Your process for decided what is important to add to your Zettelkasten

ldomingues · February 2022

I am curious about how others decide what is important enough to add to their ZK. When I first started, I added everything and my first attempt was a cluttered mess. Now, I am a lot more selective with what permanent I add, I try and remind myself to just enjoy the process and try and follow the basic practice--capturing the gist of a concept, writing it in my own words, one idea per note, and linking the notes. But, I still feel from time to time as if I am going to end up with another mess full of useless tidbits...

So, my questions are, how do you decide what is important? And, how do you keep from cluttering your ZK?

I know the questions are really broad, but I'm curious about the thinking behind the decision process.

Will · February 2022

It is an evolutionary process. We have all started either overzealous or under zealous in capturing ideas. If we keep at it, the pace of idea onboarding will find an equilibrium. I try and keep my journaling narrative in my journal and not in my ZK. Otherwise, if an idea strikes and I catch it, it goes in the ZK. I capture all ideas as I'm the poorest judge of what will be helpful to my future self. The qualifier here is the idea must be novel, unique, surprising, memorable, or tied directly to a developing schema in my ZK.

The key is to relax. Stressing over whether or not to add a zettel is counterproductive. If you feel like working in the ZK, do it, otherwise don't.

Maybe I misunderstand. Can you say more about what you mean by "mess full of useless tidbits..."? What are these? How do they mess up your ZK?

ldomingues · February 2022

@Will by useless tidbits I guess I"m meaning more stream of consciousness type of notes, more like journaling or incomplete notes... something like fleeting notes, but I didn't have any way of differentiating between complete notes and incomplete.

I'm a perfectionist and want to have something just right or I start to feel overwhelmed a little. So that's what I mean by a cluttered mess. Since I have started my journey, I understand that is part of the process so I am trying to overcome that little voice in my head.

I look for different workflow ideas and try them out, keeping what works for me and discarding what doesn't. I guess it boils down to the fact that I want to figure out the best way to extract ideas while reading, and learn through the my ZK...

The key is to relax. Stressing over whether or not to add a zettel is counterproductive. If you feel like working in the ZK, do it, otherwise don't.

I have to remind myself of this from time to time... For example:

Will · February 2022

@ldomingues said:
…by useless tidbits I guess I"m meaning more stream of consciousness type of notes, more like journaling or incomplete notes...

I might suggest for a few days, only writing in your journal. Write everything, stream of consciousness, notes from reading, even the things you are "sure" are destined for your ZK. Each day look at the previous day's journal entry. Fresh neuropathways will expose the tidbits that express ideas. You can leave the rest in your journal where it probably belongs.

but I didn't have any way of differentiating between complete notes and incomplete.

The perfectionist's dilemma. No note is immutable. A note is a proxy for an idea, and as such, when an idea changes, the note must change. The most enjoyable workflow is the editing of a note, sometimes called refactoring or growing the idea and exploring the ZK for new connections. All notes start rough and if tended to become great. AND—don't be afraid to delete notes. If they feel yucky, cull them.

I have a script that presents a list of 2-10 historical zettel that I read and review each morning during my journaling time block. Some are read and spark a brief reminisce. Some are edited grammatically or format changes. Some are so embarrassing that even though no one else will ever see them, I have to refactor them full-on, reshaping them into new notes.

Knowing that I'll get other chances to edit a note lowers the expectation of getting it perfect the first time.

I'm a perfectionist and want to have something just right, or I start to feel overwhelmed a little. So that's what I mean by a cluttered mess. Since I have started my journey, I understand that is part of the process, so I am trying to overcome that little voice in my head.

Meditation can help.

Your example note is beautiful. You are a perfectionist. None of my notes are so beautiful. But your nott is not finished. I can envision another note in the future that talks about an example of frictionless habit formation. I might include references to recent research that shows how some fiction in a workflow is beneficial when establishing certain habits. You suddenly see where the reason for your struggle was that you thought this should be "frictionless." You'd want to refactor this note.

Annabella · February 2022

How do you keep from cluttering your ZK?

To deal with completeness with my Zettels, I follow a principle I developed. To be fair, I'm not sure if to merge it with the Principle of Atomicity, so I might later on.

