This article is so interesting when I re-read it. Some of its conceptual bits still seem so foreign to note-taking, like the fact that there's a heading/step called "Irritation".
Also:
> Do not sort your stuff. Don’t waste time making up categories; this hampers organic growth.
I have a hybrid sorted/unsorted approach, and TBH I really like the sorting and categorizing. The trick is to keep it as simple as possible, and to change it as soon as it's needed. Then it saves a ton of time and I don't ever have to look at a depressingly-long flat list of something, especially when my file manager has a lot of built-ins for dealing with folders and levels of folders.
I find the same is helpful within each individual note: I have a hybrid sorted/unsorted approach. I use a template with a TOC and some favorite headings that are convenient--To-Do, Log of Lessons Learned, Log (Meta), and Resources. Sure, I can type to search, and I use tags where it makes sense. But just knowing the layout of each note in the broader sense makes everything easier.
Anyway what I REALLY like about the Zettelkasten prompts appearing here on HN is that it gets me thinking about how to improve my system. Thank you.
This is a good article, and an interesting topic. Every seems to be looking for the One True System(tm) to make knowledge acquisition and note-taking effortless, seamless, and productive.
But to me, the crux of all the systems I've looked at lies in the review of material. Luhmann's original Zettlekasten was all about putting the cards in the system and linking them up. By all means write your notes/snippets/capsules/whatever, but they then should be woven into the system, and it's the act of making those connections that is the "Conversation".
Otherwise it's just a write-only brain-dump. Maybe you can search for a single "card", but it's the connections that matter.
Some previous submissions:
4 points|Tomte|31 minutes ago|0 comments <- This one
4 points|memexy|12 months ago|0 comments
1 points|Tomte|1 year ago|0 comments
1 points|Tomte|2 years ago|0 comments
2 points|Tomte|2 years ago|2 comments
1 points|longdefeat|3 years ago|0 comments
2 points|Tomte|3 years ago|0 comments
1 points|Tomte|3 years ago|0 comments
2 points|Tomte|4 years ago|0 comments
3 points|Tomte|4 years ago|0 comments
3 points|basename|4 years ago|0 comments
4 points|Tomte|4 years ago|0 comments
2 points|Tomte|5 years ago|0 comments
Also:
> Do not sort your stuff. Don’t waste time making up categories; this hampers organic growth.
I have a hybrid sorted/unsorted approach, and TBH I really like the sorting and categorizing. The trick is to keep it as simple as possible, and to change it as soon as it's needed. Then it saves a ton of time and I don't ever have to look at a depressingly-long flat list of something, especially when my file manager has a lot of built-ins for dealing with folders and levels of folders.
I find the same is helpful within each individual note: I have a hybrid sorted/unsorted approach. I use a template with a TOC and some favorite headings that are convenient--To-Do, Log of Lessons Learned, Log (Meta), and Resources. Sure, I can type to search, and I use tags where it makes sense. But just knowing the layout of each note in the broader sense makes everything easier.
Anyway what I REALLY like about the Zettelkasten prompts appearing here on HN is that it gets me thinking about how to improve my system. Thank you.