Zettelkasten Note-Taking: 5 Common Misconceptions
Hi Reader,
Happy Thursday! I'm back with another installment of our series about implementing Zettelkasten in Obsidian.
Article of the Week: 5 Common Misconceptions About the Zettelkasten Note-Taking Method (friend link)
This is an article about what Zettelkasten ISN'T, to help us better understand what it IS. Before I read How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens, I made a lot of assumptions about this method that were just plain wrong. Here's a teaser:
Misconception #4: That archival storage is the purpose of the slip-box.
I used to think that the "slip-box" was about saving my notes and keeping everything in one place. Now I know that the slip-box is a living, breathing thing - NOT simply an archive.
Rather, it's about making connections between notes to develop ideas, arguments, and discussions. German sociologist Niklas Luhmann did this with pen and paper, creating threads of thought called "note sequences" using a numbering system to indicate which note came next.
Of course, we have tools now to replicate this digitally using bidirectional hyperlinks. In Obsidian, we can use these links to connect our notes.
When it comes to creating a digital Zettelkasten, the "big" question is HOW to properly use links and tags to connect notes and ideas.
Next Week...
In next week's letter, I'll show you how I'm translating Luhmann's process digitally - in Obsidian - with links and tags.
Have a question about Obsidian or Zettelkasten? Hit "reply" to send me a message. I'd love to answer your questions in the coming emails.
Sincerely,
Brooke H
Brooke Harrison
Hi Reader, Happy Thursday! We're continuing our "Zettelkasten in Obsidian" series, and today I'm sharing how I use links to recreate Luhmann's numbering system (keep scrolling for screenshots!). Luhmann numbered his index cards to connect notes and create threads of thought that he called note sequences. For example, your first note is "1". Your next note is "2". But let's say that your third note is related to Note 1 (it will add to the conversation, so to speak)... so it slides between...
Hi Reader, Happy Thursday! We're diving back into our Zettelkasten series today. For the past several weeks, I've written about the Zettelkasten or "slip-box" note-taking method and how I'm implementing it in Obsidian. Let's chat about "fleeting" notes, and the different ways to capture them as we're reading / watching / consuming content. You can check out this article for a quick refresher on Luhmann's three types of notes, and a case study using one of my own notes as an example. Fleeting...
Hi Reader, Happy Friday! I'm pausing our Zettelkasten series to share some exciting news: the Obsidian mobile app has launched (both for Apple and Android)! This has been a long time coming. When Obsidian arrived on the scene (and it's still fairly "new"), it did not have its own mobile app. And this is a big deal, because it's convenient to edit and sync notes across devices. There were workarounds, of course - because Obsidian notes are saved locally as markdown files (not tied to a...