How to Optimize Your Learning Process with Zettelkasten: A Product Manager’s Journey

I’m conducting a personal experiment using the Zettelkasten method as a catalyst for an effective learning process, with the goal of becoming a Chief Product Officer within 5 years. This article marks the beginning of my journey.

Introduction

Do you consume information from different channels and struggle to retain it all? Are you an active learner who takes notes during the learning process? Do you want to know how to effectively generate new insights from the knowledge you acquire?

If you have information spread across different platforms, such as Notion, Apple Notes, and Microsoft OneNote, then you may benefit from a good knowledge management solution. One such solution is called Zettelkasten, which translates to “slip box” in German and is also known as the “second brain.” Zettelkasten helps optimize the process of learning and producing content, making it a useful tool for generating new ideas by making meaningful connections between your thoughts.

In this article, I will present the main principles of Zettelkasten and share the beginning of my journey of integrating it into my life. Spoiler alert: I am starting a one-year experiment.

Hello, my name is Gor, and I work as a product manager. A few months ago, a friend introduced me to a knowledge systematization tool called “Zettelkasten”. Since then, I have read numerous articles on the subject and am now diving deeper into it. During my research, I discovered a book titled “Take Smart Notes” by Sönke Ahrens. Interestingly, I had purchased this book in 2021 because the title caught my attention, but I only started reading it this year.

“One cannot think without writing” — Niklas Luhmann, German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory. Zettelkasten note-taking method author

Niklas Luhmann was a very productive social scientist who published more than 50 books and over 600 articles. The slip box helped him become more productive, think and learn better, write more, and be more creative. I aspire to achieve this level of productivity.

In January 2023, I read a book and delved deeply into the subject. As a result, I decided to integrate the slip box into my career development. My aspirational objective is to become a Chief Product Manager within the next five years. To achieve this, I am learning a lot: reading articles, watching online courses, and attending events.

As a smart product manager, I decided to conduct an experiment on myself to determine the value of personal and career objectives. I have some hypotheses for my real-time research:

• The Zettelkasten method can help me learn better and explore all new subjects that I will encounter during this year.
• It stimulates me to be more creative and to push the boundaries of my brain.
• It can help me on a daily basis to dive deeper into information that I already know.
• It helps me explore problems and find innovative solutions to solve them.

Currently, I have no clear metrics to measure the impact of this on my life. My minimum plan is to document specific instances where I have found solutions using my slip box.

The Zettelkasten Method: Main Principles and Practice

Professor Niklas Lehman invented the Zettelkasten, a note-taking system where he wrote notes and added them to the shelf every time he learned something new. He used cards of the same size. When he recognized that he had related topics, he connected the notes by changing the “code of the note” and placed the note near the root. He used a special connecting method with letters and numbers, but in the digital world we live in, there are many software options available. Utilizing this system, Professor Lehman published a list of books on philosophy, sociology, and systems theory.

There are two very important principles of the method: atomicity & connectivity.

Atomicity means that each note should represent a single idea or concept. In other words, notes should be as concise and focused as possible. By doing this, it is easier to connect them with other notes and create a network of related ideas. For example, instead of writing a note about a whole book, it is better to write several notes, each focusing on a specific aspect of the book. This way, it becomes easier to connect these notes with other relevant notes in the Zettelkasten.

Connectivity means that each note should have connections to other notes. When you create a new note, you should think about how it relates to other notes in your Zettelkasten. This can be done by using keywords or tags that connect the notes. By doing this, you can create a network of related ideas and concepts. For example, if you write a note about a specific philosopher, you can add a tag for philosophy, and this will help you find all the other notes related to philosophy in your Zettelkasten.

The process of creating new cards helps to learn new topics deeper. By adding the new card to the box, we should make some mental work. It is crucial for the effective usage of the box.

The process of exploring new topics can be started from the box. E.g., writing an article, you can open you box and find the root note connected to related topics and learn from your notes. The part of the materials helps the authors to systematically use the knowledge

My personal commitment for 2023

Here’s how I plan to use Zettlekasten:

• Collect all interesting cases from the world of product management, including awesome products, problem solutions, and UX/UI cases.
• Write my personal insights on life and career.
• Record all startup ideas that come to mind.
• Take notes on each interesting topic I come across in books, articles, podcasts, videos, and even in conversations with other people.
• Create a networking map of the people I meet weekly on Lunchclub or other places.

I believe this method will increase my capabilities, generate new ideas, and make new connections. In my upcoming article, I will provide recommendations on how to implement Zettelkasten in the workplace. Follow me on Medium for updates.

Throughout my journey, I will write monthly reviews on Medium to track my progress and publish weekly ideas and notes on my Linkedin page. This is the first article in the series.

Next article: Mastering the Slip Box: Key Rules for Getting Started with Zettelkasten

Enjoy!