Outline
2. If Luhmann invented the #Zettelkasten today
3. Senseis
4. My current (())-based Roam-fu
5. Closing
2. If Luhmann invented the #Zettelkasten today
3. Senseis
4. My current (())-based Roam-fu
5. Closing
2. If Luhmann invented the #Zettelkasten today, it would be app-based rather than paper-based. Software has too many advantages.
The process and tools may be different but the principles stay the same:
2.1 break down the process of writing, so your past, current and future selves can work together
2.1 break down the process of writing, so your past, current and future selves can work together
2.2. the main unit of work is the evergreen note, an atomic idea networked with other atomic ideas (this network = zettelkasten)
2.3. let writing emerge from the zettelkasten
2.3. let writing emerge from the zettelkasten
Here is my first attempt at creating a zettelkasten. @moreina introduced @soenke_ahrens book and @roamresearch at the same time, but I have been using OneNote for years and did not want to learn something new. I'm deliberately a late adopter for most things. 
The benefit of this attempt was building a wishlist and a pent-up frustration that would make the encounter with Roam so relieving. My guess is the source of #roamcult At least it was for me.
3. Let's look at some public zettelkastens, to see different schools of thought—#roamfu
this is also an opportunity to share and thank some senseis. I hope you could share yours as well.
this is also an opportunity to share and thank some senseis. I hope you could share yours as well.
My first Roam sensei was @ShuOmi3 thank you 🙏
Subscribe to his YouTube channel youtube.com/user/shu120819…
Here is his latest evergreen note template
Subscribe to his YouTube channel youtube.com/user/shu120819…
Here is his latest evergreen note template
A key advantage of a template is that it ensures that you follow a process. To me, the most important step (and hardest) is elaboration. I appears @ShuOmi3 does this through his "relevant notes" section and perhaps his spaced repetition questions.
@moreina (introed me to both Roam and ZK - TY🙏) uses Roam as a repository of mental models. He asks for elaboration:
- what other domains does this apply to?
- in what domains does this mental model break?
Essentially seeking the reapplicability and limits of the mental model.
- what other domains does this apply to?
- in what domains does this mental model break?
Essentially seeking the reapplicability and limits of the mental model.
The best public zettelkasten I've seen is notes.andymatuschak.org/About_these_no… by @andy_matuschak
In case you're wondering what platform he's using, here's his answer:
In case you're wondering what platform he's using, here's his answer:
Here is a beautiful example of an evergreen note notes.andymatuschak.org/z3SjnvsB5aR2dd…
Densely linked, has reference with a summary, inbound links.
Densely linked, has reference with a summary, inbound links.
@fortelabs's Second Brain system has many overlaps with zettelkasten. I have been listening to his podcast and viewed a webinar. Good teacher.
Lastly, I have recently discovered @david_perell but have not yet dove into his world.
Could you also share your Roam / Zettelkasten / Second brain / Note-taking senseis?
Could you also share your Roam / Zettelkasten / Second brain / Note-taking senseis?
4. Since we are in the early days of Roam, there is value in experimenting with different styles. The styles above also did not feel natural to me. It would be nice to have different schools of thought, so we can choose what #roamfu fits our minds better.
I felt I needed a messier approach. I am also optimizing for the creation of long-form writing.
The examples above are page-based evergreen notes. I am experimenting with paragraph-based evergreen notes. In Roamspeak, (())-based instead of [[]]-based
The examples above are page-based evergreen notes. I am experimenting with paragraph-based evergreen notes. In Roamspeak, (())-based instead of [[]]-based
My overall pipeline is this:
- Create notes
- Create evergreen notes
- Store these evergreen notes in one or more "protodrafts" which my future self could easily transform to drafts and long form writing
- Create notes
- Create evergreen notes
- Store these evergreen notes in one or more "protodrafts" which my future self could easily transform to drafts and long form writing
One key lesson I learned from @fortelabs is that our second brains reside in multiple apps, but they have to be linked to our notes app. I would like to make use of the following as sources of evergreen notes:
- 4.1 highlights from books I've read
- 4.1 highlights from books I've read
- 4.2 highlights from podcasts I listened to
- 4.3 day-to-day events
- 4.4 my long-form writing
- 4.5 my nascent ideas
- 4.6 my memories
- 4.7 articles (for MS thesis)
- 4.3 day-to-day events
- 4.4 my long-form writing
- 4.5 my nascent ideas
- 4.6 my memories
- 4.7 articles (for MS thesis)
4.1 I make evergreen notes from books I've read pre-Zettelkasten by using @readwiseio
I get a regular email of my highlights as well as top highlights of others of books I've read.
