Tutorial
Understanding Zettelkasten notes.
Once you understand the concept, note taking is easy.
If you’re reading this, you probably are trying to figure out how to recreate the magic that allowed Niklas Luhmann to publish as much as he did. If you’ve gotten here after watching countless YouTube videos and trawling the net to understand Luhmann’s workflow, it means you still haven’t quite figured it out. I think I have it. Let me show you. I won’t get into the fine details of who Luhmann was and what his system was able to achieve, I’m guessing you’re here because you already know.
Luhmann wanted to capture ideas in a time without computers. His basic workflow went something along the lines of:
- Hey, this is what I’ve read. (Author, book title, etc.)
- These are the ideas I got out of the book, and here’s where to find them. (page numbers)
- This is what I think the ideas I captured are about and these new ideas may be related to other ideas I’ve stored previously. If you’re interested, I can direct you to them and you can see for yourself.
That’s it. That’s what Luhmann did with his Zettelkasten. The magic began when he built up a critical mass of interconnected notes. That’s what will ultimately happen provided you keep at…