The Principle of Form states that your Zettels should have an explicit form. Explicit form refers to how the information in the Zettel is structured according to its type of idea[1]. This form is explicit because you know it in your head[1]. Certain elements should be part of it, unless unnecessary. These elements are:

Title
Abstract
Content
- Definition
References

Indented items represent items that are part of the parent item. For example, a definition is part of the content.

Zettels are about ideas and all ideas have a structure. Moreover, when you write about an idea, you have its corresponding structure in your mind[1]. Thus, Zettels must be structured according to their type of idea. This structure has to be clear to you. This is the explicit form.

Certain elements are present in all ideas:

Definitions. It is necessary to help you and others to get to the level needed to understand something else. Thus, if you present a new term in a Zettel, you need to define it. Alternatively, create a separate Zettel for the definition.
Title. A title makes it possible for you to know what the Zettel is about. So, it should be part of a Zettel as well.
Abstract. An abstract allows you to know what the Zettel specifically deals with so you can decide whether to look at it. Therefore, it must be part of every Zettel.

Example of a form

Form for principles:

The principle
The reasoning behind the principle
How to apply the principle (Optional)
Analogies (Optional)

Example of a Zettel using the form

The Principle of Atomicity states that every Zettel should be about a single, easy-to-identify idea[2].

Making a Zettel per idea allows the Zettelkasten to aid you in your thinking[2]. Your thinking works with individual thoughts[2]. And, a Zettelkasten will store and connect what you choose to put in the Zettels[2].

The length of the Zettel depends on the kind of web you want to create[2]. If the web is of thoughts, your Zettelkasten will help you to think[2]. Therefore, the length is not important so long as you capture the thought[2].

Length only is a problem when you want to connect to portions of a Zettel. At that point, either the Zettel isn't about one idea or a piece of information could deserve its own Zettel.

In practice, you need to write with an explicit form.

How do you decide what is important?

I capture something I call scyketh in my Zettelkasten. Scyketh is knowledge that has the following traits: Beauty, simplicity, truth, relevancy, and usefulness[3].

Relevancy is the reason to pay attention to something[3].

Examples:

Thing	Relevancy
A cake recipe	Make a birthday cake
A combo in a guide for a fighting game	Getting better at the game
Link context	Why you should follow a link

Usefulness is something that helps you to achieve something else[3].

Examples:

Thing	What is its use
A Zettel on a character	Write a work of fiction
A recipe	Make the dish it is about
Money	Buy stuff
A smartphone	Buy stuff online, communicate, play video games, and others
An educational video	Grow your brain

Scyketh is a made-up word that I created to differentiate this type of knowledge from others. To create it, I combined the traits above and knowledge.

It's an umbrella for several things:[3]

Definitions
Scientific theories
Scientific facts
Models
Arguments and counterarguments
Evidence

Final Note

Most of what I've explained is incomplete. For example, for the Zettel on scyketh, I aim to include why models, arguments, and so on have the traits. Another of the things I want to do is connect truth to the scientific method. So, to get the full picture, either wait until I'm done or try to complete them yourself. If you choose the second, I'd be glad to know what you discover.

References

[1] Fast S. Re: How to Write a Note That You Will Actually Understand [Internet]. Zettelkasten Forum. 2021 [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/13300/#Comment_13300

[2] Fast S. Introduction to the Zettelkasten Method [Internet]. Zettelkasten. 2020 [cited 2021 Jun 11]. Available from: https://zettelkasten.de/introduction/

[3] Fast S. Best Zettelstream #1 - Just Start Thinking and Let Typing Happen on Itself [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 Aug 27]. Available from:

ldomingues · February 2022

@Will said:
I might suggest for a few days, only writing in your journal. Write everything, stream of consciousness, notes from reading, even the things you are "sure" are destined for your ZK. Each day look at the previous day's journal entry. Fresh neuropathways will expose the tidbits that express ideas. You can leave the rest in your journal where it probably belongs.

Okay, I can see the functionality of this... it's definitely making me realize that I am compartmentalizing my process too much instead of trying to have it work together. I will have to make sure that I keep this in mind moving forward. It's easy to get stuck in a routine and I don't want to hinder my curiosity by making it a chore.

