How to Take Smart Notes
Written by Sonke Ahrens.
⏱️ The book in three sentences
Most academic note-taking guides describe a very linear writing process that doesn't actually exist.
The writing and learning process is a continuous, circular process.
The smart-note system does most of the writing's hard work for you, and simultaneously promotes the realization of new ideas.
🪞 Reflections
Niklas Luhmann is one of the most famous and important sociologists of the 20th century. Born in Lüneburg, Germany in 1927 he published a number of keystone theories on behavioural topics ranging from law to religion to love. His legacy though does not only come from the quality of his work but also the sheer quantity of his publications. Luhmann wrote more than 70 books and almost 400 articles. He wrote so much, in fact, that his nearly completed works, published post-mortem, outnumber what the majority of academics are able to publish over their entire careers.
It may be that Luhmann was simply a genius, but when questioned on his superhuman ability to consistently produce new ideas, his answers always pointed to his notetaking system. The Zettelkasten system, or "slip-box" system in English, was his unique and revolutionary method for remembering what he read, making previously unseen connections, and turning those notes into original theories.
How to Take Smart Notes, for this reason, is a poorly named book. It's much more than a note-taking methodology and much different than most highly structured writing guides. In fact, one of the Zettelkasten's core features is to keep notetaking simple. Just write down what you think. And while students, academics and journalists - serial notetakers - would undoubtedly benefit from Luhmann's system, slip-box thinking is for anyone who believes there is value in their own ability to produce ideas.
The book has earned its popularity from Ahrens' ability to explain Luhmann's admittedly complex system in a coherent manner. He discusses each aspect, why it worked for Luhmann and, using numerous scientific references, why it will work for you. He also corrects many of the aspects that are often either lost in translation or misinterpreted by the internet's would-be practitioners.
For example, to learn, it's essential to take quick notes while you read. But these notes cannot just reside in the page's margins like many readers choose to do. Just think, how often have you taken notes on an idea, only to never return because it's too much work to find it again?
Your notes must live on a separate notepad where they are easy to return to. A place where they can be easily found, assessed for quality, and either thrown out or turned into expanded permanent notes. He discusses in depth the necessity of writing those notes in your own words. Pulling deeper understanding out your brain, adding context relevant to your own life, and most importantly, beginning to form connections with other ideas.
The connections, as the book goes on to describe, are where the magic of the Zettlekasten system takes place. Each note is annotated with an alpha-numeric link to other notes in the system. Each link can be followed to various other lines of thought. And each line of thought becomes clustered with other lines of thought as the note base grows. Those clusters, finally, are where new original insight lays dormant, ready to be awakened just by giving our notes a solid review.
If it sounds complicated, don't worry, it kind of is. But fortunately, unlike in the 20th century, there are a number of applications and software built around the Zettelkasten method. These apps, like Roam Research, or the free Obsidian, are designed to keep things simple and functional. So if beyond the complexity, Luhmann's system piques your interest, give the book a read. I've started to use it over the last few weeks, and while it hasn't been long, I can say with confidence that it has made writing my last few reviews a great deal easier. How to Take Smart Notes is an old idea, hidden away in the dusty file cabinets of Luhmann's home. Yet now, with the help of computers, it's patiently building momentum, developing a cult following, and beginning to break into the mainstream. If you consume a lot of content and success in your job or hobby is ultimately derived from your ability to generate ideas, How to Take Smart Notes is worth the time. At worst you might remember what you read a bit better. At best, it might change everything.
💥 Personal impact
How to Take Smart Notes was a slow read for me. Not because it was boring, but because I was continuously compelled to see the method in action. To seek out youtube videos on how people are using the system today. Some of the apps that facilitate the system have developed strong cult followings across various social media channels, so falling into a rabbit hole of Zettelkasten content was easy.
Nonetheless, I don't consider it as having been a waste of time. Actually, I think the book and video content go together very well. I needed the book to sell me on the idea. To explain the history, the science, and the theory of the system. To learn that this method of notetaking works because it mimics how the brain itself works.
But then I needed videos to make the theory tangible. I did some investigating and found that the two most popular apps for facilitating Zettelkasten are Roam Research and Obsidian. After some more research comparing the two apps, I settled on Obsidian, mostly because it's free. To learn how to use it I watched this playlist by a channel called Linking Your Thinking. And this video by Martin Adams nicely explains how to set up the app to facilitate Luhmann's methodology.
Finally, I started actually using the Zettelkasten system. I transferred and expanded on my notes from Why Fish Don't Exist as well as dug up my notes on Deep Work and did the same for that. At this point, I was sold on the methodology. If nothing else, it's just really cool to find and see the connections you make between two completely different topics. For example, my favourite chapter in Deep Work is related to the concept of finding meaning in your work. Similarly, Why Fish Don't Exist is about the author's life-long struggle to find meaning in her life - to which she finds it in her realization that we all matter because we matter to each other. There's a connection point between finding meaning, but for me that was obvious.
What wasn't obvious, until seeing my notes later, was that both those notes were connected to another note on the importance of persistence in the face of failure. How many ideas or thoughts can be churned out by thinking about those three concepts? Probably infinite. That's the power of the system. Seeing connections between your interests and thoughts in front of your eyes opens the door to so many more lines of thinking - it's addicting.
🗣 Top three quotes
1."Having read more does not automatically mean having more ideas. Especially in the beginning, it means having fewer ideas to work with, because you know that others have already thought of most of them."
2. "If there is one thing the experts agree on, then it is this: You have to externalize your ideas, you have to write."
3. "An idea kept private is as good as the one you never had."