I have been thinking about how to approach my zettelkasten journey. I got the impression that creating more metadata was a good move. It would allow me to manipulate and organize notes better, as well as understand the full context of the aggregate of notes I built.
More metadata means more complexity. More cognitive overhead. More time away from the notes that truly matter. For example, I started thinking about creating a whole new piece of software, that used clever database shenanigans for dynamic tag editing and retroactive metadata updates. This is a lot of stuff. Do I really need it?
I started to pay more attention to what I believe is the essence of the workflow of zettelkasten:
- Write one note.
- Write another note.
- If the two notes are related, link them.
- Keep on linking all notes that are related.
- Write index notes to indirectly link notes that are related, but not necessarily connected.
This understanding may be a little flawed, but showed me that you need very little for a successful zettelkasten. All you need are notes that reference others notes. No tags, no project-related-link, nada.
And another thing: Thinking too deeply about this things paralises you with analysis. This paralysis stops you from messing up. Messing up is a vital component in your learning journey. The desire to avoid messing up is understandable, but you can't avoid it. Messing up is how you learn. Don't run from that, embrace it.
If the way you take notes changes across time, embrace that as an exciting view on how you evolve. Keep things simple. Don't avoid messing up. Appreciate your development journey.
Just write a damn note and stop overthinking things, you damn nerd!
What do you guys think? What tips do you have? Please share!
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