The perfectionist's dilemma. No note is immutable. A note is a proxy for an idea, and as such, when an idea changes, the note must change. The most enjoyable workflow is the editing of a note, sometimes called refactoring or growing the idea and exploring the ZK for new connections.

Knowing that I'll get other chances to edit a note lowers the expectation of getting it perfect the first time.

Reminding myself that the process of learning is a bit messy and that's okay is going to be a journey for sure. But, I am curious, when you say that when "the idea changes, the notes must change", do you edit the original note or create a new one that expands or corrects your previous line of thinking?

Also, I like the term refactoring... I already started working on a note that explores the idea, so thanks for that little spark.

....your nott is not finished. I can envision another note in the future that talks about an example of frictionless habit formation. I might include references to recent research that shows how some fiction in a workflow is beneficial when establishing certain habits. You suddenly see where the reason for your struggle was that you thought this should be "frictionless." You'd want to refactor this note.

I guess the wording does assume that the process is supposed to be "easy" which in hindsight is silly. I'm thinking that I can expand on that idea, but use something like "reduce unnecessary complexity" instead of "frictionless" because I agree with you, growth requires some friction.

ldomingues · February 2022

@Will I had typed out a lengthy response to you comment... posted it, went back in to edit a particular line of thought, and somehow deleted the comment. So that was frustrating.

But, in essence, I'm realizing that my process is too compartmentalized and I need to make sure that I try and have things work together instead of focusing on one things separately... journaling and my ZK, for example.

your nott is not finished. I can envision another note in the future that talks about an example of frictionless habit formation. I might include references to recent research that shows how some fiction in a workflow is beneficial when establishing certain habits. You suddenly see where the reason for your struggle was that you thought this should be "frictionless." You'd want to refactor this note.

Additionally, my use of the word frictionless, in hindsight, does assume that the process is supposed to be easy. Which as you point out, is not particularly useful for developing habits... you can't really grow without some friction. I think that I can expand on my current note, by reframing it as "reducing unnecessary complexity"... I think that would be more productive.

Also, I like the term "refactoring" and already created a note to explore that idea... so thank you for that little spark.

No note is immutable. A note is a proxy for an idea, and as such, when an idea changes, the note must change.

I am curious here about your process... when the idea changes, do you edit the original note or create a new note that explores your new line of thinking?

Will · February 2022

@ldomingues said:

No note is immutable. A note is a proxy for an idea, and as such, when an idea changes, the note must change.

I am curious here about your process... when the idea changes, do you edit the original note or create a new note that explores your new line of thinking?

It depends on how much my mind is changed. Is the new information and expansion contradiction, does it explode the ideas into unusable fragments, or does it explode into a Disneyland fireworks grand finale? How does the revelation change my thinking? Some changes are minor. Here is an example.

Today I was reviewing a note from 3 years ago titled A-Content streams and thinking space 201902031533, and in it, I wrote about something at the time I called "Thinking Friday." Times have changed, and I've grown. This is now a significant part of my week, but it has evolved in many ways. It's more formal and doesn't always happen on Friday. So I updated the note, adding links to more current notes and updating the phrasing to "Deep Thinking Retreat."

G-The Art Of Living A Good Life 202105102006
Mitigating The Pace Of Life 202107230746
The Journalistic Philosophy Of Deep Work Scheduling 202009100835

This is a three-year-old note that is now super relevant. I had no idea of this when I wrote it. It contained the article reference where I stole this idea from. It is nice to reconnect with the article and its author.

Other changes are like total resets. For example, another three-year-old note, Meditations on Self-Discipline 201901021303, is a structure note based on a book by the same title. At the time, I did what I thought was an excellent job of capturing the author's ideas, but now I'm embarrassed and want to reread the book and rewrite the thirty notes that appear on the structure note. So far, I've been working on this for about a month.

My practice is to stay flexible when zettelkasting. Do what feels rewarding, and don't get hung up on failures. Each time I start note-taking, it's an opportunity to be fresh and strive to be just .62% better than yesterday. Smile and relax.

