He designed his slip-box as a research database made up of index cards ( zettel ) that were “thematically unlimited” and could be infinitely extended in any direction. He intended his notes not just for a single project or book but for a lifetime of reading and researching. Luhmann rejected alphabetical categorization of his notes, along with fixed categories like the Dewey Decimal System. It was designed to connect any given note to as many different potentially relevant contexts as possible. He developed a simple system based on paper index cards, which he called his “slip-box” (or zettelkasten in German). Early in his academic career, Luhmann realized that a note was only as valuable as its context – its network of associations, relationships, and connections to other information. Luhmann was a prolific note-taker, writer, and academic.
Luhmann’s slip-boxĪhrens’ approach to note-taking was inspired by the 20th-century German sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998). Instead of notes becoming a “graveyard for thoughts,” they can become a life-long pool of rich and interconnected ideas we can draw on no matter where our interests lead us. Ahrens argues convincingly that turning one’s thoughts into writing isn’t just useful for writers but for anyone who wants to improve their thinking and learning in general.īy focusing on writing, Ahrens is able to speak in concrete terms about a specific creative process while simultaneously drawing universal conclusions. While producing published written works is the end goal, is it not the only goal. It promises to help readers adopt “a reliable and simple external structure to think in that compensates for the limitations of our brains.” By adopting such a system, Ahrens promises that we will be able to “efficiently turn our thoughts and discoveries into convincing written pieces and build up a treasure of smart and interconnected notes along the way.”
#SMART NOTEBOOK 16 DOWNLOAD HOW TO#
How To Take Smart Notes is a book on note-taking for students, academics, and non-fiction writers. You can also find a detailed, step-by-step description of the method at the end. In this article, I’ll summarize the 10 most important principles for taking “smart” notes according to Ahrens.
#SMART NOTEBOOK 16 DOWNLOAD FULL#
We can focus our efforts on mastering the art of creative note-taking, producing more insightful writing, and fulfilling our full potential. Every paragraph has a point, and I struggled to leave anything out of this summary.īy identifying the principles that stand the test of time despite huge changes in the underlying technology, we can better understand the essential nature of the creative process. The evidence is clear: Instead of squeezing as many pages as possible out of one idea, How To Take Smart Notes squeezes as many ideas as possible onto every page. It is written using an external thinking system, which I call a Second Brain. As I read, I systematically unravel those layers of fluff and extract only those insights, like a chemist distilling only the purest compound.īut this book is not written in the usual way. My approach is based on the assumption that most books are a few morsels of real insight wrapped in layers and layers of fluff. This book is so full of insights that it broke my usual approach to summarizing books. I was astounded to encounter in its pages (with uncanny similarity) many of the same principles I had discovered over 10 years of personal experience.
It is by far the most impactful and profound book I’ve ever read on the subject. Ahrens is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Duisburg-Essen and also coaches students, academics, and professionals with a focus on time management, decision-making, and personal growth. There was never an overarching system for turning notes into concrete results.īut recently I picked up How To Take Smart Notes (affiliate link) by Sönke Ahrens. They would often list dozens of tips and tricks that had little to do with each other. I especially avoided “how-to” style books on the subject. They were always too vague and boring, full of platitudes that had little to do with the world outside academia. I long ago stopped reading books on note-taking.
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