By the end of this video, you will have a concrete zettelkasten system and workflow to use in Obsidian. You will understand the history, benefits, and practicalities of using a Zettelkasten as well as the philosophy behind it so you can transform your system and process to fit your needs. I'm going to take you through an overview of my entire zettelkasten Obsidian workflow. I'm will show you how I capture, organize, distill, and express information. Afterward you will transcend into the astral plane itself as your ideas transfer across the globe and dominate all of your opposition in a glorious display of power and -- Okay I might have gotten a little carried away there... Before we talk about the modern day zettelkasten it's important to understand its history because it can give us insight into how to use a zettelkasten today. ## [[A Brief History of the Zettelkasten]] The zettelkasten notetaking system is most well known after being popularized by [[Sonhke Ahrens]] in his book, [[How to Take Smart Notes]] where he discusses the prolific writing output of German Researcher [[Nikolas Luhman]] who used an analog or physical zettelkasten method. Luhman wrote notes on physical slip cards which he called [[Zettels]]. Each zettel was organized like this: ![[An Overview of my Zettelkasten System in Obsidian 2022-11-10 15.38.28.excalidraw|1000]] After completing a zettel he would put it into his slip box. Instead of organizing his slip box through in rigid folders, Luhman gave each of his zettels a unique id which he wrote at the top of each zettel. Then he would connect them together in his slip box in one of two ways: 1. Physically in the slip box 2. Referencing a physically separate but related note identifier at the bottom of the slip He referenced the zettels physically by starting with a higher order concept or topic, something very broad, and then slowly adding zettels in a chain by adding new letters and numbers in front of them. For example, he might start a high order note on the history of bonzai trees with an 11 at the top but of the note and then his next note if related would be titled 11a. 11b might be related to 11 but not as much to 11a where as 11a2 would be related to both 11a and 11. Compounding on this over many many iterations allowed him to create a hierarchy of zettels related in a chain like this. ![[Pasted image 20221110152943.png]] But what if a zettel connected in the chain physically was connected to another note outside the chain? Say 11c10 was connected to 26a3? Then Luhman could reference the unique identifier at the bottom of the note, or in the body of the note itself. The unique identifier could be a number, title, time based or something else. Luhman would also add in the literature note reference of where he got his ideas from at the footer/bottom of the note, so he could always trace back his steps and find the original source. These two organizational systems allowed Luhman to break through the folder based rigid structure so many people still take notes like today. Instead, he could connect related concepts across disciplines. He might connect an idea from evolutionary biology to one on the history of Asian trade across the Silk Roads. It's no wonder he was so prolific. Each day when he came to his slip box he could ask the simple question, "what should I write today Zettelkasten?" Just to be clear, he didn't literally stand in front of his filing cabinet and ask his zettelkasten that. That would be weird. His slip cards naturally clumped together to form writing topics, but also connected in strange, insightful ways that would lead to questions of inquiry coming up naturally rather than being forced from the get-go. And because each slip card had a reference back to the original source on the back, he could always cite his resources when the writing came. Added all up, this made Nikolas Luhman one of the most prolific writers of his time, publishing works ranging from the law, economy, politics, art, religion, ecology, mass media, and love. But his most incredible skill was his ability to instill imposter syndrome in the minds of everyone who was exposed to him. Just talking about him makes me feel insecure about my own notetaking capabilities. Jokes on Luhman though because in the modern era we have power unlike he could ever imagine with digital notetaking tools. These tools like Obsidian, Roam Research, Logseq and more make the linking nature of the zettelkasten easier than ever before. ### Super Brief History of the Zettelkasten Before Luhman Despite Luhman being the face of the zettelkasten method of notetaking, it has a much broader history than from just him. In his article, [[The Two Definitions of Zettelkasten]], Chris Aldrich discusses the deep history and knowledge often swept under the rug by the plethora of YouTubers and bloggers discussing how to use one. Since antiquity, writers, scientists, and other creatives have used commonplace books, notebooks which typically held quotes, thoughts, and ideas in books that resonated with their authors. This practice was closely related to the keeping of *florilegiums* in Christian settings which were collections of literary extracts. In the 16th century, Swiss physician Konrad Gessner (1516 – 1565), building on the commonplace tradition, realized that one’s notes or excerpts might be easier to use if they were cut out of their places on the page and re-arrangeable. So Luhman wasn't the first one to use a zettelkasten esc notetaking method. And before the zettelkasten method and paper even existed humans had to take notes on wood or stone. Heck before that we were entirely oral storytellers. I say this because it's easy to get caught in the weeds when beginning to use the zettelkasten method of notetaking. Where should I connect this note? How should I title the note? What is the meaning of life? But humans have survived without digital notetaking and the zettelkasten method for thousands of years. The tool is only as strong as the person