ZettelDistraction · February 2022

@ldomingues said:

So, my questions are, how do you decide what is important?

This is a difficult question that deserves a multi-part answer.

Exquisite taste, developed, though not entirely through exposure to the "spectacles of genius that can restore an affective attachment to life" (Leiter, 2018).
Practice distinguishing the important from the interesting but unimportant takes effort. Good philosophy can teach this. Here is the best advice from political candidate that I'm aware of (and I'm not a Republican):

Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlitt Packard and a Republican candidate for US President in 2016, said that her philosophy courses taught her how "... to distinguish the truly important from the merely interesting" (Fiorina, 2007)

Specifically, a course in Medieval History and Philosophy, where the weekly assignment was to distill 1000+ page books to two-page papers.

Anything important and meaningful will involve some pain. The unimportant and interesting is easy and painless, and possibly pleasurable. My Zettelkasten attempts to steer me in the direction of suffering (see below).

By designing a Zettel template. A standardized note format is essential to the method. (Ahrens 2017) is especially helpful after you have gotten used to working with a standard template. Since Ahrens doesn't provide one (he's operating on a more abstract plane) I offer one online for free.
By re-reading How To Write Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens and taking to heart his good advice (the shipping container analogy, taking written notes in a separate notebook while reading etc) and noting where his terminology runs off the rails.

Ahrens has some suggestions on what is important enough for your ZK:

A common way to embed an idea into the context of the slip-box is by writing out the reasons of its importance for your own lines of thought. (Ahrens, p.96)

But the first question I asked myself when it came to writing the first permanent note for the slip-box was: What does this all mean for my own research and the questions I think about in my slip-box? This is just another way of asking: Why did the aspects I wrote down catch my interest? (Ahrens p96)

On where his terminology sometimes leads to confusion, malaise, and untold misery, here's a synopsis of a longer post:

The three categories of notes due to Ahrens tend to become fetishized. These are fleeting notes, permanent notes and project notes. The fleeting notes are notes (pen or pencil and paper, for example) that may or may not be added to the Zettelkasten or the reference manager after a day or two.

The permanent notes are the only notes that go either into the (slip box of the) Zettelkasten or the reference manager. Ahrens names the permanent notes that reside the reference manager: these are so-called literature notes, though this is misleading because a literature note can be a citation (in Zotero, for example) or a citation with an attached note (also possible in Zotero). Ahrens does not have a name for the most important notes in the system. In his classification, they would be called permanent non-literature notes. This is awkward and unnecessary. They could be called Zettels, a word that appears nowhere in Ahrens, at least in the English translation.

Also, the adjective permanent is misleading: permanent notes can be revised. However, I would exercise caution about this, since changes to one note can affect every note linked directly or indirectly to it. It's also very possible to romp over work that you labored over. I overwrote the Zettel Template version 2.1 with version 2.2. Fortunately, I had a backup in git. It's all too easy to lose or overwrite them online, or to introduce errors. I let the Zettelkasten decide what to revise (see below).

Project notes are not standardized and are mentioned in three places in Ahrens (Ahrens pp 45, 46, 70).

By deferring the decision to work on something to the Zettelkasten. See Methodological Zettelkastenism
Choice of software helps--get that out of the way. I started using is Stylus Labs Write, a note taking program for digital tablets to which I contributed a Cornell Notes template (my pull request on GitHub has been ignored). Stylus Labs Write produces SVG and PDF files. My setup includes Zettlr+Pandoc+MikTeX+Zotero+BetterBibTex, though Zettlr won't edit non-Markdown files. That means I need another editor for programming. I started using Jupyter math notebooks and SageMath for a project I'm working on.

And, how do you keep from cluttering your ZK?

I don't. Occasionally I review my notes. The threshold for inclusion is low, but not so low as to include platitudinous self-help rubbish. Blech, yuck, barf I say, with the utmost gravitas.

References

Ahrens, Sönke. 2017. How to take smart notes: one simple technique to boost writing, learning and thinking: for students, academics and nonfiction book writers. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.

