Colour Coding Notes – The Ultimate Guide: 5 Fantastic Steps

Colour coding notes is probably the most fantastic study hack to exist. Have you ever struggled to study the blank black and white text in front of you? Maybe you found it difficult to process a lot of the information when it would look something like this:

This blog post is completely dedicated to helping you spice your notes up a little with the power of colour coding! Let’s dive in!

Benefits of Colour Coding:

Did you know that using colour actually improves our ability to recall information? When we use colours during studying, we are drawing our attention to the topic which allows it to become a part of our long term memory. So, using the following colour coding techniques is going to bring you one step closer to acing your exams.

If that isn’t convincing enough, then it would be helpful to know that using colour in your notes can also give you a sense of satisfaction! If you are a creative and artistic person, colour coding is a great way to bring that side of you out!

1. Be consistent with how you colour code

Here’s the thing.

When you colour code your notes, it’s not really helpful to use random colours all over the place. If you do that, it’s just going to be harder to actually benefit from them.

The best way to do this is is to use a sticky note in order to write down what your colours and highlighters actually mean. For example, if you are using blue for definitions, then you should always stick to blue in that case.

The other important thing to remember when you’re colour coding is to not over do it.

Remember that being consistent means finding a healthy balance. If you overflow your page with a lot of information and with colours all over the place, you will only confuse yourself more. You’re colour coding to retain information, not lose it!

But how do I develop the right system to make sure I am using the technique correctly?

2. Use the correct colors in your colour coding system

There is actually research which backs up the colours that are most beneficial for learning.

Green

Green is a colour that has been proven to increase and improve concentration! This means that it is a great colour to consider for your colour coding system.

A study has shown that people who work in green offices were more satisfied in their jobs than others. In retrospect, using green in your notes might leave you feeling more satisfied than if you didn’t!

For example, you can use green to highlight certain concepts that require more concentration than others. You could also use it for topics that you find frustrating!

Orange

Orange is actually a great colour to use during your studies because it works as a mood lifter an an anti-depressant!

If you’d like another reason to use orange in your notes, it stimulates mental activity.

For this reason, you can use orange to highlight key facts that you really need to remember. You could write dates in orange, or use it to recall the themes of a novel. Whatever you use it for, the options are endless!

That being said, you should be careful which shade of orange you choose. If it’s too bright, it might be distracting, so try to go for a more mellow orange.

Blue

Blue is a very versatile colour, but where it really shines is it’s ability to increase one’s productivity.

Using this colour in subjects/topics that are very content dense would be a great idea.

It is also a naturally calming colour. This means it could be very helpful to use in a complicated topic which is stressing you out.

The colour will help you to calm down, which will lead you to being able to process all of the information much more efficiently.

Of course, this is only a suggestion! See what works best for yourself, but it’s a good idea to keep the above in mind too.

3. Create a colour coding system

This step will cement the last two steps by putting them both to work.

We already discussed the importance of being consistent with your colour. Now it’s time to actually implement what you’ve learnt so far, into a system!

Once you have an idea of which colours you will be using during your study session (and for which definitions), then you can continue onto the next step.

Grab a piece of paper, sticky note, or whatever you would like to use that you can access quickly. Once you’ve done that, you can use your chosen colours to create your system.

For example, let’s say you’re studying a play, then your system could look something like this:

Blue: Themes

Orange: Important to know

Green: Quotes to learn by heart

Make sure that you have this note somewhere you can see at all times during your study sessions. You will find that all of your important information is highlighted on your page with different categories!

Related: How to study: 7 ways that actually work

4. Avoid using similar colours

Make sure that the colours you choose in your system make sense.

If you are using orange and yellow, it will be very difficult to distinguish between them. That will really defeat the whole purpose of using your colour coded notes!

It would be best to use colours that are easily distinguished from one another, such as blue and red in order to avoid any confusion.

The image of the colour wheel here should be helpful. Use the colours opposite to each other in order to have different colours.

Source

5. Colour code with highlighters!

Highlighters are just as important as coloured pens. They are also quicker to use than coloured pens as you simply highlight over your desired text.

You have two options here. You could either use the highlighters by themselves and substitute the above steps with highlighters. Or, you can use highlighters in addition to your coloured pen system.

If you’d like to go for the second option, do not use more than one or two highlighters. The reason I say this is because it might be too overwhelming to have so many colours on your notes, which is something we need to avoid!

How can we use highlighters effectively?

Highlight in moderation:

As much as possible, do not over highlight. Not everything in your notes is important enough to highlight! Make sure you are only highlighting key information.

A great way to do this is by setting a limit for yourself. Let’s say, every paragraph should not have more than one sentence highlighted.

If you stick to that, only the most important sentences will stand out and you won’t be confusing yourself with all that information!

Set a system for your highlighters:

Similar to what we said above, you should create a categorised system for your highlighters. For example, you can use yellow for key information and green to highlight themes.

Whatever system you use, just make sure you don’t over do it!

Annotate what you highlight:

This is one of the best studying techniques you can use, especially in addition to colour coding.

The reason behind this is that when you are annotating, you are engaging with the information directly.

Your annotations are an extension of what you are understanding about the material. This makes it easier for you to store in your long term memory!

Conclusion:

These colour coding techniques are guaranteed to help you create a more organised set of notes, which will bring you one step closer to acing your exams!

Do you have any techniques you use to colour code? Leave them in the comment section below!