How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens

This week, Misty and Lisa cover How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers by Sönke Ahrens.

Thanks to Longtime Loyal Listener Jonneke for the recommendation!

Dr. Sönke Ahrens is a writer and researcher in the field of education and social science, and author of the award-winning book Experiment and Exploration: Forms of World-Disclosure: From Epistemology to Bildung. He has worked at different universities, most recently as an interim professor for philosophy of education at the University for the German Federal Armed Forces in Munich.

In this How to Take Smart Notes book review, Lisa and Misty explain what the Zettelkasten method is, and cover all three parts of the book from the following chapters:

Introduction

• Everything You Need to Know

• Everything You Need to Do

• Everything You Need to Have

• A Few Things to Keep in Mind

The Four Underlying Principles

• Writing Is the Only Thing That Matters

• Simplicity Is Paramount

• Nobody Ever Starts From Scratch

• Let the Work Carry You Forward

The Six Steps to Successful Writing

• Separate and Interlocking Tasks

• Read for Understanding

• Take Smart Notes

• Develop Ideas

• Share Your Insight

• Make It a Habit

Interested in seeing how a slip-box looks visually? Want to better visualize how to use the Zettelkasten method? Try this YouTube video. If you’d like to see how someone uses Zettelkasten software for their slip-box needs, check out this video.

If you’d like to learn more about the author and see the slip-box tools available, you can do so at his website here.

If you'd like to purchase the book, you can do so here.

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