Leiter, Brian, The Truth is Terrible (April 7, 2018). Journal of Nietzsche Studies (Fall 2018 Forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2099162 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2099162

Fiorina, Carly. 2007. “The Importance of Selective Information.” Video of talk presented at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Stanford University, May 2. https://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/the-importance-of-selective-information/.

ctietze · February 2022

@Annabella said:
Relevancy is the reason to pay attention to something[3].

Examples:

Thing Relevancy
A cake recipe Make a birthday cake
A combo in a guide for a fighting game Getting better at the game
Link context Why you should follow a link
Usefulness is something that helps you to achieve something else[3].

Examples:

Thing What is its use
A Zettel on a character Write a work of fiction
A recipe Make the dish it is about
Money Buy stuff
A smartphone Buy stuff online, communicate, play video games, and others
An educational video Grow your brain

Love these examples for their variety and everyday application 👍 Especially the first ones showing that in a Zettelkasten it can make sense to collect both fighting game combos and cake recipes, although they don't have anything in common, because they are relevant to you. ("You" being the actual reader of these lines, not @Annabella, necessarily )

Annabella · February 2022

@ctietze That's part of the magic of the Zettelkasten.

Also, thanks everyone else for their comments. I've been silently taking note of the resources and some ideas.

ldomingues · February 2022

@Annabella said:
I capture something I call scyketh in my Zettelkasten. Scyketh is knowledge that has the following traits: Beauty, simplicity, truth, relevancy, and usefulness

I like how you broke down your focus into some distinct traits and I can see the benefits of having this framework in your mind while reading and thinking can be beneficial.

The one thing that really stood out to me, and @ctietze pointed it out as well, is that relevance (and usefulness) are totally subjective... and if it is information or a concept that means something to you, it is worth adding.

I think that I tend to try and be too "deep" with my notes, especially since I like to read a lot of philosophy... but, it's a nice reminder to add things that have the traits you mentioned–Beauty, simplicity, truth, relevancy, and usefulness.

ldomingues · February 2022

@ZettelDistraction said:

Practice distinguishing the important from the interesting but unimportant takes effort. Good philosophy can teach this.

This better defines my feelings of "clutter" when I am talking about my ZK... and I think I can start to better direct note taking while keeping this in mind.

A follow up question would be, when you are doing your reading, do you always have a particular goal in mind? I can see how if you have a goal while reading that would provide some clue as to what is important vs interesting.

ZettelDistraction · February 2022

@ldomingues said:
A follow up question would be, when you are doing your reading, do you always have a particular goal in mind? I can see how if you have a goal while reading that would provide some clue as to what is important vs interesting.

Not necessarily an articulated one. It depends on the context. The threshold for inclusion is relatively low, since I don't know what is likely to be useful in advance. A time-traveler would read differently.

Philosophers have never agreed about reasons for acting in the entire history of philosophy [Leiter, Brian, Disagreement, Anti-Realism About Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation (August 6, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3228060 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3228060].

I would hope that my searching follows a Levy Flight, like that of a fly buzzing about, foraging for food.

That's one of the points of the Zettelkasten: it's a shipping container. The finished work is outside.

Leiter, Brian, "Disagreement, Anti-Realism About Reasons, and Inference to the Best Explanation" (2018). Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. 707.
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/public_law_and_legal_theory/707

Annabella · February 2022

@ldomingues Props to Sascha for the idea. If you know German, you may want to read their book. I think it dives deeper into it.

@ldomingues said:

A follow up question would be, when you are doing your reading, do you always have a particular goal in mind? I can see how if you have a goal while reading that would provide some clue as to what is important vs interesting.

If I understood @ZettelDistraction correctly, what you want to do is focus on what's immediately important to you. That's also how relevancy and usefulness are related: You identify what you want, then look for what matches that goal. What the relevancy is isn't important so long as it's something. For example, if you want to keep up with a topic, it's enough to say "I want to understand this idea to expand my knowledge on the topic".

ZettelDistraction · February 2022

@ldomingues said:
So, my questions are, how do you decide what is important? And, how do you keep from cluttering your ZK?

I know the questions are really broad, but I'm curious about the thinking behind the decision process.

After some thought, I believe I can distill an answer down to a single test.

