Digital Zettelkasten: Principles, Methods, & Examples

by David Kadavy

Zettelkasten helps you produce writing.

Instead, you re-write it in your own words, which is even more powerful.

There's little in this world more frightening than the blank page, and re-writing something in your own words is much easier than filling that blank page.

It's just enough of a challenge to keep you engaged.

Thinking associatively has been shown to improve mood, so that explains why note-taking is deceptively fun.

Your Zettelkasten also lets you store incomplete thoughts and connections.

The archivist asks: Which keyword is the most fitting? A writer asks: In which circumstances will I want to stumble upon this note, even if I forget about it? It is a crucial difference.