Organizing One’s Notes in Your PKM (personal knowledge management) system
(This is my “Obsidian 3” – article that I mentioned last month)
There are many approaches to organizing your notes depending on how you work/think. It is very personal and evolves over time. What works now will probably not work in the future as you refine it.
The basic building blocks used by all are: Tags/Categories; Folders; Headings; Block References; Text; Pages; Tasks; Sketches; and Links.
Tiego Forte and Nick Milo have a couple of ways to classify note takers.
Forte uses four types: Architects: enjoy planning, designing, and creating their own processes. They benefit from a notes app that allows them to easily build their own structure, customize it and bring their ideas to life.
Gardeners – enjoy exploring their thoughts and connecting ideas. They benefit from a notes app with a “bottom-up” approach where ideas and connections can emerge organically. These apps will make it easy to link notes together.,
Librarians – enjoy collecting notes and building a catalog of useful resources. They benefit from a notes app that provides a straightforward structure and allows for easy retrieval of their notes to support their projects and goals., and
Student – doesn’t have a strong preference for any of these archetypes. Their notes serve a clear purpose that’s often based on a short-term priority (e.g, writing a paper or passing a test), with the goal to “get it done” as simply as possible.
We need to think on how we collect information and our approach to that process. No one is better than another. Just use what works for you.
One is the Random Mess method: notes are kept on scraps of paper and recorded everywhere. They depend on searches to find what they need.
Next is the Daily Notes First Approach – many people use this as the basis for collection. All your notes are placed on the Daily page and sometimes branch out from there. If you are oriented by chronology, this may work for you.
The Content First (Atomic) approach creates a new page every time you work on something. Use Links to connect ideas. Create a new note for a meeting, a book read, a project, etc.
The Topic First approach uses an Index Page/Log or MOC (map of content) for key topics in your life. It relates to Forte’s P.A.R.A (projects, Area of responsibility, Resources, and Archives) methods to organize your files. All notes use the Index and Links to tie the knowledge together. You create that topic/idea/concept note you want to explore and then link information back to it.
The Zettelkasten (slip box) system uses Fleeting notes (made quickly or on the fly before they get away), Literature Notes (longer, referenced, sourced) and Permanent Notes (boiled down to the essence of the idea in your own words). Each note is referenced or linked to other notes
The Action First method is context centric and all notes are organized based on the context in which you will most likely use it again. It also uses Forte’s P. A.R.A (projects, Area of responsibility, Resources, and Archives) methods to organize your files. Here Folders are the basic filing system.
Nick Milo’s approach is similar to PARA and uses ACCESS: Atlas, Calendar, Cards, Extras, Sources and Spaces. To learn more about those see Milo’s video
The different methods can be merged in some aspects as you pick the strengths of one and use it in another method in a hybrid method.
(Zslot’s Visual Personal Knowledge Management on YouTube at https://youtu.be/AtdAAD47aQY)