ZK Threshold Test. Ask yourself if you are willing to jot down fleeting notes on X (where X is whatever you are reading, the lecture or seminar you are attending, the museum piece you are studying, the demonstration you are observing, etc.).

If you are not willing to take judiciously a few fleeting notes on X, then X is not important or interesting enough to go into your ZK. If you are willing to take fleeing notes, then X meets the (minimum) threshold for further revision and possible inclusion in the ZK as a Zettel.

Remarks. The first step of the Zettelkasten method in How To Take Smart Notes by Sönke Arhens consists of jotting down fleeting notes on paper. That's a rule. If you're not doing this or if you have never done this, e.g., while reading (I have been remiss myself), then you aren't following the method (per Ahrens). At this stage, it may be difficult to judge whether something is important, but definitionally one can say that if X passes the ZK Threshold Test, then X meets the ZK threshold. In my opinion, this is a low threshold, but not too low.

This test should serve to answer your second question about clutter as well. This is longer than I intended, but this test is the best I can come up with, at time t=9:17 PM, EST.

taurusnoises · February 2022

I tend to not think too hard about what should or shouldn't be made into a proper zettel. Instead, a zettel-worthy capture, for me, has a certain kind of feeling. I just feel it out.

It's a little hard to describe, but the shape of the feeling is a round, bulbous orb that's a bit sticky. 😂 The bulbousness is the idea, the core, and that core will usually feel full and kind of pregnant. The stickiness varies, and will depend on how much the idea "sticks" to other ideas. So, it's gotta have some weight, and gotta link to other ideas in the ZK.

That probably sounds strange. But, I really have no interest in granual expositions on the nature of an atomic idea or anything that requires me to get distracted with "should I" or "shouldn't I" or "is it" or "isn't it." If the thought/idea is fat and sticky, it gets turned into a note. 🐙

Also, total aside, but I can't stress enough having writing projects in mind, and areas of study. Having those will greatly increase your ability to know what you want to get int the ZK.

GeoEng51 · February 2022

@taurusnoises Nicely stated!

ctietze · February 2022

@taurusnoises The problem is: until you get a feeling for what you want to keep, it's hard to decide

17 y.o. me would clip stuff from newspapers and magazines to preserve the gist because it sounded important in some way or another. But after adopting the ZK and realizing that there's opportunity cost involved, i.e. I cannot spend 80hrs/day processing information, I had to become more selective. That requires experience to some extent.

So how do you start?

I'm a firm believer in this: the process will teach you what you want to keep eventually. The beginning stages might be wild and confusing. -- Like Luhmann said, one is bound to produce rubbish notes. That's a fact one has to make peace with to not overly stress about correctness and shoulds/shouldn'ts like you said. The state of mind that helps see "sticky" stuff is acquired by going through the motions for a while.

taurusnoises · February 2022

Thank, @GeoEng51!

@ctietze I 1000% agree with you. In fact, that's what I would say to anyone starting out is to go through the process of starting, keep a couple basic principles in mind, have a permanent note template you use (so you have something to shoot for and slow you down), and see how it goes. I think there's enough good friction in the system to show where a person's typical approach to capture won't fit. It'll quickly (or not so quickly) feel like trying to fit square pegs in circle holes.

I also feel like having a writing project in mind, even a vague one, will narrow the entrance to the funnel. In fact, if I'm helping someone start a zettel, that's one of the first things we do. Decide what the output is going to be for. It can (and will) change over time, but at first just make one up if you have to.

But, if you want to know how I do it now, it's about sticky orbs.

DuncanMKZ · February 2022

Of course, there isn't a single correct approach. It depends on what you're working on and what you hope to have as an end result (if there IS a specific end result).

Writing can serve two purposes. The first is as a way of communicating ideas (eg, a novel, a research paper, or a web page). The second is as an aid to thought (eg, an outline, or rough notes on a math problem).

These two approaches often go together. If you want to write an article on bees, you might first get your thoughts down on the page – what approach are you going to take in this article, what facts are you going to cover, what funny bee stories can you tell...