using it. Ye give a tank to a chitmunk and see how much use they make of it. Similarly, you try to ingrain a zettelkasten notetaking method without having the right mindset or goals and it won't do much for you. ## Benefits of the Modern Zettelkasten Notetaking Philosophy You might be saying, "Aidan all of this seems really complicated and like an utter waste of time." That's a good point. Why am I writing this article. All right bye guys! In all seriousness the zettelkasten notetaking method has some serious benefits if you learn to integrate it into your life. Let's go through some of the main ones now. ### Top Down and Bottom Up Thinking The zettelkasten method allows you to research top down and bottom up. You can research top down by coming to your zettelkasten with a question already in mind. Then you look for notes in your system relevant to the question at hand. But, you can also come at your zettelkasten with a bottom up approach. Instead of asking a research question, you ask your zettelkasten what you would like to research by analyzing the clumps and connections between notes, something I will discuss how to do more effectively later on. ### Fights Confirmation Bias By taking a bottom up approach to notetaking we can potentially fight [[Confirmation bias]] because we don't come in with a precrafted research question looking to confirm something. Rather, we ask our zettelkasten what our research is telling us in the connections and clumps between notes. ### Fights Perfectionism The fundamental unit of the zettelkasten method is the note or zettel. And [[Treating the note as the fundamental unit of research output fights perfectionism]]. Many academics I know can feel unproductive during the literature review stage of research. But if you are taking notes during your research--in your own words (see: [[Notemaking]])--then you are by definition still being productive. How is an article made? By assembling notes together because [[The creative process is an act of assemblage]]. If follows then that the creation, connecting, and assembling of notes is the fundamental part of the writing process itself. ### Creates a Unique Knowledge Base The way you connect ideas together will naturally differ from person to person because of your unique [[Ideaverse]]. You have an entirely different perspective which grows from your unique genetics and background. This allows you to create your own [[Infinite library]] and avoid falling into the trap of [[Cookie Cutter Student]], the student who only follows [[Notetaking]] principles rather than [[Notemaking]]. When I look around me at the students at Cornell, I see students writing notes only from the professor verbatim and never connecting notes between lectures or classes. This leads to their knowledge base becoming cookie cutter versions of all the other students taking notes in the same way. And it takes the joy out of learning and notetaking. They don't feel any connection to what they are making because it doesn't have any of their personality inside of it. # An Overview of my Zettelkasten System Now we are finally ready to talk about how I have created this system inside of my own vault. First, I will give an overview of my workflow using a drawing I made inside of Excalidraw, then I will talk about the difference types of notes in my system as they form up the bulk of my zettelkasten, we'll move onto my ACCESS folder structure which I have integrated from Nick Milo's fantastic video on the structure you can watch in more detail up above. Finally I will discuss how I capture, organize, distill, and express using my system. ### My Zettelkasten Workflow ![[Aidan's Zettelkasten Workflow|1000]] ## Types of Notes in My System With all the content being created inside the Personal Knowledge Community especially about zettelkastens it can be confusing on what the different notes in your system should be labeled. I'll try my best to define the main note types I have heard and how they integrate into my zettelkasten workflow. ### ✈️Fleeting Notes [[Fleeting notes]] are passing thoughts that you have throughout your days. They are usually one to two sentences long and exist only to remind you of an idea. I usually write them down in my daily note but If I don't process them within two days of creation, I will probably forget what they mean. ### 📚Literature Notes Next are your [[Literature notes]], your notes from the various pieces of information you consume like podcasts, academic papers, books, etc. These are the highlights that come from Readwise into my Sources folder that await to be summarized and processed into the other types of notes. ### ⚛️Atomic Notes and Zettels Next is where it gets a little confusing. I have heard two terms for the next type of note in the zettelkasten system: [[Concept notes]] and [[Zettels]]. These are the notes you create from your literature notes. Importantly, these notes are written in your own words and contain references back to the original literature notes if they have one. In addition, they are so atomic in their idea that they make sense even out of context of the literature notes from which they come from. This doesn't mean they are only on one idea but rather that there is a single focal point idea with background supporting ideas and evidence. This decontextualized nature is what allows you to connect them to other notes in your system. ### 🌲Permanent Notes and Evergreen Notes Finally, we have [[Permanent notes]] and [[Evergreen Notes]]. These are evolved atomic notes and zettels which you have gone back to, fleshed out, and heavily connected to other parts of your system. They are the most valuable notes in your system. Enough time has passed for them to benefit from [[The Lindy Effect]], an effect that states the future life expectancy of something is directly proportionate to how long it has already been around. For example, a book which has been out for five decades can be expected to be around for another five decades. In our case, a note