What is a Zettelkasten?

A Zettelkasten is a note taking method that helps you organize and communicate ideas. Zettelkasten comes from German and is often translated into English as “slip box”. Imagine slips of paper with notes on them kept in a box or file drawer.

Several elements make up a Zettelkasten:

A Zettel: A single idea expressed on a page. The page can be physical or digital.
A unique identifier: A unique title, name, or serial number to identify and track your note (zettel).
A back-link: A zettel should eventually reference at least one other note (zettel). This reference is a back-link.

Going forward, I will interchange the words zettel and notes.

You create the back-link by adding the unique identifier from one zettel into the body of another zettel. You should also write a clear explanation on why you made the back-link between each of your zettels.

These back-links create relationships between your notes. And these relationships will grow your notes into a system that is greater than the sum of it’s parts. This is the magic of a Zettelkasten.

New insights will emerge from your system of notes. You’ll get more than what a single note can do alone.

You’ll also gain insight into how to better express ideas and transfer knowledge to others.

One day, I’ll write some notes about Systems Theory and Systems Thinking. When I do, I’ll back-link this note to those.

Why did I build my Zettelkasten this way?

This Zettelkasten is currently hosted on Blot.im. Blot is a service that allows you to easily turn text files into blog posts.

I decided to start my Zettelkasten this way because:

HTML Hyperlinks allow me to create back-links for my zettels. No back-links, no Zettelkasten.
Markdown is an easy way to build web pages– especially if you don’t know HTML or CSS.
Blot supports Markdown.
Markdown and Blot are easy to use. Win-Win!!
Blot is affordable.
Blot supports using Dropbox and Git for creating your blog entries. Upload your file and the new blog post appears. It’s that simple.
This set-up is agnostic. So, I’m not forced to use anything proprietary. This gives me and my content future options and resilience.
This set-up allows me to write, post, read, and edit my notes from my smart phone or laptop. That flexability is important to me.

Currently, I’m using Dropbox to interface with Blot.

My way of doing this may not work for you. Heck, my way may not work for me over time. This is an experiment.

Also, I’m changing my tactics by merging this into the PARA note taking method. I started this site as a Zettelkasten before I ever heard of the PARA method. Now, I’m trying to merge the two methods together.

Will this work? I won’t know if I don’t try it out. So far, I’m enjoying this. If you’re interested in starting your own, just dive in and don’t over think it.