The following steps were directly copied from “A Beginner’s Guide to the Zettelkasten Method”1.
tl;dr
- Write notes and the reasons for the notes
- Structure note and add metadata
- Embed in your knowledge network with tags and connections
- Work with questions, revisit knowledge network
Thoughts
I guess I’m good with the second and third point. Not so much on the reflexive part, the reasons for notes and the revisiting. Have to practice that.
Take Smart Notes
Step 1: Read and take smart notes
When working, write down your thoughts and the reason why you are taking particular note of a piece of information. This way, you will better understand the focus and reasoning behind the information you jot down. Even better, summarize the information and write it in your own words as much as you can.
Step 2: Rewrite your notes for the Zettelkasten
Once you have collected and summarized the information, it’s time to highlight some key elements. Include index information like the author’s name, book location, or the link URL. For longer Zettels, highlighting the learning objectives or key points in a bullet list might be helpful. The main point is to write your notes in such a way that you will easily be able to quickly get the gist of the material when you come across it again.
Step 3: Adding a structure to your Zettel
The objective of using the Zettelkasten method is to make knowledge relationships. Add a particular or number-ID to the individual Zettels to help you link them to another in your system. Doing so will allow you to jump from a related idea or piece of information to the next without having to search through your archive for particular keywords.
You may come to a point where your database is filled with Zettels, expertly organized and linked to another, but you have lost the overview. In this case, you can create Hub notes to help you. Hub notes are Zettels about a certain topic with subtopics. They are similar to the index or the table of contents. Use hub notes as a reference or index for your work. Write down the list of topics in your Zettelkasten with a description and reference number to help you find and access information easier and quicker.
Step 4: Ask questions and review as a habit
Note-taking or note-collecting is great, but having access to a significant amount of information doesn’t make you smarter. Ask yourself questions when analyzing the information to help you develop your own ideas for the content or material. Make it a regular habit to review information in your Zettelkasten to jog your memory and encourage you to see patterns and create connections between ideas and information.