Ask HN: How do you review your Zettelkasten notes? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you review your Zettelkasten notes?

25 pointstmaly18 comments

I often find that I put notes into an app like Obsidian, but I don't really have a good way to review them.

For those that use the Zettelkasten / slipbox method or the Second Brain method, what does your process look like to review your notes?

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I don't. It's too mentally taxing for me.

I save all my notes in Obsidian, tag them appropriately, and don't worry about what folders they end up in. I use the Omnisearch plugin to search for what I need.

Lately, I've been using the Dataview plugin more. I create auto-generated Index pages on different topics. For example, I have a page called "Python" with the #index tag and the following dataview:

  ```dataview
  TABLE file.mtime as "Last Modified"
  FROM #python AND -#index
  SORT file.mtime desc 
  ```

I also have index notes called "Later" and "Favorite" in Obsidian. They use a similar dataview query, but with their respective tags instead of #python.

That way you need to remember to tag index/query notes, which is not hard, but still mentally taxing, especially while your Obsidian schema / metadata conventions will become much more comples.

Here's a simple workarround, if you don't want to include the list with the dataview query into list:

  ```dataview
  LIST
  FROM #python
  WHERE file.name != this.file.name
  SORT file.mtime DESC
  ```

That way even if your "Python index" note will have #python tag, it will not list itself.

Do you know if dataview plugin will work on iphone or ipad versions of Obsidian?

I take meeting notes and jots in plaintext. I like to have deeper thoughts and observations on paper, often a journal. When I need to synthesize a vague idea, I will jot pieces down on index cards and shuffle them around.

For what it's worth, I tend to reflect on my systems every year (now) and revise. I try to stick to the new system for the year, and it works quite well. No 'distro-hopping' of productivity hacks.

On plaintext notes: I once worked with a VP who had a very specific approach to something. Years later, she is CEO and I am a consultant. I was able to pull up her requirements and deliver exactly what she needed.

On paper notes: Last New Year's Eve, I reviewed my journals from 2006 to today (my wife was asleep, I was bored). It was fascinating to see arcs and patterns that you would not if recorded electronically. Flipping pages, seeing handwriting change, these subtle clues cannot be dismissed.

Hope this helps.

It does, I still have some journals from 2001. I had a bad habit of keeping notes all over the place in physical form. It seemed having things searchable was a better value proposition to me.

Remarkable can be a good compromise

You don't. They're the raw material used to produce writing, and the process of writing is also a process of editing your notes. If you aren't producing writing then you can just leave the notes alone.

I don't ever review them. If I need a note later, I'll find it. If I don't, then I won't. It's ok. I never regret writing anything even if I don't come back to it. The result of writing a note is not just the markdown file, it's also the thoughts I have as I write, thr decisions I make subconsciously, the new neural pathways I create in my brain. Writing is immensely useful even if I never read what you wrote wver again.

I tend to [[review]] mine over the course of the week after their initial creation. After that, sometimes specific [[search]]es, [[conversations]] or [[link]] [[rabbithole]]s will bring them to my attention again. Finally, when I can afford it, my [[Yearly Cross-section]] is an opportunity to drill deep across the accumulated layers.

I assign a number between 1 and 99 to every note, indicating its importance. The title of each note starts with the number, so every note of the folder is ordered in numerical sequence. I found that having a hierarchy of importance with this kind of wide range can be quite useful.

I write for the process, not for the notes. The process of writing is infinitely more valuable than the notes that it produces. I have a ton of notes I'll probably never look at again, but maybe they will resurface when I search for them. I used to worry about them, but I don't anymore. If I come across a note that's no longer relevant, and should be removed - I just simply move it to an archive folder outside of my vault and rename the file to "YYYYMMDD Note title" (where the date is the creation date). Where it goes from there? Who knows!

I use a shell script to choose a random line in a random file every half hour, and read it out aloud using my OS's built-in TTS engine. It doubles as an half hour chime, reminding me of the time. If I'm curious I will press a shortcut to open the file to that line to see the context. It could be on any subject whatsoever and sometimes connects in interesting ways with what I happen to be thinking about.

You might be interested in doing a search for "incremental reading". See in particular articles from the Supermemo project.

Thank you, I will check it out

Bib cards are very brief summaries, so forgetting something could trigger creating a new note in the main box.

Review index cards to see if mind maps span as far as your daydreams can wander. Add new entries accordingly.

Ready to publish? Get your collectives and other cards out, and prepare an outline for longform work.

My approach is a form of progressive summarization. I pull out salient bits from my notes roughly weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

I link to the source in Obsidian so I can always get back to my desired level of granularity.

Honestly, a huge part of the realization for me was that a majority of my notes are not worth reviewing or keeping!

This is probably just to do with the way that I note keep, but so many of them are junk.

So instead now I take notes on paper in a notebook. A vast majority of them always stay there. Maybe 10% of them get converted into digital notes into Obsidian.

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