Bicycle For Your Mind
QB 011: Note-taking and Knowledge Management
Thinking
Jack wrote that Personal Knowledge Management is exhausting.
I found myself agreeing with his conclusions.
I made the mistake of reading “How to Take Smart Notes” by Sönke Ahrens and browsing the forums and that sent me on a spiral of worrying about atomicity, what to do about “fleeting” notes, how big is a Zettel? and so on. In other words, I was more concerned with finding the proper method of managing my notes rather than focusing on what was actually in them and what they were for.
That is such a nice line. “I made the mistake of reading”How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens…" Must admit that I made the same “mistake.”
The reality is that it is easier to obsess about the process and the details of the knowledge management system than it is to consume/create knowledge. A whole bunch of folks are selling systems geared towards managing knowledge. Giving these people money makes you feel that you are doing something productive. You are starting on the route to becoming knowledgeable. Bullshit. You are kidding yourself and you are wasting your money.
Worry about the content of your notes. Concentrate on the thinking. Forget the process. Keep writing.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie.
Note: Thank you Brett Sayles for the image.