Invented by Niklas Luhmann - Deepstash
Making Better Decisions

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Invented by Niklas Luhmann

Niklas Luhmann , a notable sociologist, was living proof for a system that is effective. During his life, he wrote 70 books and 500 scholarly articles. He attributes his success to a note-taking system called the Zettelkasten , which is the German word for slip box (Luhmann’s system was done on index cards or “slips,” stored in boxes, and later digitized).

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MORE IDEAS ON THIS

Level 2️⃣: Literature notes

You capture literature notes from the content you consume. It’s your bullet-point summary from other people’s ideas. I create these notes for all books, podcasts, articles, or videos I find valuable.

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Level 1️⃣: Fleeting Notes

Fleeting notes are ideas that pop into your mind as you go through your day. They can be really short, just like one word. You don’t need to organize them. They just serve as reminders of your thinking.

These notes have no value except as stepping stones for turning literature notes into pe...

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What makes good literature notes

You can be extremely selective, or simply takes notes upon asking yourself:

  • What is interesting about this?
  • What’s so relevant it’s worth noting down?

By transforming consumed content into literature notes, you're using one of the most effective learning stra...

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Use context to create a notes network

A note is only as useful as the context you place it in. A note’s true value unfolds in its network of connections and relationships to others.

You don’t have to use your brain anymore to find separate ideas from different books related to each other. In a Zettelkasten, you don’t file notes...

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A Zettelkasten can work as an idea-generation machine

Creating a personal knowledge database can feel difficult. First, the many options and tutorials confuse you. Then, building a system slows down your consumption speed.

A Zettelkasten can work as an idea-generation machine. You discover related ideas that you hadn’t thought of in the first ...

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Good cross-references increases your notes' value

“Making good cross-references is a matter of serious thinking and a crucial part of the development of thoughts.”

Here are two questions to ask yourself when you create references for your literature notes. Answering them will help you make good cross-references:

  1. In which circums...

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Literature notes vs. Permanent notes

Literature notes vs. Permanent notes

Sometimes permanent notes are truly original. Other times they can be just a reference to the original source added with a personal anecdote.

Permanent notes are no holy grail — but a work in progress. Don’t be afraid to write them. You can change and update them whenever you want: ...

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Level 3️⃣: Permanent notes

Permanent notes are the real value-adders. You create them by looking through your fleeting and literature notes. Ideally, you create them once a day.

Both Sönke Ahren and Andy Matuschak say a knowledge worker’s productivity should be measured by the number of permanent notes they write in ...

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How to create permanent notes

As a rule of thumb, you can create permanent notes about every topic you're curious about or working on. When you’re in doubt, ask yourself whether you’re curious to explore your idea further.

When you create permanent notes, you think for yourself. In contrast to literature no...

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CURATED FROM

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alexbadut

36 yr old product guy. Interested in meditation, product design and the future.

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Luhmann's slip-box

Luhmann's slip-box

German sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) designed his slip-box made up of index cards. They were thematically unlimited. His simple system produced a prolific output. Over his 30-year career,  Luhmann published 58 books and hundreds of articles while completing his two-volume masterwork, The...

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