Destructive Reading -> Constructive Writing

Will

@rl911 said over on the tread:
Via the detour, I have become aware of "incremental writing" and will try to get further with it this week.

("What is incremental writing"

This video demonstrates the critical idea of deconstructing or digesting reading and using the components or nutrients as building blocks for writing/idea creation and synthesis. It goes over the process with a lapidarist skill. Reading and writing are not something that abides by a deadline but is enjoyable without time pressures. It is rewarding to write on three-year-old ideas and see them pop up in a review queue. Reminiscence is falling in love all over again. New note:

• What is meant by reminiscing 202207302048
  The positive recollection of an experience.

I want to consider the prioritization aspects of zettelkasting in this video. I see his point about how with everything prioritized and working from a prioritized list, you can be sure what time you spend zettelkasting is in the areas you have made your highest priorities.

I've not felt the need to set zettelkasting priorities formally, have you?

rl911

@Will: > In this video, I would like to look at the priority setting aspects of note casting.

I neutralized prioritization in my first attempts. I found it rather annoying. But it's certainly worth reflecting a bit on this apparently central function before eagerly running into a dead end.

What is the prioritization based on?
Prioritization is first of all also just a key figure for controlling. With what goal do you operate your personal slip box, where do you want to get to.

For example, it is important for me to activate my active vocabulary and the associated connections and models in my head for certain topics.
By prioritizing notes "by degree of incomprehension" I could push my problem notes further into the foreground. That's where prioritization would be useful.

Or the slips perceived as particularly cluttered and pieced together get a high revision priority, would also be a possibility.

Will

Idea Storm August 3, 2022

I agree 100%. Below are ideas fostered by the notion of prioritizing my zettelkasting workflow.

What is the prioritization based on?
Prioritization is first of all also just a key figure for controlling. With what goal do you operate your personal slip box, where do you want to get to.

Kind of a fancy way of saying, priorities are based on goals.

Being mindful of why we work on the things we do and the priories we set will influence the achievement of goals.

Goals are situational and morph when in school, at stages of working life, and then again on retirement if we're lucky.

In the video, James also pointed to what Luhmann is often quoted as saying (in German) "I only do what is easy. I only write when I immediately know how to do it. If I falter for a moment, I put the matter aside and do something else." James suggested that even though we set priorities, if we become bogged down with working on one priority, we can turn away from it and go to the next priority. Three things happen when we do this.
1. The zettel is recycled in the queue, and we are assured it will reappear.
2. We know that the time we have spent zettelkasting, in the situation we are in, was spent on the things we set to the highest priority.
3. When the writing/thinking became stiff, we moved on, keeping our minds fresh.

In the method James outlines, setting priorities in advance relieves the decision fatigue that crops up when we decide on what to work on at the moment. Rather than priorities being pre-prescribed by you.

By prioritizing notes "by degree of incomprehension" I could push my problem notes further into the foreground. That's where prioritization would be useful.

I might prioritize some ideas that I'd rate with a low "Degree of incomprehension" situationally. I'm prioritizing "Travel Writing" because of interest and an upcoming class as an example. Travel writing is an area where I have a high degree of comprehension and am working on my confirmation biases and writing techniques.

James uses the example of economics. Economics is an area I have a "high degree of incomprehension," but because of my current goals, economic ideas sit behind philosophy, writing, and programming. So ideas focused on economics get a lower priority.

Or the slips perceived as particularly cluttered and pieced together get a high revision priority, would also be a possibility.

I'm open to thinking about new ideas about setting priorities and zettel review.

My current mode is to give every zettel the same priority, and every zettel is in a review cycle. (Scheduled Spaced Repetition Review)
The cycle goes like this:
1. Yesterday
2. One week ago
3. Three weeks ago
4. Six months ago
5. One year ago
6. Two years ago
7. Three years ago

From James's example in the video.
Was this an Economics class?
Fragments he prioritized
1. CentralPlanning
2. CommandEconomicHierarchy
3. MarketEconomy
4. PlannedEconomy
5. Curriculum

rl911

@will

First result after 10 days of using "incremental writing":

A single simple query has displaced many complicated plans:
Resubmission of all notes with annotations such as "draft" or "FIXME" has provided many surprises and employment.

Of course, text ruins that are immediately deleted.
But especially interesting are the forgotten fragments, which now seem to be easy to complete.
Or automatically get a repeat date next month. Only in special exceptional cases I manually choose another repeat date. (Keep it simple stupid)

Will

Hi @rl911, it sounds like you are starting to find a groove. I hope you find that by simplifying your workflow with "a single simple query," you will have more enjoyment and be able to stick to the project over time. You might consider unifying the "resubmission notes" under a single annotation. A single spot that gathers all your ZK work simplifies even more, the workflow.

The most significant benefit of the review process is that because of the time we are not consciously working on an idea, we give our unconscious the freedoms it wants, and the unconscious can develop solutions.

There will always be exceptions.