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Weird German words keep me up at night
Weird words like Zettelkästen.
That Gerrman word describes the system for managing my ideas, notes, and writing. I’ve got a library of 1000s of notes inside my personal Zettelkästen.
I spent 30 minutes every day reviewing them. I see how note A connects to notes B and C and how C connects to A. I use these notes to create content, newsletters, videos, social media posts, and book chapters. In fact, this system helped me write my last book in half the usual time.
Some of these notes will never go further than my computer, but I turn most of what I capture into something I can publish. Otherwise, what’s the point?
My Zettelkästen is software agonistic, too. Basically, it’s a series of Markdown files on my computer synced over iCloud. I don’t like being locked into proprietary systems like Evernote or Apple Notes.
Some days, I manage my notebook library with Obsidian or IA Writer. On other days, I use a barebones app called Archive, which costs me $15.
The app doesn’t matter much. Many proponents of this system collected piles of notes and index cards, which they organized using a basic filing system.
The 20th-century German scholar Niklas Luhmann popularized the concept of a Zettelkästen, which roughly…