With a Zettelkasten approach, it is quite easy to start with rough notes and gradually morph them into a finished article (accompanied by a mass of notes with information and thoughts that didn't get used in the final version)

However, it's important to keep the distinction between "communicating" and "mental aid". The mental aid stage is always sloppy and wasteful. If you are dumping ideas down on a page so you can sort them, it will be messy – and it doesn't matter at all. Text data is cheap, and it's unlikely anyone will ever look at this. (Even if you become super-famous, only the most obsessive fan archivist will read all your own notes – and this is probably not the sort of person you'd want to meet in any case.) If you're writing to get ideas down, be messy, write words you'll never use, and don't be afraid to leave a slightly chaotic mass of incomplete ideas or paragraphs. At the end, it's tempting to go back on these rough notes and tidy them up or delete them. Even this is not worth the bother. There might be something in there you'll come back to, so don't delete it (you can find it with a search), but don't make the mental effort to sort it out, unless you're the sort of person who catalogues and sorts your dreams and the content of your pockets.

By setting this low standard for the "scratchpad" document, it becomes much easier to throw down ideas, and some of these will be good. These can be further grouped and organized. Add headings. Rearrange them. Put long blocks into new (linked) documents. Gradually, a kind of order emerges from the chaos, and you create a document that is designed to communicate with others.

For me, being deliberately messy in the scratchpad document is an important part of the process. I don't have to think about whether an idea is worthy of appearing on this valuable and important document. The document is NOT important at all, except as an aid to thinking, and ANY idea can be jotted down and inspected. That includes ideas that just flit through your head – "I must buy eggs today. " Write it down and clear your head. Often, I'll come back to a brief note, and it suggests another idea.

Many systems designed to enhance creativity instead end up suppressing it. The "Mind Map" can be a great way of organizing ideas, but you often see people posting these lovely, artistic mind-maps, which turns it into a object of beauty. If that's the standard for your maps, you'll never do anything useful with them, because no ordinary mind map will ever look good enough.

The German playwright Schiller once had a discussion with a supporter who admired the playwright and complained about his own inability to create. Schiller said that the way he worked was a bit like being in a walled city with barbarians outside. Every now and then, you open the gates, pull away the guards, and let the barbarians into the city. Then, after you've got this influx of wild chaos, you put them in rows and pick and choose the ones you want. This is very similar to the Zettelkasten strategy of writing down ANYTHING, then sorting it into child documents (probably including a "leftovers" document) once there's something on the page.

Writing has a sound – the scratching of a pen or the tap-tapping of fingers on a keyboard. And effective thinking can have that sound too. If you're not hearing that sound, and just thinking about what you should type, the process has already gone wrong. I find it sometimes helps to put down on the page why you're having a hard time writing something. It "primes the pump".

Nick · February 2022

@ldomingues I think about this a lot and is something that I haven't worked out fully in my mind.

What you are aiming for is information that is high in utility. The more a piece of information gets used in your thinking, the more useful it will be. But this doesn't mean putting down information that is so internalized (memorized and connected) that you never look at the note. So what notes will get used the most?

Abstract concepts tend to have the most utility, while specific facts tend to not because their application is context specific. But you don't want the concept to become so abstract that it becomes meaningless and not able to be applied.

Perikles · February 2022

@ldomingues said:
So, my questions are, how do you decide what is important?

This comes later when creating structure notes. You "comment" on the importance of a Zettel by linking to it.

The other thing is it's about the purpose for which you maintain your ZK. The boundaries of what could be zettelworthy are set by your overall project. All importance of a Zettel is always in relation to that end-goal of yours.

Here's the thing about life: you ain't make it perfect. Meaning, in our context, your ZK doesn't have to be perfect. When you write, then the thing is better be useful to you. Not perfect. Just good. So that your writing benefits from it enough so that you can say: it's worth the trouble.

Sascha · February 2022

You don't need to decide since the process involves

The decision process can be postponed (See Luhmann's note)
The Zettelkasten has a self-scaling nature. So, it can't be to big just to messy. But importance is not a reason for messiness. Imagine really digging into rainbow pony poop. Not important (I hope), but your Zettelkasten wouldn't be hurt by those notes.

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Your process for decided what is important to add to your Zettelkasten

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How do you keep from cluttering your ZK?

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How do you decide what is important?

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