Zettelkasten Crash Course for Newbies: Example of How To Do Zettelkasten
Zettelkasten Crash Course for Newbies: Example of How To Do Zettelkasten
Disclaimer: I used Google Translator a lot. Expressions can be strange. I would appreciate your feedback 
This is to help Zettelkasten newbies easily understand how to do Zettelkasten.
Let's get started!
How to do Zettelkasten is simple:
1. Take notes.
2. Make a list.
3. Link your notes.
Let's look at them one by one.
1. Take notes.
Just take a note. Easy, right? When taking notes, write only one piece of knowledge per note. Let's take an example.
# 202409260746 Zettelkasten is a toolkit for thinking Zettelkasten means slip-box in German and is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann. He published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten. What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is its ability to link notes together. The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: Zettelkasten develops thinking skills, improves memory, and allows you to learn new knowledge through encounters with old notes. You can also learn anything quickly.
I think it was well written. right? However, if you want to fully enjoy the benefits of Zettelkasten, you need to break your notes into minimal meaningful units. (smallest unit). This means dividing knowledge until you can no longer divide it. Then write down the divided knowledge, one per note. (Isn't it like an atom that it can no longer be divided? So doing this is called the principle of atomicity).
This note can be divided into four notes.
- Zettelkasten means slip-box in German.
- Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann. He was prolific with this.
- What makes Zettelkasten powerful is that it links notes.
- The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method.
Now, let's break that note and divide it into four notes.
# 202409260746 Zettelkasten means slip-box in German Zettelkasten means slip-box in German. Zettel means paper slip and kasten means box. It is plural.
# 202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann. He published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten.
# 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful What makes Zettelkasten powerful is that it links notes. In Zettelkasten, notes can be referenced, supplemented, compared, and integrated with each other. This creates new knowledge.
# 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: Zettelkasten develops thinking skills, improves memory, and allows you to learn new knowledge through unexpected discoveries. You can also learn anything quickly.
Then you will have 4 text files.
202409260746 Zettelkasten means slip-box in German.txt 202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann.txt 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful.txt 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method.txt
But aren't these notes related to each other? that's right. So what should I do? Many beginners do it this way.
# 202409260746 Zettelkasten means slip-box in German Zettelkasten means slip-box in German. Zettel means paper slip and kasten means box. It is plural. see also: [[202409260747]] Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann.
# 202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann. He published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten. see also: [[202409260748]] This is why Niklas Luhmann was able to produce so many works through the Zettelkasten.
# 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful What makes Zettelkasten powerful is that it links notes. In Zettelkasten, notes can be referenced, supplemented, compared, and integrated with each other. This creates new knowledge. Here are the benefits of linking notes: [[202409260749]]
Okay.. but what if the amount of notes increases? If there are 100 notes, you have to go into them one by one and link them. And later, when you open your notes, you will see a long list of notes related to that content. This list is 'related' to notes and not directly related to that note. Wouldn't it be inefficient and ugly to create a list of related notes for every note like below?
# 202409260748 title content see also: - [[202409260827]] - [[202312312234]] - [[202409261332]] - ...
This makes it difficult to get the whole picture. Why not just gather related notes in one place? Then wouldn't the overall outline be easily visible?
Yes. Now it's time to make a list.
2. Make a list
Let's make a list using the notes we made above.
# 202409260750 asdf Zettelkasten 202409260746 Zettelkasten means slip-box in German 202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method
(Note: asdf indicates that the note is a list note. It is convenient for searching.)
Hmm. Now that it has been collected, I can see at a glance how many notes there are and which notes are related to Zettelkasten.
But if you do it this way, it's just a list. Actually, there is a relationship between the notes. If you just list them like that, you won't be able to clearly see what the relationship is. So now let's write down the relationships between notes.
# 202409260750 asdf Zettelkasten Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann: [[202409260747]]. - So Zettelkasten is German. Zettelkasten means slip-box in German: [[202409260746]] - Niklas Luhmann was able to produce prolific works because he linked notes: [[202409260748]] Why Zettelkasten is powerful The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method: [[202409260749]]
You can also write down the relationships between notes in more detail.
