Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes

Ahrens, Sönke. How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking: For Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers. CreateSpace, 2017

• Why zettelkasten works
  • Zettelkasten has a workflow, and Effective workflow forms positive feedback loop
    • Workflow works because Workflow trumps willpower
  • New learnings rarely start from zero
  • Also Zettelkasten is not widely adopted because it is too simple for a complex problem
  • Zettelkasten splits tasks to use different attention types
• The benefit of zettelkasten
  • Writing makes thinking possible
    • Understanding requires elaboration, and writing is an act of elaboration
    • Elaborate in writing to test your understanding
  • Zettelkasten disregards planning
  • Zettelkasten enables constant focus on interesting materials
    • Focusing on various interesting materials will increase context switch, and Context switching helps when you get stuck
  • Writing allows us to deliberately forget
  • Zettelkasten helps counter confirmation bias
• The principles needed for zettelkasten to work
  • Zettelkasten requires a balanced routine
  • Find writing topic in your zettelkasten
  • Zettels should be optimised for retrieval strength
  • Write about what you read
    • Watch out for: Writing digitally may reduce understanding
  • The number of zettels written per day as a better lead measure for learning

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Unsorted

• The problem with cramming pp. 88-89
  • "If learning is your goal, cramming is an irrational act"
  • Exercise reduces stress, which inhibits learning process. Also it helps transfer info into long term memory.

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Weak references

• The best way to deal with complexity is to keep things as simple as possible and to follow a few basic principles (Ahrens 9)
• We could utilise Zeigarnik effect to solve crucial problems whilst running errands (by not writing them down). (Ahrens 71)

Backlinks

• Working memory limits
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 68).
• Effective workflow forms positive feedback loop
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 52).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 52).
• Understanding requires elaboration
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 86).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 120).
• Workflow trumps willpower
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 2-3).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 3).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 16).
• Zettelkasten enables constant focus on interesting materials
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 25).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 26).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 50-51).
• Writing makes thinking possible
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 5).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 90).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 95-96).
• Zettelkasten disregards planning
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 6)
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 11)
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 14)
• Context switching helps when you get stuck
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 68).
• Write about what you read
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 86).
• Luhmann always worked on something easier and interesting
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 14).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 15).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 141).
• Humans are constrained by biological limits
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes
• Writing allows us to deliberately forget
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 70)
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 99)
• Only one type of attention can be given to one thing at one time
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 58).
• Elaborate in writing to test your understanding
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 55).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 85).
• Find writing topic in your zettelkasten
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 25).
• New learnings rarely start from zero
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 48).
• Writing digitally may reduce understanding
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 78).
• Zettelkasten helps counter confirmation bias
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 79-80).
• Zettelkasten is not widely adopted because it is too simple for a complex problem
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 16-18)
• Zettelkasten requires a balanced routine
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 10).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 32).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 43).
• Zettelkasten splits tasks to use different attention types
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 62 - 63).
• Effective tool circumvents human limits
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 20).
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 29).
• Forgetting is a healthy process of inhibiting irrelevant memory
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 100-101).
• Self-control is a good indicator for academic success
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 2).
• Remembering can be improved by deliberately creating cues
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 42)
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 101)
• Multitasking is an impossible task
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 57).
• Solomon Shereshevsky
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 99)
• Zettels should be linked
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 101).
• Effective workflow should break tasks down by attention types
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 60).
• Zettels should not have ephemeral tags
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 41).
• Zeigarnik Effect
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 69).
• Confirmation bias
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 79).
• Slow-motion multitasking
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 14).
• Production blocking
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 134).
• Zettels should capture an atomic concept
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 18-19).
• Anchoring effect
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 134).
• DNA structure was discovered on cancer treatment research
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 138).
• Overconfidence bias
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 142).
• Creativity needs enabling constraints
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 130-132).
• Praising for intelligence may stop learners from learning
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 53).
• The number of zettels written per day is a better lead measure for learning
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 94).
• Documentation is the side effect of thinking
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 95).
• Creative process requires both divergent and convergent thinking
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 63).
• Innovation is often the consequence of many small changes
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 122).
• Limiting the length of your zettels can make them atomic
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (pp. 129-130).
• Positive thinking can result in negative outcome if it is not translated into actions
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 142)
• Zettelkasten makes writing a flow activity
  • Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes (p. 93).