Start with clear goals. But How?

[Edmund]

Working with my Zettelkasten is a constant evolution, as my needs change over time. It seems to be an endless journey to improve my personal knowledge management system. By chance, I discovered “Wardley Mapping” by Simon Wardley [1]. It’s a method for understanding how to develop your strategies. My first idea to learn more about this visual tool was to apply it to my Zettelkasten strategy.

Let’s take a closer look. A Wardley map allows us to visualize the Evolution of business components over time. It starts from the unstable beginnings to more stable, standardized components. These components fall into four stages: genesis, custom, product, and commodity.

First: Genesis components are novel and new. Second: Custom components exist for a specific use case with some proof of value. Third: Product components are standardized and reliable elements. And last: Commodity components are best practices, well defined, and widely used.

Figure: Zettelkasten Evolution - A Wardley Map, v0.3

In the Value Chain, the underlying methods and practices are implemented at various stages to enhance the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the system.

Developing a Wardley Map for using a Zettelkasten in my personal knowledge management involves outlining several components to understand and strategize my approach effectively:

1. Purpose: Efficiently manage and leverage personal knowledge for continuous learning and productivity.
2. Scope: Digital note-taking, linking ideas, research support, excluding team collaboration.
3. User: Primarily self.
4. User Needs: Quick note capture, efficient organization with tagging and linking, easy retrieval.
5. Value Chain: From user to Zettelkasten.
6. Wardley Map: Helps to visualize the different components and their current state in the evolution, guiding where to focus efforts to improve my personal knowledge management system.

And here is my story: (1) I started my changes to improve my personal knowledge management system by moving from OneNote to Obsidian two years ago. (2) The biggest change was my first contact with the Zettelkasten framework. (3) Here it was really hard for me to change my personal organization from thinking in “folders” to “tagging”.

Now my current challenge is to use analytical reading [2] to improve my notes. And I’m sure I’ll need another Wardley map. As it is said by Simon Wardley: “There’s nothing wrong with you. Developing a strategy is just hard.”.

What will the next steps be? What are your recommendations?

References
[1] Wardley, Simon. “Wardley Maps.” Learn Wardley Mapping. Accessed July 17, 2024. https://learnwardleymapping.com/book/.
[2] Adler, Mortimer Jerome, and Charles Lincoln Van Doren. How to Read a Book. Touchstone edition. New York, Touchstone, 2014.

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Hello Hello PKM approach questions 1. What PKM system do YOU use? 2. For what purpose and in what context? 3. For what reasons did you settle with it? 4. What works well for you? What doesn't? MEGA BONUS POINT for anything emphasizing or including visuals, hand notes, and multilingual Thank you, thank you, thank you Note 1 : I’d really like to hear more than “Zettelkasten”, or PARA, Bradley’s PPV, Milo LYT ACCESS or ACE, or Akshay CoreOS & CreatorOS… o…

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More about the 12 Principles For Using Zettelkasten

[dylanjr]

Interesting—I like how your Wardley map turned out visually.

@Edmund

Developing a Wardley Map for using a Zettelkasten in my personal knowledge management involves outlining several components to understand and strategize my approach effectively

The components you outlined that comprise your strategy to PKM are excellent. I thought I’d add to these by sharing my system’s principles: my system should be (1) future proof (markdown, stored locally, limited plugins), (2) effortless to use, and (3) easily accessible and should (4) require minimal maintenance or upkeep.

There are probably more principles I haven’t listed or discovered yet; and I’m still striving towards each—like you said, it’s a “continuous evolution”.

@Edmund

And here is my story

I enjoy reading these kinds of insights into other people’s PKM journey, so I thought I’d share the initial inspiration for my own PKM journey:

1. Finishing school and needing a firmer approach to learning on my own
2. Wanting to refine my process when it comes to managing information
3. Giving myself the space to explore ideas freely

And my current challenge is finding a way of managing “projects” that makes sense to me. I’m also refining the way I use my daily log, esp. ways to incorporate tags and linking to permanent notes from my daily log. One major philosophical question I still have is when to record a fleeting thought in my log vs when to let it go.

Thanks for sharing @Edmund !

Edit: typo/formatting

[Edmund]

@dylanjr

… sharing my system’s principles: my system should be (1) future proof (markdown, stored locally, limited plugins), (2) effortless to use, and (3) easily accessible and should (4) require minimal maintenance or upkeep.

Thank you for sharing your system’s principles. I like your idea of “future-proof”. Here’s my view in a map:

It’s only an example to compare two options in a map: An “analog Zettelkasten” and “Obsidian”. The map doesn’t give the answer to the open question. It only shows relevant elements that may influence the decission. Do you think there is a crucial element missing?

@dylanjr

One major philosophical question I still have is when to record a fleeting thought in my log vs when to let it go.

My process:

1. Collect all fleeting notes as daily notes with title (yyyy-mm-dd) in my inbox (Fleeting Notes).
2. Revisit some of my Fleeting Notes later (day, week or month).
3. Decide if to keep or to delete.
4. Notes to keep are processed to “Permanent Notes”.
5. Daily notes older than one year are deleted automatically.

