My personal zettelkasten workflow

I find that I am rarely ready to take a note when the idea first strikes. The first encounter is messy. It takes time and some digestion for the idea to take shape and start to show how it is connected to other related ideas. During this period, I try to make an entry in references/learning-log.html. Logging the thought prevents it from being lost forever. Once an idea has become sufficiently mature to write about, I write an initial note in my inbox folder. The note will stay here until two conditions are met:

• The idea has been clearly represented in a way that is compliant with my note taking conventions and is accessible to my future self.
• I have linked to the note from at least one pre-existing note.

The zettelkasten method yields a web of hyperlinked notes. A strategy for creating entry points into this web is essential to efficient navigation as memory fades. Many people employ the folgezettel schema¹ for this purpose. However, I have chosen to do this via structure (or hub) notes.

Structure notes are constituted of hierarchical lists of other notes mapped by a given topic. I will be using tags to implement this feature as can be found in my note-taking workflow. At the time of creation, every note will be linked to at least one structure note. Structure notes must be linked to at least one other structure note or my registry: index.html.