The Lost Art of Taking Good Notes

note: Hey everyone! Goedemorgen, bonjour, and good morning. I'm Nicole van der Hoeven. I'm a Senior Developer Advocate at Grafana Labs, but I've actually never been a developer. I have 12 years of experience working as a performance tester, but I was an economics major who had never studied computer science formally. So I have a history of getting jobs to do things I wasn't qualified to do. In this talk I'm going to show you how I did that. ---  ## The problem ![[/assets/microservices-amazon-vs-netflix.png]] https://dimosr.github.io/microservices-are-dead/ note: The problem: tech moves quickly. Before you know it, you have architectures like these. Imagine you're someone new to the industry, and you have to look at this. Pretty daunting, right? But it's daunting even if you have quite a bit of experience. As testers, we're often placed on different projects, maybe more so than other roles. At some point, we're just not going to be able to keep up with the breakneck pace of new technologies. So what do we do? ---  ## The solution ![[/assets/midjourney-robot-writing.png]] note: - Our brains are for linking and connecting, not for remembering. Why not outsource storage? - Externalizing knowledge makes it easier for us to spot patterns. - Creating levels of abstraction in our knowledge helps us apply what we've learned to new situations. - We knew this in school, so why did we stop?: We failed to put those notes in context. ---  <grid drag="50 100" drop="left"> ![[/assets/calculus-notes.jpg]] </grid> <grid drag="50 50" drop="right"> ## The old way + Separated by topic + Static + Contextual + Temporary </grid> note: See, our notes probably looked something like this. These are my notes from university freshman calculus. - (RIGHT) Separated by topic: I had a separate notebook for every subject. - (RIGHT) Static: I never went back and changed anything about these-- and the fact that they were analog was a big reason why - (RIGHT) Contextual: They made sense in this context: to get me ready to pass the test. - (RIGHT) Temporary: After the semester, I never referred to them again, because they were no longer relevant. ---  <font color="#ffffff"> <grid drag="70 100" drop="left"> ![[/assets/obsidan-graph-2023-05-01.png|900]] </grid> <grid drag="40 50" drop="right"> <h2 style="color: #ffffff">The new way </h2> + Interconnected + Constantly evolving + Abstracted and contextual + Futureproof </grid> </font> note: The new way of taking notes is much more suited to the way our brains work. - (RIGHT) Interconnected: Every note should be linked to at least one other note, the way we dont' have single ideas floating around without anchoring in our brains. - (RIGHT) Constantly evolving: We're continually correcting our perceptions of the world and our understand-- or at least we should be. Why shouldn't our notes go through this evolution too? - (RIGHT) Abstracted and contextual: There's value in having a note that is rooted in context, but there's also a value to notes that are about patterns or models that you've identified, so that you can apply them to other situations. - (RIGHT) Futureproof: Your notes should be in a medium, format, and language that will still be accessible and usable by the future you who will read them years from now and not have any memory of the context that past you wrote them in. Does this sound familiar? It turns out that taking *good* notes is a lot like building or testing software-- something we happen to know a thing or two about... ---  ![[/assets/cicd.png]] note: - Most of you have probably seen this infinity symbol for CI/CD. - The idea is that rather than a software project being linear, we should think of it as something continuous: we plan for a feature, build it, test it, deploy it, and then get feedback and incorporate that into the next feature we plan for. - This is a good model that has many advantages, not the least of which is that it's a good mix of speed and responsiveness. - Why don't we apply this to note-taking? --- ## Continuous Note-taking ![[/assets/ci-cd-note-taking.png]] note: - Continuous note-taking, then, means - seeing your notes as a process that is never finished - We read or consume information, process it, write down what we've learned, publish that, listen for feedback, and then let that inform what we learn next - Just like continuous integration/continuous delivery. - So that's the theory. Let's get into the practice. How do we actually create some sort of magical note taking system that lets us do continuous note taking? ---  ## What is Obsidian? ![[/assets/obsidian-md-splash.png]] note: - Free (though not open source) - Stores notes offline as plain text (Markdown) - Saves locally, not on someone else's computer - Linked by default - Highly customizable - Highly extensible - Think of it as your own personal Wikipedia. ---  ## Demo note: - Creating a new vault - Click on "Open today's daily note" - Linked and unlinked mentions - graph view Those are the basics of Obsidian and where I think everyone should start, but just to show you what's possible in Obsidian, let me show you what MY vault looks like. -- ![[/assets/eurostar-create-new-vault.png]] note: - An Obsidian "vault" is just a folder on your local filesystem where you'll be keeping all your notes. - Notes are just Markdown files -- ![[/assets/eurostar-daily-note.png]] note: - Daily note: a log of your day. - Start writing down what you've done, what you've read, what you've learned. - `[[Obsidian]]` makes it a link. -- ![[/assets/eurostar-linked-and-unlinked-mentions.png]] note: - Linked mentions - Unlinked mentions -- ![[/assets/eurostar-graph-view.png]] note: - Graph view shows you the relationships between your notes. - You can imagine that as you get more notes, your graph looks cooler and cooler. ---  ## Logging note: - [[Schrödinger's Pokémon - TestCon Europe#Tests]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-devlog.png]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-devlog-02.png]] ---  ## Learning note: - [[Installing Grafana on Kubernetes]] - [[k6 (tool)|k6]] and comparing it against other tools like [[JMeter]] - [[Grafana Labs]] - [[Git]] - [[Software Testing]] - [[Python]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-installing-grafana-on-k8s.png]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-k6.png]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-git.png]] -- ![[/assets/eurostar-python.png]] ---  <grid drag="50 50" drop="left"> ## Learning in public + Creating content + Presentations + GitHub + Obsidian Publish notes + [[Changelog]] </grid> <grid drag="60 60" drop="right"> ![[/assets/midjourney-red-hair-megaphone.png]] </grid> note: Remember when I said I have a history of getting jobs I'm not qualified for? Learning in public, through creating a system for taking notes, is how I do it. - (RIGHT) Creating content: In my job as Developer Advocate, I write blog posts, produce videos, and do a weekly livestream called k6 Office Hours. I also, on the personal front, have a YouTube channel with 33,000 subscribers where I talk about taking notes. I'm currently working on writing a book. All of this is in public, and all of it is supplemented by the fact that because I have so many notes now, I really rarely need to start from scratch. - (RIGHT) Presentations: Presentations are just notes in a different format. I've done four distinct talks on three continents in the last two months, which is a tall order-- unless you already have notes on those topics like I did, and just have to rearrange things. In fact, this presentation was created in Markdown, within Obsidian. - (RIGHT) Collaborating on GitHub: Part of my job is contributing to documentation, and because our documentation (k6.io/docs) is in Markdown, I actually just open up that git repo in Obsidian, make my changes there, and then commit and push as usual. Having everything in Obsidian helps me make connections easier and find things faster. - (RIGHT) Obsidian Publish notes: I publish my Obsidian notes so that you can look into my brain and see what I've thought about - (RIGHT) Changelog: Thanks to Obsidian, I also publish a list of the last 500 notes I've changed, so you can see what's on my mind and what I'm working on. -- ### Creating content ![[/assets/eurostar-nvdh-channel.png]] note: Creating content - In my job as Developer Advocate, I write blog posts, produce videos, and do a weekly livestream called k6 Office Hours. - I also, on the personal front, have a YouTube channel with 33,000 subscribers where I talk about taking notes. I have a course on Obsidian, and I'm currently working on writing a book. - All of this is in public, and all of it is supplemented by the fact that because I have so many notes now, I really rarely need to start from scratch. -- ### Presentations ![[/assets/eurostar-presentation.png]] note: Presentations - Presentations are just notes in a different format. - I've done four distinct talks on three continents in the last two months, which is a tall order-- unless you already have notes on those topics like I did, and just have to rearrange things. - In fact, this presentation was created in Markdown, within Obsidian. -- ### GitHub ![[/assets/eurostar-load-testing-websites.png]] note: Collaborating on GitHub: - Part of my job is contributing to documentation, and because our documentation (k6.io/docs) is in Markdown, I actually just open up that git repo in Obsidian, make my changes there, and then commit and push as usual. Having everything in Obsidian helps me make connections easier and find things faster. - This is also Obsidian, just with a different theme. It mimics what you can see at k6.io/docs -- ### Obsidian Publish ![[/assets/eurostar-fork-my-brain.png]] note: Obsidian Publish notes: - I publish my Obsidian notes so that you can look into my brain and see what I've thought about - It's at notes.nicolevanderhoeven.com -- ### Changelog ![[/assets/eurostar-changelog.png]] note: Changelog - Thanks to Obsidian, I also publish a list of the last 500 notes I've changed, so you can see what's on my mind and what I'm working on. ---  ## Advantages of continuous note-taking + You learn faster. + Iterative and incremental work accrue over time. + You never start from nothing. + By learning in public, you create learning exhaust. note: - (RIGHT) You learn faster: Writing does not help us learn; it IS how we learn. - (RIGHT) Iterative and incremental work accrue over time.: When you're just starting, it may seem like the notes you're making will never be useful. They will be. Future you will be grateful to you. - (RIGHT) You never start from nothing.: If you need to create something, chances are you've already taken notes on it. - (RIGHT) By learning in public, you create learning exhaust.: Learning exhaust is visible byproduct of learning that you've purposely made visible. Creating learning exhaust: - helps you check your understanding with peers - helps others follow your path and learn what you learned - helps you prove to future employers what you know ---  ![[/assets/obsidan-graph-2023-05-01.png]] note: - I said at the beginning that I have a history of getting jobs that I wasn't really qualified for. And that's not exactly true. - See, I WAS qualified for them-- but through means other than formal education. I learned a lot of things on my own, which is great for learning, but that's also difficult to prove to others who may want to hire you. - This is my personal Obsidian graph. Every dot on this graph is a note that exists in my vault that I've written. Every line is a link to another note. - Taking notes, and taking them in public, gives you a visible body of knowledge that not only helps YOU but also helps potential employers understand your capabilities. ---  note: Thanks for listening! If you'd like a copy of these slides, they're available on my site, nicolevanderhoeven.com (spelling it right is your first test). I'm happy to take any questions now, if anyone has any.