My zettelkasten is the heart of my long-term notes. The German word “zettelkasten” literally translates into “slip box” (as in slips of paper). Built properly, it acts as a system of notes that you communicate with and, over time, learn from.

The premise is relatively simple: a zettelkasten is a collection of notes (think flash cards, but for comprehension and not rote memorization). Each note (or “zettel”) is a thought, bit of information, or concept. My zettels typically contain a keyword or phrase, some definition(s), relevant authors, and possibly causes/effects (antecedents and consequences of the concept).

Zettelkastens can be online and offline. In fact, I first learned about the zettelkasten system from Beck Tench, who uses a Zettelkasten via Tinderbox.

My zettelkasten is physical (surprise, surprise). For some time, I used regular index cards. However, when I switched to a discbound planner system early in 2019 (see my scheduling system here), I decided to also create a discbound zettelkasten. This allowed me to flip through my zettels and take them out to organize them in interesting ways.

An prototype of my zettelkasten. I took this picture while transitioning some of my old zettels into the final discbound zettelkasten.

Each zettel is a 4x3 index card, which is the size of the micro happy planner. I punch disc holes on one of the long sides of my zettels.

I keep my zettels in loose alphabetical order, so they’re relatively easy to find. I would discourage organizing one’s zettelkasten by topic or something because it may discourage unusual and surprising combinations of concepts (this is one way your zettelkasten “talks to you”).

Zettelkasten Key

Though I don’t formally organize my zettels (aside from alphabetically), I do ID each card with a unique alphanumeric sequence. Whenever I reference the zettel, I include the ID (both online and offline). My ID is a little complicated: the date of creation, followed by a field tag, a level of analysis, and a keyword. It typically looks something like this:

20191222CT0001word

“20191222” is the date (2019-12-22). “CT” stand for the field (Communication Theory). “0001” implies an individual-level idea. Finally, “word” is the keyword.

Understanding my identification system. This is the first page of my zettelkasten. The stickers and washi tape were gifted to me by fellow grad students in my department!

Identification systems do not need to be nearly as complex as mine, but they do need to help you produce unique identifiers. When I reference Zettel A in in Zettel B, I’ll write the ID of Zettel A into Zettel B.

Writing the Zettel

In addition to an ID, my zettel also includes:

The concept, usually a phrase or word. One zettel should be one “piece” of information. I also have dated zettels to refer to historical events (like the American Revolution, WWI, and the establishment of GATT.
A brief definition or explanation of the concept. Sometimes, I’ll reference other zettels.
On the back of my zettels, I have post-its referencing the other zettels (with the concept and the ID) and the names of relevant scholars or citations of relevant articles.

Combining Zettles

To write literature reviews, I take out my zettelkasten and combine multiple concepts in a “physical mind map” (If I like it enough, I’ll write it out as a cohesive flow chart and will digitize it).

One of the first times using my zettelkasten prototype. In the upper left corner, you can see the ways in which I combined the zettels to make a claim.

In this process, I often treat my zettels as nouns or verbs. Arrows are usually verbs or prepositions. I then use these zettels to create first drafts of my thesis statements (for short memos and articles, in particular).

Book Logging and The Zettelkasten

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I use an open circle bullet (o) to indicate an idea I want to put into my zettelkasten. Sometimes, I want to write new zettels. Other times, I want to add to already-existing zettels. In the case of the latter, I’ll write that zettel’s ID in my notes, so my book is also “linked” to my zettelkasten.

When I add the information to my zettelkasten (either as a new zettel or when expanding on an already existing zettel), I fill in the circle. I try to scan my book log once a week to transfer concepts to my zettelkasten.

This process is great because it allows me to review my notes. When I want to add new notes, I use a different colored pen, so I know what my original comments were and what my newer comments were.

Over the past year, I’ve been experimenting with different ways to take notes on what I read (mainly books, research papers, and academic articles). While doing my coursework, my reading strategy was haphazard and very course-dependent. Sometimes, I would take notes in-line. Other times, I would write them down on post-its or loosely organized sheets. This worked well enough for individual projects… but it is unruly as a long-term collection of notes.

Since my preliminary exams, I’ve been using a dedicated reading journal, which I highly recommend (all the pictures I use in this post come from that reading journal).

An early entry of my book log, for Tomasello’s Becoming Human . I would write the page number on the far left side (highlighted by different chapters), and then the notes to the right. Sometimes, I’d include notes in different colors or post-it’s if… — An early entry of my book log, for Tomasello’s *Becoming Human* . I would write the page number on the far left side (highlighted by different chapters), and then the notes to the right. Sometimes, I’d include notes in different colors or post-it’s if I wanted to move concepts around.

At the beginning of my book is an Index, which lists the books or articles that I have reading, and the page I begin my notes for that book or set of articles.

