The zettelkasten will revolutionize the way you learn. I've just started implementing it and I'm
so excited with the results and I can't wait for you guys to get on board as well. In this video,
I'll share with you what the zettelkasten method is, why it's so effective as a note-taking system
for your English, or literature, or literally any subject where you have to learn a lot
of information, and then I'll show you how I've built my own zettelkasten.
If you're new here, I'm Lisa and each week I release easy to understand, but
effective strategies to help you boost your marks in your English and literature studies.
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and the notification button as well. We're going to be covering a lot in this video,
so I've got timestamps for you so that you can skip ahead if you wanted to.
Is zettelkasten just another productivity trend? Niklas Luhman, the inventor of the
zettelkasten method, wrote over 70 books and more than 400 scholarly articles
using the zettelkasten note-taking method. This means he was incredibly prolific and productive.
Considering how he didn't use computers, only pen, paper, and typewriter, it's crazy to think
how impressive he was at the time. While Luhman was crazy prolific and didn't need online support,
imagine how much productivity a regular person like you and I would gain just by leveraging
online apps with the zettelkasten method. Is the zettelkasten just another productivity
phase? I don't think so, because it's not about how you're learning, it's how the zettelkasten
is designed that facilitates you to think in a particular type of way. It actually helps you
learn better because the zettelkasten will help you think in particular ways that you wouldn't
normally get with traditional note-taking methods. The amazing thing about the zettelkasten is that
it's like an investment. The more you spend on your zettelkasten and spend building it up,
the more of an effective study tool it'll be for you. More on this in just a little bit.
Let's talk about the problem with note-taking systems.
At first, we had paper notebooks. When we write in a paper notebook,
everything is set up in chronological order. You move from one page to the next, and sometimes you
forget what you've written previously and where you wrote it, which forces you to flick back and
forth in your book, looking for one piece of information you can't quite remember.
The danger with linear note-taking is that the information can start to deteriorate.
What you wrote down 11 months ago might not feel important anymore, and because it's not front of
mind, you're less likely to go back to old notes, even if there are gems in there. And again,
that's if you can even remember that there's a gold nugget of information on page three,
second paragraph, six sentences in. Then, we started to move online, using apps like
Evernote or Notion. Easy. You can just control find for that idea 11 months ago, right? Sure you
can, but the issue with Evernote and depending on how you use Notion is that your collection
of knowledge can get out of hand, especially if you're not diligent about your organization
and it can be tough for most of us. With apps, there's a tendency to collect heaps of information
without ever doing anything useful with it. You might feel like you're learning a lot,
but really you're just stuffing information into your app with hopes that it will be used one day.
Even then, if you're organized, a similar problem exists where information is still
siloed into pages. You still have to flip between pages for your study and
get frustrated trying to find that golden nugget of information amongst all of your content.
To be an effective student, you not only want to retain the information you've previously learned.
You want to learn new ideas and concepts better. The problem with all these note-taking systems
is that it adopts a rigid structure, which doesn't reflect the way the brain works. Our brain doesn't
think necessarily always in a linear type of way, nor does it section off information in pages.
We build knowledge with our neurons firing and connecting new pieces of information
to things we already know, and these connections are made spontaneously and at random.
Enter the zettelkasten, a knowledge database that resembles the way you think.
Zettle is note and kasten means box. Imagine if you rip up your notebook or break apart
your pages online into small post-it notes, where each post-it contains only one atomic idea. Each
of these notes is a zettle and lots of the notes store together turns into a zettelkasten. Here's
where the zettelkasten really shows its power. Imagine, as you study, you can move your notes
around to help you see connections between different ideas. Maybe then you realize,
oh wow, this old note from 11 months ago is actually connected with what I've just written
today. Suddenly, you've built a connection that you would have otherwise missed.
Let me show you my zettelkasten now. Rather than carrying out thousands of note cards, for me,
I think it's more effective to use an online tool. There are heaps out there like Zettlr, Remnote,
Obsidian, Evernote or Notion, depending on how you use it and Roam. All of these
I believe are free except for Roam, which is what I use. You can get a free trial on it,
but afterwards you have to pay. But what I'll show you in the Roam app is something that you can take
away for whichever app you want to use. Let's go into a book that I've been learning
for one of my students. He's studying The French Lieutenant's Wife. The amazing thing with these
online apps is that it builds those connections between your neurons online via something called
bidirectional linking. Let me show you how this is done in action. Each one of these are hyperlinked.
If I show you summary, you'll see how I've written up a summary of the text. But as I've written up
the summary, I've actually hyperlinked to several different things. Each chapter represents one page
and you'll see if I hold shift and click chapter one, it'll pop up on the side. Instantly, I'm able
to see all the pieces of information I want right next to each other. They're present right there
rather than flicking through a book and trying to find chapter one over here, and then moving
on to find chapter two. Let's say if I wanted to click on chapter two, there it is.
Let's say if we clicked on Ernestina, who's one of the characters. What makes Roam and bidirectional
linking really powerful, linked references. Any time I've actually mentioned Ernestina
elsewhere throughout my notes on The French Lieutenant's Wife, it comes up here as linked
references. I've mentioned her once in characters. If I go into characters, there she is right there
and I can click into her again, and we head back to the same page. Then, I've mentioned her in
summary, which I've already shown you. But I also mentioned her in my court section as well.
I can click on Ernestina and find her through multiple ways. I can find her through characters.
I can find her through summary. I can find her through notes and depending on where
I'm finding her, it helps me look at her from a different lens, from a different angle, and this
is what happens in your brain. Your brain doesn't always think of Ernestina in the exact same way.
As you build out your knowledge, you learned a little bit more about her through reading the
book and getting more in your summary, as you find more quotes about her, you're constantly
building up this knowledge bank about Ernestina And it's all here for you in the one place rather
than separated in lots of different notes, lots of different pages. It's all here, and depending
on what you want, it's a really efficient way of getting that information quickly.
To do these hyperlinks in Roam, all you need to do is just do two square brackets and you can create
a page. Let's say if I wanted to create a new page and the page was based on literary techniques,
I press enter and it becomes a new page. You can see that I've got a linked reference
from where it's being mentioned in the main French Lieutenant's Wife page.
Let's say if you were starting a fresh day and you couldn't be bothered finding The French
Lieutenant's Wife, let's pretend it's not in the shortcuts, but you studied it six months
ago and now you have to come back and study it and revise it because of your exams. All you need to
do is start typing in the French and you can see that it's going to pop up. You can just click it,
enter, and then head straight in. I think the zettelkasten will completely
change the way that many students study and only for the best as well. It's a part of this
idea of building a second brain, which if you're interested in me talking about,
then make sure you leave a comment for me and feel free to ask me any questions you have. I'm
more than happy to answer you. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye.