Some context:
a. My Zettelkasten journey has just begun as of 3 days ago, so I openly welcome any views from those who have interacted with the approach and philosophy more deeply than I presently have.
b. My purpose is not academic publishing, so I have kept my tools to just Obsidian and a “Reading Inbox” (i.e., a list of all the things I intend to read >> presently, I’m testing out Notion for this purpose).
c. Because of ‘b’ above, I have not spent time figuring out how to integrate a RMS like Zotero into my flow because it may simply be overbuilt for my purposes. Instead, I’m modifying my system to simply jot down the bibliographic / citation information within Obsidian itself, in what I call an Extraction Note (more below).
As one just getting into the flow of Zettelkasten + Obsidian, would love any feedback from powerusers on any aspects of the below given what you know about my purpose/background above.
Thanks!
Evolving System Design
Note Types and Syntax
- Fleeting Notes. Handwritten jots while reading that remain encased in physical book, not in Obsidian.
-
Phrase Notes. | P-Note
- These P-notes contain metaphors, one-liners, quotes. '#persuasion '#pitch tags.
- Syntax: 01_subject
-
Extraction Notes. | X-Note
- These are my “literature notes” / “reference notes” or elaborations of my Fleeting Notes, along with images and quote blocks.
- Syntax: 02_Author, Title, Year
-
Zettel. | Z
- These are atomic notes and the “final” elaboration of the preceding notes.
- Syntax: 03_Subject
Workflow / Process
If material is high-yield, then RMS --> Fleeting Notes --> X-Notes --> P-Notes (if any) --> Z; else, Fleeting Notes --> P-Note (if any) --> Z
In high-yield case, X-Note births the Z, which is then linked to existing Zs that are relevant.
In low-yield case, an existing Z births the new Z.
Individual Note Structure
X-Note
'#tags
‘[full source]’
‘[notes]’
P-Note
'#tags
‘[author]’
‘[quote]’
Z
'#tags
‘[thesis]’
‘[atomic elaboration]’
'[breadcrumbs / note links]
Constraint: 150 words