that has been in your system for a long time is more likely to be fleshed out, true, and serve as a foundational part of your thinking. ### 🗺️Maps of Content ([[MOC]]s) A map of content is a summation of a bunch of other related notes. They act as navigation centers and guiding posts to all the other notes inside of them. They are the most important and useful notes in your system. I have an entire video where I describe in depth the process for creating them here: [[How I Organize Obsidian with Maps of Content (MOCs)]]. ## Setting up the ACCESS Folder Structure Now we know what the different types of notes are. But where are they stored inside of my Obsidian vault? But I'm going to preface this beforehand by saying this folder structure might not work for you. You will almost certainly find things that you want to change over time, which is completely absurb. What the hell is wrong with you?! How could you even consider my system isn't the best ever created? I encourage you to find things that you differ on and implement them. Share what you figure out in the comments. I would love to read them. If you're reading this online, I would suggest you watch this section in the YouTube video up above instead of through writing as it's way easier to show through video format. The folder system I'm using is not original. I created it out of inspiration from Obsidian community member Nick Milo's [[ACCESS Organization Framework]]. [I highly encourage you to check out the original video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0zWJ-TLghw&list=PLDSpam7EKMlUSyKGB58SK-nCJOixm7WVa&index=2&t=1340s)where he explains how it works to get a more in depth overview. But I will still summarize what each folder is for. +Encounter: helps me develop passing thoughts and growing ideas. It contains newly created likely fleeting notes. Atlas: helps me gather, develop, and navigate ideas. It contains my Maps of Content ([[MOC]]s), dashboards, overviews, logs, and datascopes. Calendar: helps me log, track, and review what matters to me. It contains my time based information like daily notes, meetings, plans, reviews, and journals. Cards: nope it's not for poker it's the main part of my zettelkasten. It helps me build and connect my ideas and contains all of my ideas, insights, people notes, concept notes and quotes. Extras: helps me keep my support material handy. It contains attachments, graphics, images, manuals, and templates. Sources: helps me build my external library of ideas. It contains my literature notes on articles, books, podcasts, research papers, courses, talks, Movies+TV, videos, and Tweets. Spaces: helps me keep track of my most important areas of life, schoolwork, and content creation. [[🏠 My Home]]: helps me see my system from the broadest level view. It contains all of my highest order [[MOC]]s which link out to lower order MOCs. Now that we know the types of notes and my folder system for organizing them, what does this workflow look like on the day to day? Let me take you through how I capture, distill, organize, and express my notes. ## Capture Capturing is the process by which I take information from outside information mediums and combine it with my own thinking to create [[Fleeting notes]] and [[Literature notes]]. You can see all of the mediums I do his in through the excalidraw up above. How do I know what to capture? I have discussed this in lots of my other videos and content but I will roughly summarize my main tips here: - The number one rule is to capture what resonates. If it makes your heart beat faster, your pupils dilate, that's a good sign. - Capture what [[How to write lecture notes#^181a48|confuses you]]. - Define a [[Capture toolkit]], a set of information consumption mediums you stick to because you know they give you the highest quality of information. - Define your [[Twelve Favorite Questions]], a series of twelve questions you use as guiding lights to what knowledge you gravitate towards and what activities you do in your day. ### Readwise Most of the apps I capture information with can be integrated with Readwise, an app which takes all the highlights from your various mediums of information consumption and sends them to your notetaking app of choice. Readwise connects with Obsidian and through my specialized metadata sends them to my sources folder. The only information I can't use Readwise to integrate into Obsidian with is PDFs which I read mostly in Zotero and send to Obsidian using the Obsidian citations plug in. I will definitely make a video in the future showing my entire academic workflow inside of Obsidian, but for now check out [Danny Hatcher's excellent video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGGeMrtyjBI) showing how he uses Zotero and Obsidian if you want to learn more. The standard note template I use for this process is my [[Concept Note Template]] note template. As you can see, the new note template is organized exactly like the zettels used by Luhman explained earlier. I use titles as unique identifiers, then have the body of my note, and finally a related and references section. One of the major ways I use tags is through indicating the state of a note using my [[Tag Taxonomy]]. This is super helpful because it gives me insight into how foundational a note is to my thinking depending on the tag it has. As I continue to revisit and flesh out a note, I upgrade it in the tag taxonomy through my tree tagging pathway. This way I know a note that is tagged as Evergreen has likely benefited from [[The Lindy Effect]] and is a foundational part of my knowledge. ## Distill Distillation is the process through which I take my [[Fleeting notes]] and [[Literature notes]] and distill them down into [[Concept notes]]/[[Zettels]]. I don't usually do this at any particular time except when I'm distilling sources down for my newsletter [[Cards/Aidan's Infinite Play]]. I believe you should follow [[Efforts over projects when developing ideas]]. You can't put a time or schedule on notemaking because [[Thinking]] requires time. Instead you should use efforts which are the small actions you take every day or every couple of days to progress towards a goal. This philosophy allows me to [[Organize your PKM system opportunistically|organize my notes opportunistically]] instead of having to know exactly where to link to right away. Some days I don't create any atomic notes/zettels at all. Some days I'm particularly inspired and go on a notetaking rampage, like when I made my entire [[Flow State MOC]] [[MOC]] in a single day after reading [[Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience]]. If you want to learn more about how I take book notes in Obsidian check out my video here: [[How I Take Book Notes in Obsidian Compound Your Knowledge!]]