Recently, I walked through engineers in our team about how I take notes with Zettelkasten and P.A.R.A. note-taking methods. I also wanted to share here, without going into much detail, how I’ve been using both systems.
Zettelkasten was born to build articles, books, or posts from the ground up. Whenever you come across a piece of information, you transform this and add a small note to your Zettelkasten system, give the note a number, and link the notes to other notes by using this number. There are no folders or categorizations. Every note is placed right after another. Ultimately, you can realize which thought or information lines are getting long enough to write an article about it.
How do I use Zettelkasten for work? I keep two Slip-Boxes: one for my knowledge-based notes (sneak peek into my Zettelkasten) and one for work. Whenever I’m in a meeting, I keep notes in Meeting Slip-Box. I don’t need to worry about categorization or folders. I link the new note to the main project notes, which is the most helpful move that helps me find all related notes later.
Meanwhile, P.A.R.A. was born to know where to put a new note in a system. It aims to organize notes much better. P.A.R.A. stands for Projects, Areas of Responsibility, Resources, and Archive. How do I use P.A.R.A.? Projects are where I keep work-in-progress and ideas for articles, podcasts, and newsletters ideas. Areas of Responsibility are my daily notes, career notes, and notes related to my hobbies. Resources are things I saved online, checklists, and some more informational notes that I use as a resource. The Archive consists of notes I don’t need daily, such as published essays, blog articles, templates, etc.
How do I combine P.A.R.A. and Zettelkasten? I have six top-level folders: the P.A.R.A. folders, the Zettelkasten folder, and the Work folder. Zettelkasten is my knowledge-base folder and could actually fit into the Resources folder, but I keep it separate. And lastly, the Work folder includes another Slip-Box, my brag document, my Kanban board, project notes, and others.
Whenever I add a note about something I have learned, I don’t want to think about where to put it; I want to think about how it relates to my previous thoughts and knowledge. That’s why it directly goes to Zettelkasten. If it’s connected to a project I’m working on (in the Projects folder), I link the note to the project instead of putting it in the Project folder.
I’m planning to write in more detail about my note-taking system. In the meantime, I already wrote about changing my mindset about note-taking to come to this place.
Maybe P.A.R.A. and Zettelkasten methods are something you’ve been looking for for years; who knows? Let me know what you think by replying to this email!
P.S. I use Obsidian for everything: knowledge management, daily notes, permanent notes, checklists, journals, and task management tools.
Some things I found great
- Subscribe Wherever You Get Your Content - I thought about this post lately. That was one of the reasons I moved back to my blog because now, I have various RSS feeds that allow anyone to subscribe to my blog wherever they get their content.
- Honest Guide - Last week, we went to Prague. I remembered a few tricks I learned from this YouTube channel, and it has proved its usefulness again!
- The Monocle Companion: Fifty Essays For A Brighter Future - I bought this book recently, and I really enjoy reading essays in a book, like reading blog posts offline (so far, my favorite is “Have a Repertoire” by Rubert Bound).
- Dot-on Calendar - The calendar I use to track my most important habits (writing, exercising, and practicing bass guitar) every day.
- Modern Wisdom #662 - Gurwinder Bhogal — 18 Shocking Psychology Lessons to Understand Yourself — This podcast episode gave me a lot of things to think about. Will definitely listen to it again.
Recently I thought about
I continued my thoughts about seeking inconvenience since the last week. I’m unsure how fast people move from one idea to another, but I keep returning to the same things for some time. It helps me construct my arguments, habits, and thoughts more concretely.
On the topic, I looked at where I am after some convenience: my exercise routine. I want to get stronger. The only way to do it is by lifting more weights correctly. I can lift the same weights three times a week and live healthily, but I want to improve my strength to achieve better health and life span. So, I have to go out of my comfort zone regularly while exercising to live longer and healthy in my last days of life.
The next step will be putting my eating back in order. I already took a few steps and am changing my eating habits (more plant-based). Changing eating habits is more complex than exercising for me. Meanwhile, what are your routines regarding exercising and eating?