My Book Index, with some notes (in red).

Since last month, I’ve started using the book log strategy from the Bullet Journal site. I’m a fan of bullet journaling in general, and the original bullet journal method is great for those looking for a planner/to-do list/organization system (you can learn about the bullet journal rapid logging system here, and I highly recommend the 5-minute video tutorial here).

This system is originally made for books, but you can also use this system for journal articles you read in class or for a project.

What makes the book log system unique?

Chapter Index: Reading notes begin with a chapter index. This is usually the table of contents for a book. If I were reading articles for a class or research project, I would list all the articles here. I was somewhat irked with the time it took to write down all the chapters, but it has been absolutely worth it when I come back to old notes.
“Treading”: When I take notes and want to point to a specific part of the book, I write the page, paragraph, and line number down. (This is not quite the same as bullet journal threading, but it has a similar principle). As the blog post recommends, you can use a “^” arrow to indicate “same as previous” (like an “ibid.”).
Different bullets: Like rapid logging, the book log system several different “bullets” to indicate different types of notes and tasks. The ones they recommend are dashes for regular notes (this is the most common bullet for me), a quote for quotes, and a dot for tasks.

- dashes

“ quotes

tasks

I added two (well, three) more to this list:

= for combining ideas

? for questions (I haven’t used this, but I imagine it would be useful in class or guided reading)

o I use an open circle for incomplete tasks. I fill it in when the task is complete*

(* the only tasks I really have in my book log, however, is to add to my zettelkasten.)

These six “bullets” collectively constitute my key.

How do I use this system?

I begin by writing out my chapter index. Though the book log system recommends writing the chapter in as you read it, I actually wrote down all the chapters I was interested in at the beginning. When I take notes for a chapter, I write the first page of those notes on the far right.

Some notes I took from my first attempt using a book log, while reading a research paper about Foxconn and targeted economic development (Mitchell et al., 2019).

Underneath the chapter index, I will have space to write some main points from the book. This typically includes a “purpose statement”: one sentence about why the author wrote the book or what the author hopes to accomplish with the book.

When I read a chapter, I write “CHAPTER #” and then take notes below that. I do my threading on the far right of the page (at the minimum, I usually write the page number). All my threads are highlighted so I can find them easily.

What if I’m reading a couple of articles?

I haven’t used this method as much for reading articles, but I imagine it would still be useful. I did read a set of articles about North Korea, and I found it was useful to read related pieces in 4-5 article batches. In this case, I treated each article as a “chapter.” I wrote an article index, with the “key points” section beneath. Like chapters, some articles are more or less useful than others. I also use the citation shorthand (AUTHOR, DATE) instead of the chapter number. I thread similarly, but I add a column number (page, column/paragraph, line).

For seminars, I would recommend treating each class session as a batch.

What do I take notes on?

Before I started using the book log system, but after I started taking notes in a book, I was asked to do a presentation on organizing your notes. One student had asked me “how do you know what to take notes on, instead of writing everything down?”

At the time, I gave a very lackluster answer: I followed my gut. I’ve been frustrated with that response ever since, which got me thinking about my note-taking process. And, of course, when I think, I read. Andrew Abbott’s book Digital Papers had a great chapter on Reading (Chapter 7). He describes several “modes of reading”: (1) narrative reading, (2) meditative reading, (3) scan reading, (4) mastery of argument reading, (5) party mastery readings.

This typology is great for thinking about what information you want to extract from reading—and what notes you want to take. I use my book log for meditative reading and when I am trying to understand (or “master”) the core argument of someone’s book or article. For this reason, having a “purpose” or “key points” section below my chapter index is really useful, and keeps my focus on the goal (comprehension).

In books, the first few chapters tend to be the most theory-laden, with the subsequent chapters or parts focusing on proof (either statistical, qualitative, case-based, or some combination thereof). I spend a lot of time on these earlier chapters and tend to write the most notes for them.

Going beyond the book

One of the things I’ve struggled with the most is how I translate notes in my book into a broader collection of “ideas” between multiple books. One of the ways that I do so is my combination bullet (=), which I use if what I’m reading reminds me of another author. These notes help me connect multiple authors or concepts in-the-moment; in other words, it’s great short-term.

Some notes I took while re-reading Jeffrey Alexander’s The Civil Sphere. While reading, I connected some thoughts between Alexander and Parsons. You’ll also see that I wrote a quote down verbatim from chapter 3. — Some notes I took while re-reading Jeffrey Alexander’s *The Civil Sphere*. While reading, I connected some thoughts between Alexander and Parsons. You’ll also see that I wrote a quote down verbatim from chapter 3.

For the long-term, I rely on my zettelkasten, which I’m hoping to talk about in my next blog post.