# 202409260750 asdf Zettelkasten Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann: [[202409260747]] It became famous because of Niklas Luhmann, so German nouns are used all over the world: Zettelkasten means slip-box in German [[202409260746]] Niklas Luhmann was prolific with Zettelkasten: [[202409260747]]. The reason he was able to do that was because linked the notes: [[202409260748]] Why Zettelkasten is powerful - The benefits of linking notes are as follows: [[202409260749]]
It might be easier to see if you make it into a table or directed graph. There are many ways to express relationships between notes. Develop your own style.
Now you have your list. To express this accurately, it is a note that shows the relationship between notes. Let's just call it a relationship note. (Sascha calls this Structure note 
)
But suddenly a question arises. "Then how do I know where this note is listed?". Just search! you can do a full-text search. For this purpose, the note has an ID. Searching for an ID will return all files containing the ID.
Example: If you search for '202409260747', the list below will appear.
202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann 202409260750 asdf Zettelkasten
P.S. Many software supports this. Finder on Mac and Windows Explorer on Windows also support full-text search.
- If you're on MacOS, use The Archive!
- For Windows, AstroGrep Software allows full-text searches. It's faster than Explorer
- If you use Linux Gnome Shell, you can do full-text searches right on the Files app.
So, every time you add a note to the list, you don't need to edit the note content like below, right?
# 202409260747 Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann. He published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten. List containing this note: 202409260750 asdf Zettelkasten 202409260830 asdf xxxxxxxxxxx 202409260912 asdf xxxxxxxxxxx ...
Note:
The note created in '1. Take notes' is a 'content note'. you can call it an idea note.
The note created in '2. Make a list' is a 'structure note'. you can call it a relationship note.
"Hey, where are the fleeting notes, literature notes, and permanent notes?"
There is no need. As you can see above, this is enough. And distinguishing in this way simplifies the process. At forum.zettelkasten.de, notes are divided into two types: content notes and structure notes. After using Zettelkasten for a long time, forum members have found that two things are enough.
3. Link your notes.
Now let's make a direct connection between notes.
Let's say you were playing a video game or JRPG like the RPG maker series(something like Freebird Games' To the Moon, right?) or Pokemon, and you realized something. So you took a note like this.
# 202409260751 Saving is important for long video games Saving is important for long video games. If you do not save, you will have to start over from the beginning when you restart the game. Also, if you saved a while ago and die while playing, you have to start playing again from the point where you saved. So, if you play a long video game, you should save it. That's because you can continue the game from there.
But as you wrote this note, you suddenly realized something. You've realized the reason Zettelkasten is so powerful is because of 'continue'. Let's say you develop an idea and come back to it a few months later. Most of the time you forget where your thoughts have progressed. You have to recall your memories. So, You need to think again. This is a complete waste. But if you do Zettelkasten, you write down what you were thinking. You take notes. You write down how your thoughts progressed in your relationship notes. So even if you come back a few months later, you can start from there again. Is it exactly the same as loading from a save point in video games and continue again? So I need to write down this idea. I wrote it as below:
# 202409260752 What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is continue What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is 'continue'. Because you can continue your thoughts. I kept records of what I learned and what I thought. And I listed all those notes in one note. I can see the whole picture. So I can figure out how far I have come. So even if you come back a few months later, you can quickly become immersed in it.
However, this note came from [[202409260751 Saving is important for long video games]]. Wouldn't it be nice to indicate that this note came from this idea? So you can link with [[ ]]. You can modify it as shown below.
# 202409260752 What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is continue What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is 'continue'. Because you can continue your thoughts. [[202409260751]] The reason you can beat a long video game until the end is because you save. Usually, Anything we learn or think takes a long time. If you don't save, you have to start over from the beginning every time. However, there is progress in the game because once you save you can play from there. The same goes for Zettelkasten. I kept records of what I learned and what I thought. And I listed all those notes in one note. I can see the whole picture. So I can figure out how far I have come. So even if you come back a few months later, you can quickly become immersed in it.