I pick those which resonate with me at the moment and immediately create evergreen note/s.
I get a regular email of my highlights as well as top highlights of others of books I've read.
I pick those which resonate with me at the moment and immediately create evergreen note/s.
In the example above, I write a sentence for each evergreen note nested under #evergreen. 🔑 The sentence has to be 90% ready for usage in a long-form work. I'm giving my future self a list of evergreen notes by this nesting (see pic).
I then create one or more protodrafts that my future self might use, or resuse existing ones, using [[]]. I then tag that new page with #protodraft and use (()) to replicate an evergreen note in a protodraft.
The promise of zettelkasten is that if I just do this, protodrafts will eventually reach a critical mass, and my future self will just do some editing to produce long-form content.
Let's wait and see.
Let's wait and see.
4.2. Another source of ideas are the podcasts I listen to. What I do is to make a screen recording of the section that resonated with me then upload it in my YouTube channel youtube.com/channel/UCEPFa…
I then create a page for it in Roam. Next, I create notes for it, or tag it with #makenotes if I don't have time at the moment. I then make evergreen notes or tag it with #toevergreen. Here's an example of a note from a podcast, yet to be evergreened.
One advantage of (())-based evergreen notes is that I could just insert them anywhere in the note. This proximity between source and evergreen note just feels right to me.
4.3 Now that I use Roam for my meeting notes, I can easily create evergreen notes flowing from ideas that arise from these meetings. Note that the example paragraph below is terribly written. Making it sound better is the work of my future self.
4.4 I'm still figuring out how to engage with my past long-form content.
Most of it are in Medium medium.com/@kcorazo
I'm also trying to figure out a workflow for my Quora answers quora.com/profile/Kahlil…
Any ideas?
Most of it are in Medium medium.com/@kcorazo
I'm also trying to figure out a workflow for my Quora answers quora.com/profile/Kahlil…
Any ideas?
4.5 I'm using Twitter as my repository of nascent ideas. Turns out Twitter is actually a note-taking app with a dopamine slot-machine feature lol
Here's an idea I'm really curious about, but I don't know where to start. Do you know of any thinker who has written about this: "Life is information traveling through time using matter as its vehicle"?
4.6 Here's another workflow I'm still trying to figure out: how do I use my memories as sources of evergreen notes. One of the most enjoyable writing experiences I've had was for this piece on the music scene in my teens and I would like to do like it storiesofcebu.com/will-we-finall…
The most systematic way of going through the past that I've experienced was the "Past-Authoring" exercise created by @jordanbpeterson and colleagues. I did this in July 2018, and it was intense (brought me to tears several times). I might revisit my output selfauthoring.com/past-authoring
Another possible source is the internal-only family podcast I started back in Oct 2018 but haven't updated. I simply interview relatives. I'll work on this during the quarantine. Once the podcasts are published I'll easily insert them in my existing podcasts to evergreen process.
4.7 If you have used Roam for a thesis or any academic work, I'd love to exchange notes. I'll officially start my MS thesis in around 15 months, but I'd like to start now. I plan to work on something related to @nanopore for cacao or a virus towardsdatascience.com/this-dna-seque…
The biggest challenge is making time to do all this work. What's working for me now is to reserve my mornings to Zettelkasten, writing or study. I do business (eg, meetings, sales) in the afternoon.
I also recently stole this tactic
I also recently stole this tactic
In closing, thank you @soenke_ahrens for writing the book and thank you @conaw and team for building @roamresearch 🙏🙏🙏 I hope I could afford it when you start charging lol
/fin
/fin
APPENDIX 1: @moreina's #roamfu
Mo has programming experience. I wonder if the discipline of coding produces similar approaches to Zettelkasten.
Looking forward to artists and conspiracy theorists go deep into @RoamResearch and sharing their #roamfu lol
Mo has programming experience. I wonder if the discipline of coding produces similar approaches to Zettelkasten.
Looking forward to artists and conspiracy theorists go deep into @RoamResearch and sharing their #roamfu lol
/TODO
Improve my elaboration by stealing these questions.
And work on my spaced repetition system. @ShuOmi3 has a video
Improve my elaboration by stealing these questions.
And work on my spaced repetition system. @ShuOmi3 has a video
/TODO
Read @michael_nielsen
augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html
cognitivemedium.com/srs-mathematics
Are these it, @moreina ?
Read @michael_nielsen
augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html
cognitivemedium.com/srs-mathematics
Are these it, @moreina ?
@Conaw testimonial
