What's the ratio of read/write in your ZettelKasten?

michaelreis

I would like to know how often to you write notes and after writing those notes, how often do you "read" them.

I know few apps have this feature but if you had to guess, what would be the "ratio" or read/write in your notes.

I ask this because I'm working on a [[Knowledge Management]] concept where this ration is extremely important.

I would say mine is 40/60. 40% writing and 60% reading the notes of total time.

ctietze

Curious question! I have no clue, because I have no way to measure this If I had a way, I guess you'd be looking for "time spent reading" vs "time spent writing"?

I initially hoped that I read way more than I write (unless typing blindfolded, I involuntarily 'read' what's on screen anyway): Spending more time writing than reading after all this time (and all these notes!) sounds like growing crops and tending to a garden with plenty of fruit everyday but never eating anything. 🤔

But tracking time to calculate a ratio like is not that useful after all, I think:

• By glancing at a 300 word note, I can remember some pieces and find a useful chunk to link to or reuse somewhere much faster than I'd be able to read the whole text. So direct ,access to the relevant piece is actually faster than reading the whole text.
• With source code snippets, for example, finding the right snippet and copying it over has immediate value of time saved researching this again and again. But I hardly spend time reading the code and the Zettel.
• At the same time, writing notes with condensed code snippets for reuse takes quite a while!

So time wise, writing probably does take way longer indeed.

But value wise, the precious seconds spent reading provide a higher yield.

This is quite tricky

Will

@michaelreis said:
I would like to know how often to you write notes and after writing those notes, how often do you "read" them.

As @ctieze points out, this is nearly impossible to quantify accurately. That doesn't mean that trying to see what the ratio is and using the discovery to improve one's workflow is useless. This is an instance where perfect data collection is the enemy of the good.

Reviewing/reading notes systematically or randomly facilitates structured evaluation outside a current study area. You can gain a more comprehensive understanding of their subject matter. You can uncover new insights, identify patterns, and make connections that can enhance your overall learning experience.

There is also asking the Zk questions and the reading that involves.

If I'm being honest, I think the ratio of time spent is 75% writing, 20% reading, 5% mindless navel-gazing. The numbers are different because of the time it takes to write/think ideas into existence. I'll guess I write two or three new notes for every ten to fifteen notes I read. Even though the notes try to be atomic, they can take up to a couple of hours to birth. By reading a note, I mean that some capture my interest, and I dive in, refactoring them with abandon, and for most, I skim the title and maybe the summary sentence and then move on.

The question is, "Where is the value?" The value is in the discovery of new and novel ideas. Reading and writing are necessary but not sufficient. It is not in how much time is spent reading and writing. It's whether this is a consistent habit or not.

michaelreis

So time wise, writing probably does take way longer indeed.
But value wise, the precious seconds spent reading provide a higher yield.

Thank you.

I'm maybe thinking too much about this but I think one of the biggest challenge with ZT(Zettelkasten) is that people often write too much but read too little. They usually don't have a system for structurally seeing their older notes.

I'm working on a project where it kind of "branches" off zettelkasten and focus mostly on this read/write operation on information. This is mostly because if you read/write certain things it'll put you into certain "moods" and you can exploit it to make your ZT into a tools for controlling mood.

michaelreis

@Will said:

@michaelreis said:
I would like to know how often to you write notes and after writing those notes, how often do you "read" them.

As @ctieze points out, this is nearly impossible to quantify accurately. That doesn't mean that trying to see what the ratio is and using the discovery to improve one's workflow is useless. This is an instance where perfect data collection is the enemy of the good.

Reviewing/reading notes systematically or randomly facilitates structured evaluation outside a current study area. You can gain a more comprehensive understanding of their subject matter. You can uncover new insights, identify patterns, and make connections that can enhance your overall learning experience.

There is also asking the Zk questions and the reading that involves.

If I'm being honest, I think the ratio of time spent is 75% writing, 20% reading, 5% mindless navel-gazing. The numbers are different because of the time it takes to write/think ideas into existence. I'll guess I write two or three new notes for every ten to fifteen notes I read. Even though the notes try to be atomic, they can take up to a couple of hours to birth. By reading a note, I mean that some capture my interest, and I dive in, refactoring them with abandon, and for most, I skim the title and maybe the summary sentence and then move on.

The question is, "Where is the value?" The value is in the discovery of new and novel ideas. Reading and writing are necessary but not sufficient. It is not in how much time is spent reading and writing. It's whether this is a consistent habit or not.

I have been thinking if the "Flywheel" concept for corporations might also be true for cognition. Where our jobs is to merely to "turn" the flywheel.