When linking, be sure to write why you are linking. This is how knowledge is created. The relationship between notes is revealed only when you write down the reason for linking. Only after writing about these relationship does that realization become clear in your mind. Let's say you just created a link like the one below:
# 202409260752 What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is continue What makes Zettelkasten so powerful is 'continue'. Because you can continue your thoughts. [[202409260751]] I kept records of what I learned and what I thought. And I listed all those notes in one note. I can see the whole picture. So I can figure out how far I have come. So even if you come back a few months later, you can quickly become immersed in it.
look. You have no idea what note that is or why you linked it. You have to follow the link to find out. But then do I have to go directly to each link to check its contents? What if the amount of notes increases? Let's say you have a few thousand notes. Every time you open a note, you see a link that doesn't make any sense. you followed the link, but you don't understand what the relationship between this note and the linked note is. Then you'll sigh every time you see the link from now on. That kind of thing should be prevented, right?
How to Get Better at Zettelkasten?
1. Write the title as a sentence.
Let's look at [[202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful]] from the notes above.
# 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful What makes Zettelkasten powerful is that it links notes. In Zettelkasten, notes can be referenced, supplemented, compared, and integrated with each other. This creates new knowledge.
But can you tell why Zettelkasten is powerful just by looking at the title of the note? no. If you want to remember it clearly, it is a good idea to write the title as a one-sentence summary of the contents of the note.
As-Is: 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful
To-Be: 202409260748 Zettelkasten is powerful because it links notes
There is another advantage to doing this: You can easily figure out what is written in the note just by looking at the list of notes.
Look at this list:
202409252231 xxxxxxxxxx 202409260630 xxxxxxxxxx 202409260748 Why Zettelkasten is powerful 202409260821 xxxxxxxxxx
Below is better than this.
202409252231 xxxxxxxxxx 202409260630 xxxxxxxxxx 202409260748 Zettelkasten is powerful because it links notes 202409260821 xxxxxxxxxx
It's easy to figure it out just by looking at the list, right? This way, you can do Zettelkasten without difficulty even if the amount of notes increases.
2. Write the title clearly.
Writing a title is important. A well-written title will stick in your mind for a long time. Usually, writing a title is the same as your thinking. The fact that the title is written ambiguously is proof that your thoughts are also vague. That means you don't know much about it. Let's look at the note below.
# 202409260751 Saving is important for long video games Saving is important for long video games. If you do not save, you will have to start over from the beginning when you restart the game. Also, if you saved a while ago and die while playing, you have to start playing again from the point where you saved. So, if you play a long video game, you should save it. That's because you can continue the game from there.
It is said that saving is important for long video games. But why? I don't know why. There are only claims and no basis. How about changing it like this?
# 202409260751 Because of saving, you can finish a long video game ...
It's much better. This will help you remember things better in your mind!
3. Summarize your content in one sentence and make your title more concise.
When doing Zettelkasten, the contents of your notes may become longer. But if all notes are long, it will be difficult to read, right? Getting the gist of long notes every time is cumbersome and difficult. For this purpose, it would be good to summarize it in one sentence.
# 202409260751 title Saving is important for long video games. If you do not save, you will have to start over from the beginning when you restart the game. Also, if you saved a while ago and die while playing, you have to start playing again from the point where you saved. So, if you play a long video game, you should save it. That's because you can continue the game from there.
Let's summarize this note in one sentence. Of course, it doesn't have to be just one sentence. It can be two sentences. However, in my experience, anything longer than three sentences is difficult to read and is not a summary. In summary, it goes like this.
# 202409260751 title Because you can save, you can beat long video games. Saving is important for long video games. If you do not save, you will have to start over from the beginning when you restart the game. Also, if you saved a while ago and die while playing, you have to start playing again from the point where you saved. So, if you play a long video game, you should save it. That's because you can continue the game from there.
It can be summarized in one sentence. And let's condense this summary further and write it as a title.
# 202409260751 long video games can be beaten by saving Because you can save, you can beat long video games. Saving is important for long video games. If you do not save, you will have to start over from the beginning when you restart the game. Also, if you saved a while ago and die while playing, you have to start playing again from the point where you saved. So, if you play a long video game, you should save it. That's because you can continue the game from there.
Writing a summary itself is a learning experience. This is because you take out the unnecessary and leave only the essential. you leave the gist of the content. The difficult word is called abstraction. If you do this often, your brain gets used to abstraction. The brain changes. So you can avoid getting caught up in the details. It allows you to think better.
