What is the goal? *Take the input I consume and turn it into output.* **Big picture - goal and process** Don't reinvent the wheel, doing it systematically. Stop going back to the same source trying to find a point. 5 step process: 1. Capture notes 2. Process notes 3. Connect notes 4. Produce output 5. Gather reactions & conversations 1. Capturing notes Two types of notes: - Fleeting notes Anything that pops up ... shower thoughts that disappear fast. - Literature notes Anything that I consume, I want to take notes and record sources! Take notes, without judgement, on anything that I find interesting. Become aware of having fleeting thoughts.. 1. We can actively practice observing thoughts. 2. We can't judge the usefulness of an idea statically. If it interests you, it's a good signal that it should be in your Zettelkasten. If it's an orphan idea, you can purge it... but you may find a connection later on. Folders? How you organize vs how you retrieve. She retrieves via tags & search.. not folders, so she doesn't organize that way. Everything is in the root folder. **Processing notes** 1. Make notes atomic 2. Make notes search friendly When capturing notes, not necessarily atomic off the bat. Atomic ... idea fit on an index card? To make sure it's atomic... 3 ways: - Questions - Ideas - Supplementary tools Main idea, then supplementary info.