them into something coherent and embed them into the context of your argument. He utilizes the concept of Zettelkasten (German for index cards) developed by Niklas Luhmann, a German sociologist. If they see a nice sentence, they underline it. They were always too vague and boring, full of platitudes that had little to do with the world outside academia. But recently I picked up How To Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens. The purpose of research is to produce public knowledge that can be scrutinized and tested. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. This is why we must spend as much time as possible working on things we find interesting. But everything that we write down and share with someone else counts: notes we share with a friend, homework we submit to a professor, emails we write to our colleagues, and presentations we deliver to clients all count as knowledge made public. I only added the technical aspects. Just because you read more doesn’t automatically mean you have more or better ideas. Principle #5: Standardization enables creativity, The potential of the shipping container was only unleashed when. It could be your own interpretation of a passage, or it could be some other seemingly random idea that the book sparked. With this approach, the greater one’s collection of notes, the less accessible and useful they become. Also, this method works best in my new favorite tool Roam, so if you haven't started using it I'd encourage reading my article on Roam or checking out my course on it. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. Oops! The truth is every intellectual endeavor starts with a preceding conception. And once it is, what the author meant doesn’t matter – only the actual words written on the page matter. If I encounter a novel engineering method, it may be useful for completely different reasons depending on whether I am working on an engineering textbook, a skyscraper, or a rocket booster. It usually comes from an existing interest or understanding. But it is only when you understand why – that arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body, while veins carry blood low in oxygen back to the heart – that that fact has any value. But the important part is the principle: Work. I don’t want to be prescriptive about how note-taking should be done, but … So we don’t want to work according to a rigid workflow that is threatened by the unexpected. If they want to make a comment, they write it in the margins. There are many different ways to emulate the Zettelkasten digitally, and the landscape of available programs is changing rapidly. It is only when you have multiple, simultaneous projects and interests that the full potential of an external thinking system is realized. Because of this, he claimed that there was actual communication going on between himself and his zettelkasten. The potential of the shipping container was only unleashed when every other part of the shipping supply chain was changed to accommodate it. Do we really need even more people broadcasting half-baked opinions and theories online? References, the highlights that I got ideas from and want to extract, Ideas, the thoughts that I had while reading the book. I’ve been dabbling in the Zettlekasten’s principles through two sources: Sönke Ahrens’ book How to Take Smart Notes and RadReader Shu Omi’s YouTube channel. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psychological insight and draws from a tried and tested note-taking-technique. You’ll read differently, becoming more focused on the parts most relevant to the argument you’re building. Whether you follow this manual’s process or create a digital version, the concept remains the same. My program of choice used to be ZKN3 … A “smart note” or as I like to call it, an “Insight Note,” is a hard effort to take information and translate it into a precise and meaningful expression. Extremely low it would seem. You're going to dramatically level up your reading comprehension and retention. Instead, you’ll try to learn the basics as efficiently as possible so you can get to the point where open questions arise, as these are the only questions worth writing about. How to take smart notes (Ahrens, 2017) The amazing note-taking method of Luhmann Four kinds of notes Fleeting notes Literature notes Permanent notes Project notes Four principles Writing is the only thing that matters. How To Take Smart Notes is a book on note-taking for students, academics, and non-fiction writers. How to Take Smart Notes is a detailed guide that promotes the Zettelkasten note-taking method created by Niklas Luhmann. The same principle applies to the steps of processing our notes. It requires elaboration – we need to copy, translate, re-write, compare, contrast, and describe a new idea in our own terms. The core idea of Smart Notes is that purely extracting highlights is generally a waste of time. Don’t simply copy your notes into a manuscript. The beauty of this approach is that we co-evolve with our slip-boxes: We build the same connections in our heads as we deliberately develop them in our slip-box. He intended his notes not just for a single project or book but for a lifetime of reading and researching. Once they did, international shipping exploded, setting the stage for Asia to become an economic power among many other historic changes. But notes are the only kind of feedback that is available anytime you need it. As you detect holes in your argument, fill them or change the argument. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. Everything else is just clutter. This means when it comes time to write, they first have to undertake a massive project to collect and organize all these scattered notes. If they had stuck religiously to their original plan, they probably wouldn’t have discovered a cure for cancer and certainly wouldn’t have discovered the structure of DNA. Perhaps you read it for a certain purpose – to gain some familiarity with a topic you’re interested in or find insights for a project you’re working on. As I've gotten more and more serious about note taking, I've found that my desire for digital handwritten notes has shifted. The most interesting topics are the ones we didn’t plan on learning about. It is by far the most impactful and profound book I’ve ever read on the subject. Now that we understand what Smart Notes are, let’s take a look at how to do this in Roam Research. I only added the technical aspects. Container shipping is a simple idea: ship products in standardized containers instead of loading them onto ships haphazardly as had always been done. You’ll naturally seek venues to present your work, since the feedback you receive will propel your thinking forward like nothing else. Just because writing is not a linear process doesn’t mean we should go about it haphazardly. The slip-box is a thinking tool, not an encyclopedia, so completeness is not important. This is where I deviate from Ahren's method slightly: I capture both my notes and the highlights, because I like having direct passages to quote later in articles like these. And if you don't already take book highlights, even better! For the Ideas, I'll re-type them from my notebook and expand on them to make them into coherent thoughts. When I discovered this book — How to take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens — I didn’t expect it would have anything to do with this, but it ended up giving me an insight into the learning and writing process of academics. The important question here is: how can I make this idea detailed enough to stand on its own, without the context of the book or the associated highlight? It's a collection of fascinating finds from my week, usually about psychology, technology, health, philosophy, and whatever else catches my interest. If they have a good idea, they write it in whichever notebook is close at hand. ...the mere copying of quotes almost always changes their meaning by stripping them out of context, even though the words aren't changed. Overview notes help to structure your thoughts and can be seen as an in-between step in the development of a manuscript. Early in his academic career, Luhmann realized that a note was only as valuable as its. How to do This In Roam. This might still seem like a radical principle. The origins of Zettlekasten . Available on. It is far easier to switch between the role of creator and critic when there is a clear separation between them, and you don’t have to do both at the same time. He described his system as his secondary memory (, ). Notes are like shipping containers for ideas. He developed a simple system based on paper index cards, which he called his “slip-box” (or. They are not meant to capture an idea in full detail, but serve more as reminders of what is in your head. A common format removes unnecessary complexity and takes the second-guessing out of the process. Upon his death, Luhmann’s slip-box contained 90,000 notes. In other words, instead of filing things away according to where they came from, you file them according to where they’re going. Early in his academic career, Luhmann realized that a note was only as valuable as its context – its network of associations, relationships, and connections to other information. If you want to understand an idea, you have to translate it into your own words. A book about personal finance might interest me for completely different reasons if I am a politician working on a campaign speech, a financial advisor trying to help a client, or an economist developing monetary policy. Access a free summary of How to Take Smart Notes, by Sönke Ahrens and 20,000 other business, leadership and nonfiction books on getAbstract. it teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward. By focusing on writing, Ahrens is able to speak in concrete terms about a specific creative process while simultaneously drawing universal conclusions. The most interesting topics are the ones we didn’t plan on learning about. It is this standardization of notes that enables a critical mass to build up in one place. Sönke’s method follows a different order: first research while taking notes, connect the research notes into ideas then explore these ideas until you find themes upon which you write. Having a clear, tangible purpose when you consume information completely changes the way you engage with it. It is the system in which all the techniques are linked together. A workflow is similar to a chemical reaction: It can feed on itself, becoming a virtuous cycle where the positive experience of understanding a text motivates us to take on the next task, which helps us get better at what we’re doing, which in return makes it more likely for us to enjoy our work, and so on. The ability to increase the chances of such future accidental encounters is a powerful one, because the best ideas are usually ones we haven’t anticipated. With so many ideas at our disposal, we are no longer threatened by the possibility that a new idea will undermine existing ones. This number could be referenced from any other card, because it would never change. Let’s look deeper at the main principles that Luhmann used in his work, which Ahrens has adapted to the modern age. Put simply, because structure notes freeze the meaning … Mind from the burden of remembering stuff and keeping track of everything and theories online ideas '' heading, to... 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