4. Convert notes containing multiple contents into relationship notes.
The advantages of X, the characteristics of X, etc. are notes that list various knowledge. Isn't this actually a relationship note?
# 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: Zettelkasten develops thinking skills, improves memory, and allows you to learn new knowledge through unexpected discoveries. You can also learn anything quickly.
If you summarize this in outline form, it goes like this.
# 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: - it develops thinking skills. - it improves memory. - it allows you to learn new knowledge through unexpected discoveries. - You can also learn anything quickly with Zettelkasten.
However, this is just a list of claims. There is no basis. But later you found out the basis. So, are you going to write it down in this note?
# 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: - it develops thinking skills. Because Zettelkasten allows you to continue your thoughts, your thinking progresses. Progress is development. So thoughts develop. - it improves memory - it allows you to learn new knowledge through unexpected discoveries. - You can also learn anything quickly with Zettelkasten.
Isn't it to messy? I want to get to the point with this list. I only want to see detailed information when I need it. Then, you can create a new note and link to this relationship note.
# 202409260800 Zettekasten improves your thinking because it allows you to continue your thoughts your thinking progresses because Zettelkasten allows you to continue your thoughts. Progress is development. So thoughts develop.
# 202409260749 The Benefits of Using the Zettelkasten Method The benefits of using the Zettelkasten method are as follows: - it develops thinking skills. [[202409260800]] - it improves memory. - it allows you to learn new knowledge through unexpected discoveries. - You can also learn anything quickly with Zettelkasten.
Conclusion
Well, that's it for now. What do you think? Did it help you? Knowing the mechanism of the Zettelkasten method will help you understand everything else easily. Learn, ask questions and help others at zettelkasten.de! Thank you.
References
Check out Sascha and Christian's excellent articles and discussions in the forum!
- Take notes
- contents of 202409260746: [#introduction]: https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/#luhmanns-zettelkasten
- "minimal meaningful units": [#principle of atomicity]: https://zettelkasten.de/posts/create-zettel-from-reading-notes/
- Make a list
- https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/#structure-notes
"There are many ways to express relationships between notes":
idea notes and relationship notes terms: https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/1543/content-notes-and-structure-notes-should-these-terms-be-replaced
- No needs for fleeting notes, literature notes, and permanent notes: https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/1948/#Comment_1948
- Link your notes
How to Get Better at Zettelkasten? / 1. Write the title as a sentence.
- "But can you tell why Zettelkasten is powerful just by looking at the title of the note? no.": https://zettelkasten.de/posts/how-to-write-notes-you-can-understand/
- "It's easy to figure it out just by looking at the list.": https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/19746/#Comment_19746
How to Get Better at Zettelkasten? / 3. Summarize your content in one sentence and make your title more concise.
Howdy, Stranger!
Comments
@rl911 gave me the idea that it would be good to use everyday things, well-known books or children's books as Zettelkasten examples. Thank you!
There are things that I like in your exposition of the method.
It goes in a direction opposite to the average telling of the method, which is more complicated than necessary (including my way of telling it :-) )
I agree about the power of titles and one sentence ideas (concepts that are fundamental in my model).
I agree that we don't strictly need a complex model of note types.
In a first reading of your long post, anyway, I find, maybe, two potential critical issues. I want o read better in a second moment, anyway, now I'm pretty tired and your post is very long, I may have read it wrong.
Maybe you propose an approach that tends to atomize too much, more than necessary.
For example, at least for me and for my purposes, "Zettelkasten means slip-box in German" is... not a relevant note on its own...
Having this kind of granularity maybe is too much. Not every sentence need to have its own note.
The other issue, more complex, I fear a mechanical approach could suffer the lack of concept orientation, of decontextualization / recontextualization of ideas according to my personal point of view.
Just for example.
"Zettelkasten is a note-taking method used by Niklas Luhmann
He published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten."
It could be an interesting anectote, example, contour for one of my notes, but is not a "useful note" on its own for my goal of having a zettelkasten.
The "real" thought, in my opinion, behind the sentence you have wrote is not the fact "Luhman published 50 books and over 600 articles with Zettelkasten", but rather "why", or "how zettelkasten can support having an effective writing production?". From the "what happened" I consider relevant to extract why/how/what I can use. Something that has a "value" for me.
