How to Improve Your Zettelkasten by Learning from Athletic Training

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How to Improve Your Zettelkasten by Learning from Athletic Training

The benefits of your Zettelkasten highly depend on the longevity of each note. Since the Zettelkasten as life-long companion and comrade in the battle for and against knowledge is a long-term endeavor, it is crucial that you create notes and structures that will last a long time. The minimum goal should be that they last a lifetime, so they are optimally designed for yourself. Ideally, they last forever, so future generations can benefit from your work as well.

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AWomanThinking

So many good things in this post ; I am sorry now that I procrastinated reading it.
1. in footnote 2, "This includes recommendations of how to plan a week, fitting the Zettelkasten Work in such a manner that even ending up not using the Zettelkasten is an acceptable outcome." I am now looking for posts addressing these. As someone who is not a full-time researcher or writer, it is hard to structure my week.

2. I forgot what #2 was going to be.

Edmund

Thank you for this great article. I had to read it twice to better understand all it’s insights. Then I tested my idea to use a prompt for ChatGPT instead:

„Please analyze the given blog post and identify its fundamental atomic ideas. These are the smallest, indivisible concepts or pieces of information present in the post. List them out for further processing.“

The result was amazing. Now I have 7 valuable new notes in my Zettelkasten.

Sascha

What did ChatGPT say?

GeoEng51

@Sascha said:
What did ChatGPT say?

Haha! That was my immediate question as well

Edmund

@Sascha said:
What did ChatGPT say?

The key insights and main takeaways from the blog post:

Structured Note-Taking Principle: The core principle of the Zettelkasten Method is to structure notes in a way that allows easy integration of new ideas into existing notes without rewriting them. This ensures notes remain robust against new information over time.

Coherent Model and Metamodel: Developing a coherent model or metamodel specific to the subject matter is crucial for creating effective note structures. This model guides the organization and connection of ideas within the Zettelkasten.

Skill and Expertise: The ability to construct strong note structures comes from the skill of creating models and metamodels relevant to the domain of knowledge. This skill allows notes to endure as new information emerges.

Two Components for Enduring Notes: The skill of crafting notes that withstand the test of time requires two components: access to robust models for the subject matter and a deep understanding of the Zettelkasten Method.

Learning Process for Students and Experts: Students might find it relatively easier to adopt the Zettelkasten Method while working on academic papers since they build their system from the ground up. However, experts might face resistance due to their established workflows.

Balancing Specific and General Training: Analogous to athletic training, the Zettelkasten Method forms the base of one's thinking and writing abilities. Domain-specific expertise complements this base to optimize creative output.

Enhanced Thinking and Writing: The Zettelkasten Method improves thinking and writing abilities by facilitating access to ideas and enabling connections between them. Reformulative writing aids in deeper comprehension.

Conscious Design and Investment: Achieving optimal results with the Zettelkasten Method requires consciously designing good notes and investing effort in understanding intuitive processes. This might involve short-term sacrifices for long-term benefits.

Long-Term Perspective: The post emphasizes that the Zettelkasten Method is a rational investment in your future self. Despite potential challenges and resistance, it offers a way to create enduring value from accumulated knowledge.

Edmund

My idea is to have one generic single prompt that:

1. Reads an article or blog post.
2. Generates a list of atomic ideas to select from.
3. Prepares Literature Notes from selection for my Zettelkasten in a given structure, formatted as markdown.

I’m sure it will need some experiments to get best results. What are your ideas to support this process?