How to store my zettlelkastan cards?

mintsuku

I’m very eager to start using zettlelkastan to help with generating new ideas and creating blogs and aiding me in my research. I’ve only watched a few videos of it and have a vague idea how it works but I don’t wanna end up overplanning and never doing it. I want to do a physical and digital zettlekastan system. I have bought post it tabs (not sure if useful but it could be used to tab my dividers) and index cards. How do I store my index cards? Are there places to buy boxes made specifically for storing index cards or will I have to make them?

ctietze

Not sure where you live, but here, we have index cards in standard formats and you can get boxes for filing anywhere you can buy pens and paper. Not the prettiest ones, but good enough to get started and see if you like the approach.

JasperMcFly

Use a shoe box to start. If you are still at it after a few months look for some Vaultz Index card drawers or boxes.

iylock

§ In the case of others

Ryan Holiday and Billy Oppenheimer each use something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cropper-Hopper-4-Inch-6-Inch-Purple/dp/B000S14TNA/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J05NDA/
It said on this site: https://billyoppenheimer.com/notecard-system/

This is a video of Ryan Holiday using Cropper Hopper:

Dustin Lance Black also seems to use something similar to Billy:

§ In my case

I use two things to store note cards.
1. PVC Junction Box (Door Latch type)

The size is 200 x 300 x 150 mm. I use notecards DIN A6. It is 105 x 148 mm. It fits perfectly. Depending on the paper thickness, a box can hold 2,000 to 3,000 sheets.

2. Plastic Food Container.
   
   Although it is deep, storage is not a problem.

You can definitely find similar types of items like this.

You can use different sized pieces of paper to divide the sections.

§ I recommend the Digital Zetelkasten

But now I am doing digital Zetelkasten. The biggest disadvantage of physical Zetelkasten is that it is difficult to create structure notes. Structure note is a list of notes. To be precise, it is a note that describes the relationship between notes. ( https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/#connecting-zettel )

Why is it difficult?
1. To create a structure note, you need to take out each piece of paper and look at it one by one. It takes a lot of effort.
2. I wrote a list, but then something came up that needed to be put in between. Then you have to rewrite it from scratch. In fact, there is a method called Folgezettel to make this easier. This is a way to create structure by arranging papers without making a list. But Folgezettel can have only one structure. However, the power of Zetelkasten lies in its multiple structures. Creating multiple structures is difficult with paper. My experience is that if you don't create structure, the more you create zettel, the more confused your brain becomes.

And you end up with a ton of boxes to store.
Luhmann is said to have written six zettels a day. That's about 2,000 per year. If you do it for 50 years, that's 100,000. Then you need to keep 50 boxes. However, in my experience, I usually make more than 10 per day, and many days up to 30. I think this is bound to happen if we follow the atomicity principle. I did physical Zetelkasten for two years and ended up with six fully filled boxes. 50 years is 150 boxes. I don't have space to store this. Also, I don't feel confident enough to open all these boxes every time I write a structure note.

Sascha

Also, I don't feel confident enough to open all these boxes every time I write a structure note.

This is one of the major weaknesses of the analogue Zettelkasten. You cannot maintain structure notes the same way you can in a digital Zettelkasten. The amount of notes becomes too complex.

It is more difficult to harness the long-term, incremental style that a Zettelkasten can offer.

chrisaldrich

I've got a burgeoning collection of various boxes and have written a guide with some examples and advice:
The Ultimate Guide to Zettelkasten Index Card Storage

Loni

Hi!

I choose some ready-made solutions storage from a furniture and DIY store. They sell wood shelves, from small cubes to big one. You can associate them to create your dressing room or small storage, as you wish. I choose a small one to put on my desk, with rigid tissu drawers with a compatible size.

I have one box for my index, the other ones are left for my Zettelkasten.

I live in France, I did it with Leroy Merlin, but I'm sure you can find this kind of stuff anywhere.