. ## Organize How do I know where to link the atomic notes/zettels I created up above to? Going back to Luhman's system I link mainly in four ways ways: 1. At the top of the note through the up:: section 2. In the body of the note 3. At the bottom at the related section 4. Under the references section for literature notes To give me insight into how to figure out which notes are related I personally follow the thinking process of note making by trying to connect my notes with these statements: 1. "That reminds me" 2. "It's similar because" 3. "It's different because" 4. "It's important because" ### 🧭The Idea Compass Another set of questions which I find super helpful in revealing connections is using the Idea Compass. This is a zettelkasten idea finding exercise I first heard from Vicky Zhao and Fei Ling Tseng on a Linking Your Thinking Workshop video. [Here’s roughly how it works but you should watch the original video for more insight into the process.](https://youtu.be/-7r9t9T9Aww) ![[3FDF4F27-6035-421A-B4CF-2415A05C2870.jpeg]] Obsidian makes it super easy to do this because I can use the local graph view and backlinks view to see connections. This is the main way through which notes come back up again. The more notes a note is linked to in your system the more likely it is to come back up again later on. It's important to realize that the older a note is the more notes it's probably linked to in your system. Therefore when creating and linking new notes I try and find a older note to embed them in rather than only connecting them to the old note on the new note. I'm more likely to find it again that way. Over time as more and more notes coalesce and the level of disorganization becomes painful, I reach a [[Mental squeeze point]] and start collecting notes into a [[MOC]]. As mentioned earlier, a MOC is a summary note of other notes. I have an entire video describing how I create MOCs you can check out here: [[How I Organize Obsidian with Maps of Content (MOCs)]]. The most important MOCs get organized in my [[🏠 My Home]]. ## Express Ultimately, the main reason for developing a zettelkasten system is for expression. This is where the zettelkasten shines. As mentioned earlier, the notes in my zettelkasten form the foundation of my [YouTube videos](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQf8aHkL2FsHeTKkklmq4A), email newsletter [Aidan's Infinite Play](https://upbeat-speaker-6797.ck.page/b1997ba3ad), and my podcast [Personal Knowledge Management with Aidan Helfant](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2031091). That's because this content is often created simply from the assemblage of notes in my zettelkasten. Some of my content is literally just the MOCs inside of my system. Expression is the last step but in many ways it's also the easiest step. All of the thinking has been done during the capturing, distilling, and organizing step. I just have to package it in a cool way. But not every one of your created notes has to be expressed through a published form of content. You can express simply by conversing with other people in your day. ## The Zettelkasten Transformation If you implement the workflow and mindset of the zettelkasten for at least two years, I promise your life will change dramatically. Why two years? There's no magical reason. Following through with anything for more than a two years is bound to show results of some kind. I doubt you will be disappointed if you do. You will start to see ideas as an interconnected network and conversation between different people, a conversation you can join at any place wherever your interests lie. Over time everything will start to make sense, as you can see mapped notes, projects, and new ideas forming under the structure of your everyday life. Your mind will change, learning to work symbiotically with your second brain to draw on resources, references, and research far beyond what it can remember on its own. You become more objective and unattached knowing if an idea doesn't work out, you have a treasure trove of others ready to go. Your zettelkasten becomes an externalization of your psychology, a mirror reflecting who you think you are, who you want to be, and who you want to become. **Because you have a PKM workflow, every experience becomes an opportunity to learn and grow.** People will notice. They'll see you can draw an unusually large body of knowledge at a moment's notice without realizing you never set purposeful time to remember anything. They will admire the fluidity and interestingness of your ideas without realizing your zettelkasten makes them come organically. They'll respect your avid expression without realizing it's so much easier when you never have to start from scratch again. They will see the genuine joy and curiosity you show toward everything in life. Then they will become curious about what you are doing differently. Finally, they will make their own PKM journeys. In this way, PKM is not only the art of changing your relationship to information but changing others as well. [[How I Organize Obsidian with Maps of Content (MOCs)|Be sure to check out my video on MOC creation to to learn more about how I capture things in my day. ]] Resources: https://youtu.be/ziE6UExsOrs