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My simple implementation of the Zettelkasten note-taking method
A quick start with a convenient combination of software
When the Zettelkasten method was used in the past, people were just using paper, pencils, and physical boxes. But in the modern days, these tools have turned into complicated software that takes hours, if not days, to learn to use. Since I have benefited from this method in terms of writing and reading, I would like to introduce it to others. And I wonder, if I want to convince someone to adopt this method, what should I tell them about implementation? What software do I recommend if they want to have a quick try?
My own experience
To be honest, I have only used the Zettelkasten method for a few months, and I believe there’s always more to explore. But this is how I navigated among numerous possible implementation of the Zettelkasten.
When I started to use this note-taking method, I followed the advice from the book How to take smart notes (Ahrens, 2022), which says that there are four things needed.
Writing tool
Since I’m only considering a digital system rather than a physical one, I checked out some popular software that people use for each of these essentials. In fact, in my case the writing tool was already chosen for me, since I’m always only using my digital devices for writing, including my phone and laptop. For fleeting notes, the software I use depends on what I’m working on. When reading, I use highlighting and note functions on Apple Books, or Zotero, which is also my reference…
