Note taking is one of the most common and most useful study methods that an individual might use to study for a particular exam, interview, or other similar purpose. However, it is important for an individual to make sure that his or her notes are as complete and accurate as possible. Unfortunately, it is usually not possible for an individual to write down everything that a professor says word for word and it is likely that an individual will miss important information if the individual cannot take each note quickly. Since most lectures only last approximately and hour or two at most and most professors cover a large amount of material in that time, it is essential for an individual to be able to take notes quickly in order to get the most out of each lecture. This means that in order for an individual to take notes effectively, there are a several techniques that an individual should use to shorten his or her sentences so the individual will be able to take notes more quickly.
First, the individual should always use number shorthand such as writing "55" instead of writing out the word fifty-five. This will allow the individual to save a lot of time as it takes much less time to simply write a number like "55" than it does to write out each number in word form. Secondly, an individual may not always have enough time to come up with an obvious abbreviation for a word that he or she needs to write quickly so it may sometimes be wise for the individual to write the word without the vowels. For example, the individual could abbreviate a word such as "beach" as "bch." This may only save the individual a few seconds, but this time can add up if the individual is using abbreviations throughout his or her notes. It is important to note, however, that not every word should be abbreviated in this way as some words, especially compound words and words that begin and/or end with a vowel will often form a nonsensical abbreviation. For example, abbreviating the word "Australia" as "srtla" is most likely going to confuse the individual. Finally, if the individual is starting to fall behind, the individual may want to leave out any articles such as "a, "an", or "the." This will allow the individual to easily shorten the length of each sentence.