Zettelkasten: The Note-Taking System That Thinks With You

1. Fleeting Notes :

🛁Some ideas arrive unexpectedly — in the shower, on a walk, or just before sleep. Fleeting notes help you capture these thoughts before they disappear. They don’t need to be perfect. Just write them down quickly, like whispering to your future self.

📚When consuming new information — a book, podcast, or article — skip passive highlighting. Instead, write down one idea per note, in your own words, and always include the source. These notes aren’t just for storage — they’re the first step toward deeper understanding.

2. Literature Notes :

👩‍🏫Once a fleeting note feels worth exploring, return to the original source and dive deeper. This is where literature notes begin — focused on active understanding of one idea at a time, in your own words.

🌿Use techniques like Feynman’s method or mind maps to break down and teach the concept to yourself. Don’t copy like a parrot — true learning happens when you reshape knowledge with your own voice. These notes turn passive input into lasting insight.

3. Permanent Notes :

📖After learning from your fleeting and literature notes, it’s time to connect new ideas to what you already know. The goal isn’t to collect as many notes as possible — it’s to add value to your thinking.

🌱Ask yourself:

• How does this fit with what I already know?

• Can this idea explain something else?

• How can I use this to explain X?

📎Permanent notes are all about connection. In school, we memorized facts in isolation — and forgot most of them. Our brain discards what it can’t connect. Zettelkasten helps you weave a web of ideas your mind will remember and use.

❤The true power of Zettelkasten lies in linking notes. When you connect a new idea to something you already understand, both ideas become stronger — and new insights begin to emerge.

⚡These links follow your personal way of thinking. That’s what makes Zettelkasten unique. Like neurons in the brain: what fires together, wires together. Over time, your knowledge becomes a living system, built on connection — not just collection.

🔑Keywords (or tags) are like signposts in your Zettelkasten. Adding them to your permanent notes helps you instantly recognize what the note is about. A good keyword captures the essence of an idea in one or two words.

🔏Over time, tags reveal patterns in your thinking. You’ll see which topics you revisit most and how your interests evolve. They're not just labels — they’re mirrors reflecting what matters most to you.

🗓By tagging consistently, you turn your Zettelkasten into a searchable, self-organizing system that grows smarter with every note.

📦Niklas Luhmann used two main boxes: a reference box and a main box. The reference box held fleeting and literature notes — quick thoughts, highlights, and summaries. The main box stored permanent notes with their links and keywords.

📑Today, we don’t need physical space or stacks of paper. Digital tools like Obsidian make it easier and eco-friendly. Fleeting and literature notes are random and don’t require deep organization, so you can jot them on paper. But permanent notes deserve structure — and I’ll show you how I organize mine in the next part.

1. Fleeting Notes

I take fleeting notes on scrap paper and store them in a folder. By using numbers, I can write each note briefly along with its reference — this way, one piece of paper can hold more than ten fleeting notes.

🧑‍🏫2. Literature Notes

Whenever I choose, I review my fleeting notes and select one that interests me. I then go back to its reference to learn more deeply. I use a notebook for these literature notes and spend more time here to fully understand the material.

The fundamental rule of this step is:

“If you want to understand something well, explain it.”

And:

“If you can't explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough.”

📒3. Permanent Notes

I use Obsidian to store my main notes. They’re organized alphabetically, and each note is labeled with a code like Z-1-z, where the first 'Z' refers to the topic's first letter and the rest are for branching and connection. I also maintain an alphabetical index for quick reference.

The structure of each permanent note includes:

Title:

– Tags:

– Links: (integrated within the note)

– Reference:

📘 For a deeper understanding of how to build your own Zettelkasten, you can also read “How to Take Smart Notes” by Sönke Ahrens. It offers practical insights and detailed guidance on mastering this method.