How to Abbreviate Note Taking

Note taking is one of those skills that you need throughout life. Although you may learn note taking in school, you'll still use it later in life for everything from taking notes in a business meeting to jotting down reminders during a phone call. Abbreviating your note taking makes it much easier.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use symbols, including graphics, to replace words. Common math symbols can be really useful, like using the symbol "=" instead of writing out the word "equals." Graphic symbols work, too, like using "$" for "dollar" or "money." Also, use symbols instead writing out numbers, like 3 for "three."

2. Use standard abbreviations like "co." for "company." Make sure you include a period after your abbreviation to remind you later that you shortened the word. Make the abbreviation plural by adding an "s" to it. So "representatives" becomes "reps."

3. Shorten words by just using the first syllable. Use "intro." instead of "introduction." If the first syllable doesn't give you enough information, add a few more letters. Instead of using "sub." for "submarine," you could use "submrn."

4. Take out letters from your words to make them shorter. You can take all the vowels out of a word, like changing "group" to "grp." You can also use an apostrophe to indicate you removed letters from a word, like changing "continued" to "cont'd."

5. Record the important words and leave out small, unimportant words. Instead of trying to copy down "Meet me at the park on Monday at three," shorten it to the crucial information: "Park Mon. @ 3."

Tips & Warnings

• Check online for lists of common abbreviations that you can memorize and use regularly.

• You can create your own, personal set of abbreviations. Just be careful that you will remember what your abbreviations mean later on.

Resources

• A list of abbreviated words and phrases