Keeping zetel notes: productive or counterproductive approach.

Posted by Paul Korm
Dec 3, 2018 at 01:18 PM

I generally have an aversion to the modern preoccupation with “productivity” or “workflow”, which seems to be a recurrent topic in many forums. Coming from a manufacturing and service company background, “productivity” is something we do to improve machine or workforce throughput and output, not ourselves. So, in my mind, the highest purpose of note taking is learning and enrichment. The learning might be in service of a short term goal (“get data to complete project xyx”), but that I don’t think of zettelkasten in that context.

I prefer to think of zettlekasten (in whatever guise—and there are many ways to do this) as note-taking with long-term learning and enrichment in mind. In that sense, the main features of the “practice” of zettelkasten-making are persistence, consistent method, and cross-zettel referencing. Persistence in the sense that one keeps up a regular zettelkasten practice, at whatever frequency makes sense. Consistent method can mean handwritten notes (as in the original slipbox concept), or Tinderbox, or some other electronic or hybrid physical / electronic method. What matters is deciding the method that works for oneself, and sticking to it—with adaptation over time if needed. And, finally, cross-zettel referencing means a method to point one zettel at another as a way of building up the links between notes (semantic or otherwise) that help build up a record of a personal body of knowledge.

A personal journal, by the way, can also fit into this concept.

More than anything, the best think is to enjoy what one is doing with these non-goal-oriented notes. A slavish compulsion to take a note about whatever comes to mind is foolish and the best way to encourage one to abandon the note taking practice. On the other hand, recognition that some (or maybe a majority) of the notes will age-out and be irrelevant over time. That’s fine. Part of the joy of discovery is to read ones notes months or years later and wonder “well, why did I do that?”

Anyway, responsive to @Dellu’s thoughtful post, I’d say: just as there’s no set of objective rules about developing one’s personal body of knowledge, there’s no prescriptive approach to zettelkasten. (Some bloggers love to be prescriptive—they usually are the ones who have an untoward interest in “personal productivity”.) With regard to Beck’s approach—I think she has a very long term perspective for her note taking, well beyond the current goals of the comprehensive exam. That’s terrific.