I think zettelkasten is not only segmenting complex ideas in elementary ideas, but reframing them in concepts relevant for ourself is either important.
So, "luhman wrote n books" is not a useful representation for me. I feel better if I've captured the principles under that fact, If the note I write highlights that I understood what makes the zettelkasten effective for writing, obtained by thinking and researching around that fact abot luhman is the important thing.
In the future, If I need to use my knowledge about Zettelkasten, If someone ask me why do you use Zettelkasten, my answer will not "since luhman wrote 60 books", but "since the zettelkasten allows me to...; for example Luhman...". The relevant thing is the capture of the principle, not the anectote.
This doesn't mean that my zettelkasten must not contain facts, anectotes. They aren't the most important thing. (I think) that in a valuable Zettelkasten facts are support for thoughts.
I'm convinced that every explanation of zettelkasten need to highlight this aspect. :-)
Thank you for the example. I understand this is just an example, but another thing to think about with Zettelkasten is the _kind _of content that you want to put in it.
The above example is mostly just facts and perhaps an axiom or rule of thumb. This kind of low-level information is best left in its original source. Save the atomic note for bigger ideas and concepts that can serve as the basis for future thought and writing.
The idea of doing a "relationship note" is interesting, will have to think about that. So far, when I make a link I either just include the ID of the card I am linking to (when the association is self evident) or just write a terse 2-3 words to remind myself of why I made the link (see democracy 10/11a). Thanks!
@andang76 @JasperMcFly I agree with both of your opinions. I overlooked something important by simply emphasizing technical methods and procedures.
Perhaps this is because of the example I gave. It was not easy to find a common theme that everyone starting Zettelkasten could easily understand. So, I think this problem arose while writing notes with just information about Zettelkasten.
That's a good point. In this example, I divided the notes too much. That might be confusing to beginners. (I don't actually do extreme atomization.) However, I just wanted to emphasize to beginners that they should follow the atomicity principle.
Most beginners I've seen have a habit of lumping concepts together when learning or thinking. Therefore, they often mixed several different contents in one note. As a result, they often vaguely linked ideas that were not actually related. In other words, it is a connection of notes, not knowledge. So, I thought that for beginners, breaking things down into elementary ideas should come first. I believe that once their brains get used to this, they will be able to judge for themselves how much an idea needs to be broken down. Of course, you must also reframe it into concepts that are relevant to you. However, as you said, I also think that the above example can lead beginners to make a mistake.
I think both of your opinions are correct. It is better to leave such low-level information in its original source and save atomic notes for deep processing.
The focus of this article was to help you understand the technical methods and procedures for performing Zettelkasten. I think it's very important to reframe ideas into concepts that are relevant to you, so I've tried to write about this in another article. But if I had titled this "Example of How To Do Zettelkasten" I should have also written about the deepest levels of processing. I overlooked this part. I think it would have been good to write an example that could cover this. Maybe I should try to give a better example.
You really pointed out the part I had missed in the article! Thanks for your feedback
Nice Tutorial
@iylock I'm a newbie and definitely getting lost in the sauce, so thank you for this posting. Right off the bat, it tells me: (A) this community is alive and well (read, "active"), and (B) the approach is how to take notes, not merely, "Hey, come over here and use/admire our shiny new toy." When undertaking a new project, especially a lifestyle commitment, it's good to know your ride of choice continues to percolate and that there is a certain amount of structure for the new endeavor.
I've read through some blog posts and getting started guides to appreciate the Zettelkasten.de proprietors' style in staging a lovely philosophic structure into their rendition of the method. IMO, this has laid the ground for "gentle" encouragement in the comments to improve this tutorial. Lol! It's all good and displays consistency in the structure.
All of this together, but mainly @iylock's tutorial, has nudged me into taking the plunge and downloading a trial of The Archive software—so I can "just get started!"
P.S. I haven't noticed support for Sequoia, but since people are active in the forums, I assume I'm good to go. Well, wish me luck. ✨
Welcome to the forum and to The Archive! We look forward to reading your future posts. And by all means, good luck in your learning curve
@mazal Glad to hear that
Welcome to the Zettelkasten journey!