Atomic notes and links: the Zettelkasten principle

The problem it solves

Maps and Cornell notes are tied to a source: a book, a lecture, a meeting. They are excellent for reproducing that source.

But when you want to write an article, build a course or solve a new problem, you need something else: ideas linked to each other, independently of where they came from.

That is what the atomic note system solves, popularised by the Zettelkasten method of the sociologist Niklas Luhmann, who published seventy books and four hundred articles with a system of paper slips.

The three principles

1. One note equals one idea

A note contains one idea only, stated in full, understandable without its original context.

Bad note: chapter 3 of X's book. Good note: desirable difficulty improves retention, learning that is harder in the short term produces better long-term retention.