“It is the intuition that comes from the intimate knowledge of a practice that can lead us to new insights.”
– Sönke Ahrens
My insights from reading How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens and how I apply Zettelkasten in Notion
Zettelkasten is a knowledge management and note-taking method that helps you create a network of linked ideas that can help cue other ideas. It’s all about connecting thoughts.
The method was pioneered by Conrad Gessner but popularized by Niklas Luhmann, a thinker in systems theory from the 20th century, who wrote more than 70 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles.
Luhmann would collect references on index cards with brief thoughts on what he was reading. Then he would turn to his main box filled with more notes to think about their relevance for his writing. In the end, he would write his final thoughts and comments on another piece of paper.
The way Luhmann organized his notes was by giving them fixed numbers, not by topic. Remember, he is from a time the Internet was non-existent, so he needed to create a taxonomy system that allowed him to discover and connect notes quickly. He would then improve his slip-box by adding, commenting or correcting behind relevant existing notes. In the end, he amassed 90,000 index cards!
In all honesty, the number system confused me when I first wanted to learn how to use this method, so I will not focus on that part. In a Notion database, I simply sort “cards” in gallery view with the ‘created time’ property by ‘Descending’ to find the latest note.
I have a feeling my zettelkasten will always be evolving and I might change the way I organize things.
Zettelkasten is a tool for thinking
What are the four tools you need to get started with your Zettelkasten?
- First, you need something to ‘quick capture’ your ideas and thoughts, like pen and paper. I use a notebook to make it accessible to capture my ideas whenever they pop up.
- A knowledge management system to collect references and collect notes when reading. I use Readwise to export the highlights and notes to a Notion database.
- The slip-box is where you hold and combine the permanent notes. The slip-box shows you what you need to remember, so it allows your brain to focus. Your thinking shapes the internal structure of a slip-box. Luhmann used a physical box where he could slip his notes, and I use a Notion database.
- An editor to put the information together, like google docs or word. I could be using Notion as a word processor, but I’m a millennial who doesn’t know how to let go yet completely, so I’m still using Google Docs.
Warning! Tools alone can’t improve your productivity if you don’t know how to manage them, and just because a tool is popular doesn’t mean it will work out for you. Understanding how the tool works is critical; otherwise, you will be disappointed with the results.
What are ‘permanent notes’?
The work of the permanent notes is to write, connect, differentiate, complement and elaborate on questions. These notes help you turn the content you consume toward your own domain, making it relevant within your lines of thought.
A permanent note is what you explain in your own words
- You read something that gives you an insight
- You verify your understanding by writing it in your own words
- You compare your new note to other relevant permanent notes
- You elaborate on it and update your database or “slip-box”
- You make the necessary links with other thoughts
They also contain information you want to have in long-term memory.
How to connect notes for writing?
A big part in my work is writing. Writing for marketing, writing emails, writing scripts, writing ideas, writing blogs…
I can say this method has sped up my own writing process. As I was taking insightful notes while reading, and adding thoughts into my “box” I was able to write this blog in less than an hour.
I love what Guía Carmona said in the How to Take Smart Notes book club she created: “A book can be a collection of permanent notes.” A blog would be a series of revised notes turn into continuous text.
Whenever you want to write a piece, turn your collection of permanent notes into a rough draft by translating each card into something coherent that makes sense within the argument’s context.
After laying all the “cards on the table,” I start rearranging notes around. I make connections in the form of sequences, piles or clusters. As I connect ideas, I start seeing linear text patterns.
I connect notes with the ‘relation’ property type in my permanent notes database. I make a relation to a note that relates generally and another note that relates specifically. I got this cross-reference idea from Phil Houtz.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to connect notes:
- What aspects of what I wrote down catch my interest?
- What does this mean for my research?
- To which of my projects or problems does this note apply?
- Does this impose a new question?
Trust that the questions will emerge as you work, although you can’t force an idea to go a specific way.
I also added a checkbox property called “Combine” just so I can see those notes in clusters or a pile.
Making notes discoverable
To make better notes, write as if you were writing to another person with full sentences, adding transparent sources and references.
Fill it with meaningful keywords, which is crucial for the thinking process for the more in-depth elaboration of the note and its connections. It also becomes your own personal SEO, making a fast search.
What I discovered through this method
I learned to elaborate on the problem or question first, so the concrete idea finishes forming later, which made me more interested and motivated to write.
When I realized this structure becomes an abundant fountain of ideas that helps move content forward, my drive to get things done increased.
The main problem with Zettelkasten? It’s having way too many topics to write/talk about. In the end, I was editing down more than I was writing.
Stay tuned for the video explanation of my method!
