Universal Questions for Any Note-Taking System • Zettelkasten Method

System

Universal Questions for Any Note-Taking System • Zettelkasten Method

Not all note-taking systems are created equal. You can use these universal questions to analyze yours and maybe make adjustments in the new year.

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Will

Great post!

Here are my takeaways.

What am I doing that is scaling to an infinite number of notes?

• Explaining connections between notes makes a difference in a note's value.
• Clearer and more relevant explanations are dynamic, elevating a note from an isolated thought to a spark that can ignite a chain reaction of ideas.
• Doing this habitually as part of note-taking makes future connections more lively and meaningful.

My Process:

Every note is given a title and a one-sentence summary, which I call "Subatomic." When a note is connected to another, the Title and the Subatomic sentence are used to describe the connection. For example:

• Dehypnosis via the Socratic Method [[202506110924]]
  • Breaking the hypnotic spell cast by powerful rhetoric by persistently questioning its assertions.

What is the nature of a good note?

• External - the title, tags, references, YAML and all metadata
• Internal- the body, content, the actual note

Focusing on the internal part is the key to a good note.

A good note is [a note] that your future self can then build on.