The Opposite Collector’s Fallacy (): Thoughts on collecting, navigating and processing notes.
The Notecard System (): Prolific writer Ryan Holiday’s note taking system and how he uses it in non-fiction book writing.
#ZETTLR REVIEW ARCHIVE#
Note Writing Systems (): Matuschak’s public archive includes instructive notes on the topic of note-taking.
Building a Second Brain (): Tiago Forte’s approach to note taking (which shares some features with Zettelkasten).
#ZETTLR REVIEW SOFTWARE#
Baseline for Zettelkasten Software Reviews (): This article includes a very clear definition of what is included in a standard Zettel note along with a sample note.
More Zettelkasten articles as well as adjacent thinkers in the note-taking space. While much of the conversation is tool-specific, you will find threads about general note-taking strategies.
Tool-specific forums: Many of the popular software tools have discussion forums.
Zettelkasten Subreddit (): Not as active as the above forum, but does offer helpful content.
Zettelkasten Forum (): The best place for Zettelkasten-specific discussions in English.
Places to ask questions and explore specific topics among peers.
Soren Bjornstad’s ZettelKasten (): “A place for collecting ideas and letting them collide and build up over time.”.
Obsidian Zettelkasten (obsidian.md): An experimental Zettelkasten that cleverly uses interlinked public forum posts.
Some more “orthodox” Zettelkasten examples alongside wide spectrum of other note systems.
Public List of Zettelkasten (): Massive list of public note archives.
Use in conjunction with Google Translate to view some of the content in English.
Niklas Luhmann Digital Archive (): Publicly available digitized archive of Luhmann’s Zettelkasten.
#ZETTLR REVIEW HOW TO#
Christian Tietze’s Sample ZK (): Demonstration of how to start a Zettelkasten (in this case it’s notes for a college thesis).
Andy Matuschak’s Working Notes (): The author of this collection calls his collection “Evergreen notes”, which is heavily inspired by Zettelkasten with a few key differences.
Mind you: there can be significant stylistic and substantive variance from one archive to another owing to idiosyncrasies between practitioners. A number of generous individuals have made their repositories public. Seeing actual implementations of the system is instructive.
Book Notes: How to Take Smart Notes by Sohnke Ahrens ().
Zettelkasten Method: How to Take Smart Notes for Knowledge Management ().
How to Take Smart Notes: 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing ().
If you prefer, there are helpful summaries Ahrens’ book:
How to Take Smart Notes by Sohnke Ahrens (): The only English book (presently) about the Zettelkasten method is an excellent resource.
Organize Your Knowledge with Zettelkasten (): If you prefer video, this is a good overview: clear, concise with zero marketing B.S.
Zettelkasten: How One German Scholar Was so Freakishly Productive (): One of the best article-length introductions.
The Zettelkasten Method (): Abram Demski’s excellent overview with particular attention to the analog origins of the method.
27, 2020: The team at has published a new " Introduction to Zettelkasten " that may serve as a better springboard into the system. This article serves as a helpful index for core concepts of the system as well as FAQs.
Overview from (): The Zettelkasten blog is comprehensive and well organized.
What follows is a curated collection of the best Zettelkasten resources I’m familiar with it offers a solid foundation for the motivated learner. Fortunately, if you’re curious about Zettelkasten, there are more English-language resources than ever on the topic. Getting the answers is easy if you know where to look. For instance, what exactly constitutes an effective note? How should it be formatted? How atomic should it be? How should I manage bibliographic references and citations? These are all legitimate questions. Those new to the system may be daunted when confronting the task of setting up a personal Zettelkasten. At its most basic, a Zettelkasten is a tool for memory, thinking, and creativity: first you record your ideas then you develop, explore and expand on those ideas lastly you connect and synthesize those ideas with other ideas in new and interesting ways. Despite its humble analog origins, the system is easily adapted to the digital medium. One increasingly popular approach to this problem is the Zettelkasten system. Interest in Personal Knowledge Management Systems continues to grow as people-particularly knowledge workers-grapple with how best to filter, organize, and synthesize the oceans of data at their fingertips.