I often stumble onto ideas related to a project I’m working on (intentionally or by serendipity)… Other times I’m reading something and a really new idea pops into my head which could be a seed for a future project. You know as well as I that if we don’t jot down at least a couple of words those ideas are usually lost. To keep those notes from being lost in piles on our desks (or in our computers) it’s helpful to have a system.

Today I discovered a blog post called “On Rooted Productivity” and, since I’m working on a presentation on how to use a specific note taking system to increase productivity for a group of philosophers and ethicists, I knew this source might be helpful. 

So, I decided to write this post on how I take a new idea and put it into a Zettelkasten AKA “slip card” system AKA “smart note” system for current and/or future projects.

Step 1. Put the reference in Zotero. 

Because I know a) I’m interested in this idea and b) therefore, I may use it in the future, I know I’ll need to be able to find the reference easily. 

The first thing I do is create a reference in Zotero (which is an amazing, free reference manager. For articles and chapters that are in digital form, I make sure they are attached to the reference as a PDF (this is automatic most of the time in Zotero, but do it manually if Zotero doesn’t do it for you)

Step 2. Create the note. 

There is a lot written about the Zettelkasten system, and I encourage you to read more about it from the many sources available (There’s a list of references at the end of the embedded presentation at the bottom of this post)

Here are a few core concepts about this system that are important:

• You are making a “card” (if you have a physical system) or a Google doc (in my system) that is an “atomic” idea. It’s a single idea, one intellectual “lego brick”… that can be combined with or used to reflect on other ideas. 

• It is NOT just a bullet list or quotes from what you read. You need to take the idea and then describe – in your own words – why it’s important to you and where it led you in your thinking. The goal here is that you are creating the rough draft of a sentence or paragraph that can be copied and pasted into a future manuscript. 

• As a technical note… I start by putting a horizontal line in the document.  Everything above it is my writing, everything below it is directly from the source or sources I’m using. 

Step 3. Put it next to the card/Google document that is most like it.

This is the heart of this system. Unlike a filing system, the idea here is to find the single idea already in your system most “related” to your new idea. Which leads to some important questions…

What if there isn’t an obvious choice for the note “most like it” or, because you are just starting out, there are only a few (unrelated) notes in your file?

I have a really broad interests and I love how they often are connected in ways I don’t expect.  When I started this process I realized I’d have to create a system for later notes. 

There are many different ways to approach how to number your cards so they will be next to the card most like them. For more info, check out this post by Chris Aldrich)

I came up with a system that works for me by using Wikipedia’s Outline of Academic Disciplines. I created a spreadsheet to organize a 4 digit numbering system for those “first” notes.

Importantly, though, I only use this system if I’m not able to easily find a related note already in my file. Which leads to the next obvious question…

How do you find the note “most like” the note you are working on? 

1. I start by using a set of keywords to search my notes, looking for the one that is most related. 
2. If that fails, I find the topic that is closest to the note in my spreadsheet and create that “first” note.

For example, I used “productivity” and “meaningful work” as keywords to search for the note most like my note on “rooted productivity”.

After this search, the note I thought was most like it was this one…

To make sure these two notes end up next to each other, I changed the name of the note on Rooted Productivity to 2754/1a Rooted Productivity so it would be “filed” next to 2754/1 Meaningful work vs. productivity

Step 4. Create links between your new note and other notes in your drive. 

This is not about “related” like the first connection you made. This step is about creative thinking and links that will lead you to connections that are not obvious. 

(BTW… Make sure when you put the link in your new note that you make it a two way link. In other words, put links in both notes.)

Step 5. This is where it matters… using this system as a thinking and writing partner

I suspect you can see how this process helps with creative thinking, but this this quote from Soren Ahrens will help if you are confused: “Go through the notes you made …(ideally once a day and before you forget what you meant) and think about how they relate to what is relevant for your own research, thinking or interests. This can soon be done by looking into the slip-box – it only contains what interests you anyway. The idea is not to collect, but to develop ideas, arguments and discussions. Does the new information contradict, correct, support or add to what you already have (in the slip-box or on your mind)? Can you combine ideas to generate something new? What questions are triggered by them?” (Ahrens, 2017)

As for writing… I suspect you have a good idea how this system could help, but start by using it to link ideas and explore things that are important to you. When you get ready to write, I recommend one of these two books to help! 

In case you want a little more info.. here is the presentation I gave to my colleagues in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.