Digital Zettelkasten: Principles, Methods, & Examples

by David Kadavy

A Zettelkasten – especially a digital one – is a bicycle for the mind.

the Zettelkasten method hijacks our short attention spans to help us be productive.

Zettelkasten is German for "slip box" (Plural: Zettelkästen). In analog form, a Zettelkasten is literally a box filled with slips of paper, each slip with a note on it, as well as metadata used to organize those notes. The Zettelkasten method is a way of organizing paper in a non-hierarchical way. Instead of being restricted to keeping a note only under one category, or having to make multiple copies of the same note to put in various places, notes are organized so that you can arrive at one individual note through various routes, and that note can lead you to various other notes – much like today's internet, but in paper form.

A Zettelkasten helps you produce writing. As a writer myself, I'm biased in this viewpoint, but I have a hard time imagining an ultimate use for a Zettelkasten other than writing. Yes, a Zettelkasten helps you retain what you read – but so you can turn that knowledge into writing. Yes, a Zettelkasten helps you retrieve knowledge when your memory fails you – so you can turn that into writing. Yes, a Zettelkasten helps you decide what to read next and develop your ideas – it even helps you have ideas. But what is all that for? To produce writing.

Retain what you read: No more forgetting what a book was about the moment you finish reading it. The Zettelkasten method helps

break reading down into a series of engaging rituals that repeatedly expose you to the most interesting things you've read – thus helping you retain what you read.

Retrieve it quickly: No more fumbling through pages to try to find that passage you want to reference. With your digital Zettelkasten, you can copy and paste the exact quote in seconds – along with ...

Know what to read next: Your Zettelkasten helps you follow your curiosity in a productive way. If you're looking for something to read, you can look in your Zettelkasten to see what sparks your interest. Whatever you choose, e...

Develop your ideas: Instead of starting each writing project with a blank page, you already have written short passages you can stitch tog...

Have ideas: Because your Zettelkasten frees your mental energy from having to remember and retrieve things you read or wrote long ago, you have more mental energy available to think about new ideas. The act of organizing your notes is just en...

Search engines and the internet are not a substitute for your notes. Your notes contain more than just simple facts, managing your notes builds your memory, and your notes help you store and develop ideas in-progress.

productivity is about Mind Management, Not Time Management

Digital notes are better for...

Searchability

Digital notes allow you to search your whole database. Paper notes allow you to find specific information only through these ways: by keyword, by links from other notes, by note title, or by manually sorting through notes. Portability Digital notes allow you to access and edit your notes from anywhere, as long as you have a device. Paper notes, you have to bring with you. Backup Digital notes are stor...

Digital notes can be typed, linked, and searched quickly. Paper notes are written by hand, printed out, or typed on a typewriter, all of which can slow you down. Mutability Digital notes can be revised easily. Paper notes have to be re-created to be revised. Dynamism Digital note changes can update across all places that note i...

Digital notes can be shared with colleagues anywhere in the world to collaborate on projects. Paper notes are hard to collaborate on, since...

Paper notes may help you remember the material better. Research suggests that writing by hand improves retention.

Permanent notes are explanations of a single idea, annotated with metadata about the subject of the note, other notes that note is related to, and the source of the note.

Experienced readers ask questions while reading and relate to other possible viewpoints. Inexperienced readers take the viewpoint as a given. They don’t think about what’s not mentioned in the text.