Do you have any other options?

[RoyRogers]

Basic question: why do you make notes? Forget systems and strategies and PKMs and Wardleys and the whole zeitgiest.

Why do you make notes?

[dylanjr]

@RoyRogers

Why do you make notes?

Maybe this is a personal question and a matter of opinion, but for me, the answer is easy. I make notes to think more clearly.

Note-making helps me:

• better understand what I read, watch, listen to, etc.
• recall information more easily and accurately*
• learn with more precision and intention
• discover meaningful relationships between things; synthesize ideas
• capture fleeting thoughts and free-up short-term memory
• develop useful and constantly evolving permanent notes

*Note on memory recall: I find there is a direct relationship between taking the time to organize your thoughts into a well-made note and being able to use that information practically. On the Wikipedia page for Mneumonics, you can read how note organization is a memory aid. This is fairly intuitive—if you ever took notes for a test in school, then you understand that good note-taking can improve your grades. Furthermore, it’s the act of struggling with a note to improve and challenge your understanding that signifies real learning, not the end product itself. That’s why I take the time to improve my notes overtime in their structure and content.

[dylanjr]

@Edmund

Do you think there is a crucial element missing?

I think ease-of-access or “retrieval” from your first sketch is definitely a crucial aspect of any digital Zettelkasten. Also, developing “personal taxonomies”, protocols, procedures, standard conventions, etc. have been important in my system—key word here is “personal”.

Looks fantastic!

@Edmund

My process:

1. Collect all fleeting notes as daily notes with title (yyyy-mm-dd) in my inbox (Fleeting Notes).
2. Revisit some of my Fleeting Notes later (day, week or month).
3. Decide if to keep or to delete.
4. Notes to keep are processed to “Permanent Notes”.
5. Daily notes older than one year are deleted automatically.

Do you have any other options?

Where I differ in your approach is in imposing a filter for my fleeting thoughts before they reach Obsidian. My currently process looks like this:

1. Collect fleeting thoughts—often on my iPhone—using a custom Apple Shortcut that creates a new note with the current date and time.
2. Revisit some of my fleeting thoughts later (day, week, month).
3. Decide to keep or delete.
4. Notes to keep are captured to my vault’s inbox for an interim period (1-3 days) where they get developed a bit before moving to a permanent directory.

I don’t always use this filter—sometimes I know a note is important enough to become “permanent” immediately.

My problem still is deciding where to draw the line sometimes on whether a fleeting thought should be made permanent or not. What this actually looks like is one of two things:

1. I capture fleeting thoughts to Apple Notes that I feel are important, but I haven’t convinced myself that I will revisit it yet, so it doesn’t end up in my vault.
2. I create a new note in my vault’s inbox, but again I haven’t convinced myself that I will revisit it yet, so it stays for an extended period in my vault’s inbox and not being moved to a permanent directory.

These types of notes feel like they’re living in purgatory. The notes staying in my vault’s inbox for an “extended period” may as well be so for in perpetuity, as that’s in essence what becomes of them if no action is taken.

TL;DR—Deciding which notes to keep and which to discard can be difficult.

[Edmund]

@RoyRogers

Why do you make notes?

I make notes for learning.

[Edmund]

@dylanjr

Deciding which notes to keep and which to discard can be difficult.

I’ve found one helpful concept, that helps me to tidying up my inbox. It’s the KonMari Method from Marie Kondo [1], which is based on six rules.

• From rule 1: “Setting the intention to seriously tidy up – and resolving to put in the time and effort required – is the first rule of tidying.”
• From rule 3: “Focus on what you want to keep. Cherish the items that bring you joy, and let go of the rest with gratitude.”
• From rule 6: “Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy” … to keep the fleeting note.

Reference
[1] Kondo, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing . Berkeley, California, USA: Ten Speed Press, 2014.

[dylanjr]

@Edmund

It’s the KonMari Method from Marie Kondo [1], which is based on six rules.

Very cool—thanks for sharing! I’ll have to investigate further.

A related concept that I’ve been thinking about is The Fieldstone Method as shared on this forum by @allanelder

Edit: I just came across The Paper Solution by Lisa Woodruff, which touts on the cover to be the “Marie Kondo of paper”—the subtitle, “What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop It From Taking Over Your Life” sounds promising.

[Mephi]

Good morning Edmund,
I really enjoy exploring your artwork. Was it on purpose that your Wardley Map on Zettelkasten Evolution looks pretty much like the Obsidian icon?

[Edmund]

@Mephi

Was it on purpose that your Wardley Map on Zettelkasten Evolution looks pretty much like the Obsidian icon?

An amazing observation. You must be a visual thinker.

[johnsteve111]

How can I use Wardley Mapping to improve my Zettelkasten strategy for personal knowledge management, especially when transitioning from a folder-based system to tagging and using analytical reading?

[Edmund]

@johnsteve111 : Let us begin with a first step to understand your current PKM system (Situational Awareness). Start by mapping your current PKM system. Identify the key components such as the folder structure, notes, tags, analytical reading methods, and how you interact with this system.

Create a visual.