hurt us a lot. We may not be earning much, but if we are aware of things which I am going to mention now will help to alleviate the money problems.

• Start saving. No matter how tough the situation is do save whatever you can
• From the part of saving, keep investing your money
• There are several places one can invest money on. Mutual funds, real estates, PPF, Fixed Deposit, Stock market, etc.
• To me stock market is best place to put your money in. Because for others we need more knowledge and in some case we need more money. In stock market, we may even start with 200 INR or less
• Play a long game. Invest for long term - don't even think about getting back the money before 10 years. Power of compounding will take effect and you will be surprised. Experienced people say that compounding is the 8th wonder of the world

Why to invest long term?

 - No need to track the stocks regularly

 - Tax benefits

 - If you don't sell every now and then, you save a lot of transaction fees

 - In the long run, worrying about loss fades away as its proven without a doubt that Indian market has grown over a period of time(factually beyond 7 years, it has surely given profits)

Once you make up your mind that you're going to invest in stock market, what do you do? Of course you need a demat account from where you can buy and sell your shares. There are several stock brokers which provide demat account, few of which I am listing below. Charges of having an account is different for different brokers (check out the cost online - freely available in several places including YouTube). 

Zerodha
Samco
Upstox
5paisa 

Groww

HDFC, ICICI, Motilal Oswal, etc. also provides demat account. But, I have preferred Zerodha for my demat account as the charges are very minimal to none. Complete tutorial to open stock investing brokerage account | Ankur Warikoo Hindi - YouTube

Once you have finalized the stock broker, next step would be shortlist the company in which you would invest. Again, there are several ways to shortlist that and I would highly recommend you to learn that on your own. Do watch some videos on YouTube, there many good presenter who have done a great job in making it easier for us common people. 

Few tips to identify a good company which would grow in the long run and hence give good returns:

• The company should have been in existence for at least 10 years
• The revenue growth should be at least 10% year on year
• Market capitalization (price of stock multiplied by number of stock of that company) should be more than 100 crores
• The company should have good brand value
• The company should have a competitive edge
• Understand the business and make sure you are aligned with the company's vision and mission

You should also check for other fundamental details of a company before shortlisting a company. This video would be very helpful - Investing In 20s Simplified | Top 3 Tools For Fundamental Analysis Of Growth Stocks - Ep. 3 | 2021 - YouTube

There's a free stock market classes, do watch it here - Playlist by Pranjal Kamra

I have shortlisted few stocks, which I have invested in and also plan to invest in future:

• Hindustan Unilver
• TCS
• Reliance
• Infosys
• Mindtree
• IRCTC
• Pidilite
• Nestle
• Zomato
• Asian Paints
• LT
• DMART
• Titan
• Relaxo
• Deepak Nitrate
• Navin Fluorine
• Laurus labs
• Ultratech Cements
• Marico

These are just few among 1000s of companies listed in the stock exchange. As advised earlier, do your own research, get comfortable and invest long term.

Do reach out to me on Twitter if you have any questions.