Today my Zettelkasten is 6 month old. When I started note-taking in March 2022, I didn‘t expect a number of nearly 1000 notes in such a short time.
It was not easy to learn how put things away slowly, so that I‘ll be ready quickly when needed. Investing time now for time later. It means changing my personal workflow I‘ve trained over years.
And I‘m happy with the results. In the „Project Notes“ section of my Zettelkasten I now can find 73 smart sketchnotes I’ve already published here in this forum, on LinkedIn, on Twitter or Instagram.
When did you start with your Zettelkasten? What‘s your learning experience?
My counting of numbers helps me to establish a feeling what I‘ve collected within the 6 month period. Without these numbers my notes are „invisible“ in the digital Zettelkasten. A box without any visible physical dimension.
The numbers are a measure for my own motivation to work with a Zettelkasten consistently over a long time.
And last but not least the number of Project Notes are directly connected with my generated output. And yes, Zettelkasten also helps me to improve the quality of my output.
I love seeing your sketchnotes @Edmund. Keep up the good work!
I’m in a similar boat: I started my Zettelkasten-like system back in March, seven months ago. I’ve accumulated 700 Zettels, and many more non-Zettel notes, such as MOCs, journals, and Projects (I track tasks and projects in Obsidian as well).
It has been extremely edifying and helped me produce more than I ever thought possible. Better, writing is no longer a slog, I joyfully sit down for my research and writing session every day. No longer do I have to force myself to write, this method makes it feel much more natural.
I’ve also had a handful of “aha!” moments where I go to add something to my Zettelkasten, only to find that the thought is already there, and I can simply add on to it. Or similarly, I go to my Zettelkasten with a question, and the answer is already there. I love those experiences.
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