Notes That Stick: A Simple System to Retain Everything You Learn

Janice Purifoy is a writer, educator, and lifelong learner who has spent over a decade thinking about a deceptively simple question: why do some things we learn stick for a lifetime while most disappear within a week? Her answer became the system at the heart of this book — a practical approach to note-taking built on the findings of cognitive science, tested in her own work, and refined through years of teaching it to students, professionals, and busy working parents who need learning to fit real life.

She believes the ability to learn well is the most transferable skill anyone can build, and that it requires neither genius nor discipline nor an elaborate toolkit — only an honest system, used consistently. Her workshops and talks focus on turning scattered reading into lasting knowledge, and her writing on learning and productivity has helped readers reorganize not just their notes but their relationship to information itself.

Janice has a deep fondness for the humble notebook, the margin note, and the well-placed index card. When she isn't reading, taking notes on what she reads, or taking notes on the notes she has taken, you'll find her with a stack of library books and a pen she refuses to lend out. She is currently at work on her next book about the habits of curious people — and, naturally, taking extensive notes along the way.