How to read and take notes like a PhD - easy, fast, and efficient

The speaker introduces a method for managing academic literature effectively using a presentation format. They emphasize the importance of not reading every paper in detail but instead skimming and identifying the valuable ones. The recommended approach involves creating slides with key information such as paper title, link, take-home messages, and interesting figures. The use of tags to categorize papers based on their relevance, such as 'literature review', 'new discovery', 'must read', and 'methods', is highlighted as a way to streamline the review process.

In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the use of visual aids in the literature review process. They mention the use of Google Scholar for initial research and the importance of identifying key takeaways from papers. The speaker also introduces the idea of using an AI tool like ChatGPT to summarize papers into bullet points for quick understanding. Additionally, they highlight the value of capturing interesting figures from papers as visual cues to remember and revisit the research.

The speaker continues to describe their literature review method, focusing on the organization of research using tags and visuals. They explain the process of tagging papers with categories such as 'method' or 'ideas' to quickly find relevant information later. The speaker also details how to use a presentation tool to create a visual bank of knowledge, making it easy to skim through and find specific papers or figures when needed.

This paragraph delves into the second stage of the literature review process: detailed reading. The speaker stresses the necessity of reading papers thoroughly, especially the abstract, conclusions, and methods sections, to gain a deep understanding. They describe their preference for printing papers and annotating them with notes and highlights to keep track of important points. The speaker also shares their method of keeping only the most relevant pages from each paper for future reference.

The speaker concludes by summarizing their literature review method, which includes both a quick filtering stage and a detailed reading stage. They reflect on the importance of being selective about the papers they keep and the sections they annotate. The speaker also suggests having different presentations for different research projects and encourages viewers to find their own preferred method for literature review and note-taking.