![]() Handling a physical Zettelkasten is way more difficult and labor intensive than a digital one. We are lucky because we have access to powerful digital tools. He needed entry points and a mechanism to surf from one note to another in a productive way. So Luhmann created his Zettelkasten to make his note collection surfable. The other problem is that you need a starting point for your ride. It requires more effort to follow a link if the hypertext is paper-based. On Wikipedia, you just need to click a link to get to the next article within Wikipedia’s hypertext. “Reasonable” means that it was reasonable for Luhmann, who, obsessed with his theory of society, was a workaholic and an enthusiastic bureaucrat. ![]() Luhmann’s Zettelkasten is a collection of notes on paper slips with a special twist: It is a hypertext that he could navigate the drawer cabinet containing all the paper slips with a reasonable amount of time and energy. This strikes a chord with people investigating the Zettelkasten Method. Luhmann himself stated that his productivity stems from working in a partnership with his Zettelkasten. So his productivity surpassed even his already astonishing body of published work. At least one of them is a text of 1000 pages. There are also over 150 unfinished manuscripts left in his estate. He published 50 books and over 600 articles. Niklas Luhmann was a highly productive social scientist. The Zettelkasten, as we know it today, really took off with Niklas Luhmann, the godfather of the Zettelkasten Method, the most powerful tool for thinking and note taking out there. The difference to other systems is that you create a web of thoughts instead of notes of arbitrary size and form, and emphasize connection, not a collection. It has hypertextual features to make a web of thought possible. If I had to explain to someone unfamiliar with the concept of Zettelkasten, I’d describe it like this:Ī Zettelkasten is a personal tool for thinking and writing. Follow this path and your Zettelkasten will provide you with the tools to thrive on intellectual adventures. This introduction is meant to guide your first steps towards excellence. But with a little bit of practice and patience, you will surprise yourself and produce gems of knowledge. First, you will have the feeling that you don’t do anything useful. The Zettelkasten Method needs some practice. You learn to swim by aiming to be fast and graceful. But you don’t learn swimming by aiming for ease and fun. But boy, if you figure out the technique and glide through the water, it is incredible. ![]() ![]() ![]() Swimming sucks if all you do is float (or even sink) and fight the water. If you can’t swim, you won’t be having any fun at all. But this only comes as a result of putting in a high level of consistent effort. It is highly effective, and many people report they have more fun, one even comparing it to the addictive nature of games like World of Warcraft, and have an easier time doing knowledge work overall. The Zettelkasten Method is an amplifier of your endeavors in the realm of knowledge work. It is a holistic method on how to deal with knowledge in your life. But the Zettelkasten Method is more than just a tool to finish some work or project. Why are you reading this introduction? The chances are that you either have an immediate need to solve the riddle of knowledge work, feel overwhelmed by your master’s thesis, try to level up your blog, want to write a book because it’s cool, try to get on top as a consultant, excel at research, or something like that.
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