It's a note taking system created by a German professor, who used it to become a crazy prolific writer of academic papers and books. That's not my motivation for using it. Here's how I described it, with help from ChatGPT - in an earlier post about revamping Obsidian:
"Here’s a good concise overview of it from ChatGPT 4o (when I prompted it to frame it in terms of our digital world (since the method was developed by German sociologist Niklas Luhmann in the 1950s):
The Zettelkasten method is a personal knowledge management system designed to capture, organize, and interconnect ideas to enhance learning and creativity. In the digital age, it involves three key types of notes:
Fleeting Notes: Quick, informal jottings of thoughts, ideas, or observations captured on the fly. They are temporary and meant to be reviewed and processed soon after creation.
Literature Notes: Summaries or paraphrases of key points from source materials like books or articles. These notes distill essential information in your own words to aid comprehension.
Permanent Notes: Core, standalone notes that encapsulate a single idea or concept clearly and concisely. Written in a way that makes sense independently, they are interconnected with other notes through links or references, forming a rich web of knowledge.
By consistently creating and linking these notes, the Zettelkasten system builds a dynamic and evolving network of ideas that supports deeper understanding, critical thinking, and creative output
I highlighted that last sentence because that’s exactly what I’m after with my note taking."
I really recommend looking at Bob Doto’s book 📕 Systems of Writing.
This has somewhat replaced how to take smart notes for me as the recommended Zettelkasten book that I tell beginners about. Or even other experts because it’s just so much clearer here, and it is more functional instead of being focused on academic writing.
For me, I’ve been trying to implement the idea of a sleeping vault which is where you put notes that are in your inbox, but you don’t really wanna process them and you don’t really want to delete them either. It gives my mind a space to just let go of the notes.
I kept waiting for a reference to this long word: Zettelkasten? Was is das?
It's a note taking system created by a German professor, who used it to become a crazy prolific writer of academic papers and books. That's not my motivation for using it. Here's how I described it, with help from ChatGPT - in an earlier post about revamping Obsidian:
"Here’s a good concise overview of it from ChatGPT 4o (when I prompted it to frame it in terms of our digital world (since the method was developed by German sociologist Niklas Luhmann in the 1950s):
The Zettelkasten method is a personal knowledge management system designed to capture, organize, and interconnect ideas to enhance learning and creativity. In the digital age, it involves three key types of notes:
Fleeting Notes: Quick, informal jottings of thoughts, ideas, or observations captured on the fly. They are temporary and meant to be reviewed and processed soon after creation.
Literature Notes: Summaries or paraphrases of key points from source materials like books or articles. These notes distill essential information in your own words to aid comprehension.
Permanent Notes: Core, standalone notes that encapsulate a single idea or concept clearly and concisely. Written in a way that makes sense independently, they are interconnected with other notes through links or references, forming a rich web of knowledge.
By consistently creating and linking these notes, the Zettelkasten system builds a dynamic and evolving network of ideas that supports deeper understanding, critical thinking, and creative output
I highlighted that last sentence because that’s exactly what I’m after with my note taking."
I really recommend looking at Bob Doto’s book 📕 Systems of Writing.
This has somewhat replaced how to take smart notes for me as the recommended Zettelkasten book that I tell beginners about. Or even other experts because it’s just so much clearer here, and it is more functional instead of being focused on academic writing.
For me, I’ve been trying to implement the idea of a sleeping vault which is where you put notes that are in your inbox, but you don’t really wanna process them and you don’t really want to delete them either. It gives my mind a space to just let go of the notes.
Oh, I will, definitely. I had to wade through a lot of the text that was aimed specifically at academic writers. Thanks so much for the suggestion
I think / hope it's this one: https://www.amazon.com/System-Writing-Unconventional-Note-Making-Zettelkasten-ebook/dp/B0D18J83VB?sr=8-1