I "pile" articles in rough categories and tend to keep separate piles of the ones I like, versus the ones that were not so helpful, the less helpful ones get shoved to the back of whatever flat surface is storing articles. This is a horrible system if you live with someone, or are a neat freak, or need to use the flat surfaces of your home ( ironing board, cooker, etc) for daily living. I think it is good to go through and throw things out, too---I chucked out several notebooks, as they had served their purpose and I could not be bothered to interpret my mad scribblings again, and in some cases it meant re-reading material--but as I am sitting here doing that, its useful--what made sense on the first read is different than what makes sense on the fourth read---with a lot of other reading in between!

Can you get back to the books that you referenced? I think working exclusively from notes is difficult-for the reasons that you pointed out. Do you write as you go, or do you wait until you have a big chunk of material and then write, or some other system? I usually write 4-5 pages on a handful of related articles/issues, and use that to start building my chapter--that way I am not reliant on the notes after a long period of time, I would have written when the stuff was relatively fresh on the brain and I could make sense of it.

and...because it is raining again and I don't want to get wet, I just did a Meyers Briggs profiler..for fun! ENFP==which is Extroverted Intuititve Feeling Perceiver--its says "very expressed extravert, distinctly impressed intuitive, moderately expressed feeling, slightly expressed perceiving..."
http://typelogic.com/enfp.html
another ENFP descriptor!

I am begged for assignment extensions, to produce tardy tutors out of the thin air, to locate strange room numbers, and so forth. Yesterday as I ran wild eyed out of the building to find a black jacket, a poor soul stopped me and asked for some strange address. He was looking for XYZ College, and I recognised the main road he wanted, but had no idea how to tell him to get there. I myself took him to the main office and they were able to get him sorted! I usually don't know enough to help people...but it is an amusing break in the day.

I combat isolation by leaving my office door ajar ( I am lucky to inhabit my own space, albeit draped around the piles of the real owner of the office--carefully moving NOTHING!). This means I often become the Information Point or Help Desk on any number of requests. I DO try to be of some help, while usually having to disclaim any real ability to help--I try at least to point people to the main building office where "real" people might be able to help.

That is so funny about how to survive the Phd--I love the remark about the lack of heating in the work space and the wasp nest for company!

its also important to have access to varities of chocolate intake.

I was reduced to an egg mayo and cress something sandwich from the vending machine as a terrific gale and rain kicked up just as I was trying to creep out the door. I soothed myself with a cup of chocoespresso...not bad for vending machine coffee, actually! Lots of chocolate in the place. My favourite discovery is some kind of choco something flapjack. Flapjacks are a very British thing ( in the US they mean a pancake--oh, happy Pancake Day!) and I like them--esp. with chocolate!

I am giving away my age by saying that I prefer to do my first drafts by hand, rather than typing at the keyboard. I actually keep a notebook with my notes of the articles I read, and the first hand written drafts on things. That said, over time I purge the drafts because they have hopefully morphed into pieces of more formal written work, but nevertheless, my work space is sometimes like archaelogy, where I am digging through the layers trying to find what I need.

There are some suggestions out there on how to take notes, and develop a card file index system of them...using different colours of pen even to indicate quotes, precis, etc. Are you working from your own copies of things, or library copies? If I have my own copies, I like to scribble notes in the margin on the first read, and then have another read or two over a day or so to let the ideas sink in. Usually I am thinking how the ideas relate to other things I have read about, so I might scribble that in the margin. Later, when I want to write about the article, I will write my thoughts somewhat free form, linking this and that, and then type them up, with appropriate footnote references...

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20080201.html

Not itself about PhDs, but it does sort of describe the experience...!

Wasn't there a website devoted to PhD comics, depicting PhD life, that someone posted a few weeks or so back? I had a look through it and it was pretty funny--as well as seemed very accurate.

Nor me...I just eat chocolate chip cookies...I see a break in the clouds..I am going to run for it.

Why is it that everytime I think of going out the door to get something for lunch it starts to rain? This does not aid in a healthy diet, as I am then reduced to eating double chocolate chip cookies out of the vending machine. Its 2:30--I want lunch very very badly...and its RAINING! when just a few moments ago I had to pull the window shades to keep from being blinded by the sun. I am also starting to suspect that brief appearances of blinding sunshine herald huge downpours of rain! I am starting to catch on to the weather...maybe if I pretend I am eating double chocolate chip cookies for lunch, it will fool the weather and I can run out the door and get something better..somewhere!