Field Report #9: Excerpting Instead of Processing • Zettelkasten Method

System

Field Report #9: Excerpting Instead of Processing • Zettelkasten Method

The conviction that you have a way of working that is best for you turns the challenge of modern knowledge work on its head: the problems do not cater to us. We have to adapt to the problem.

Read the full story here

Will

My takeaways from Field Report #9 are these:
1. Why does it matter to have several methods for processing material? A range of approaches helps us connect better with a source's ideas. When we adapt our method to fit the material, we can dance with the ideas. The more methods we master, the more value we can extract from every source. One underrated method is knowing when to say, "this material isn't for me," and move on to material that actually sparks insight.

The larger our repertoire and – perhaps even more importantly – how well we are practiced with this repertoire, the more value-adding we can work with sources.

2. Zettelkasting is about wrestling with ideas, not a point tally of books read or PDFs organization. It should feel like wrestling with a formidable opponent, grappling and testing ideas until something emerges that can be pinned down. Otherwise, it’s just you sparing with well-organized noise.

Processing texts is not an end, but only a means to generate the most productive sessions possible. I therefore measure my productivity not by how many texts I can process or how thoroughly, but by the quality and quantity of thoughts unfolded, the quality and quantity of ideas understood.

Sascha

A range of approaches helps us connect better with a source's ideas. When we adapt our method to fit the material, we can dance with the ideas. The more methods we master, the more value we can extract from every source.

I thought I came up with the following on my own. But perhaps, I was just expanding on this.

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The range of methods mastered is directly proportional to your ability to benefit from any source

There was one short story that I remember very vividly:

There was a guy who visited a Sufi teacher and proudly told that he was a vegan. Obviously, it was a case of spiritual materialism in which a practice disguised as a spiritual one was in reality an effort to boost the ego.

The teacher said: That is a good start. But soon you'll have to learn to absorb and transform any form of energy.

The above linked article comes to a very similar conclusion.

The question is now: How to increase the range of books within which you can benefit?

This range is directly correlated with your own range as a knowledge worker.