parents: Personal Knowledge Management


The Zettelkasten method is a way to manage knowledge and take notes. It’s a way for thinking. It turns a collection of notes into a network of ideas.

Most Digital Garden use Zettelkansten method.

Core Principles

  • One thought per note.
    • Each note must be “atomic,” capturing a single idea.
    • This forces clarity and makes the idea easy to connect.
  • Connect, don’t collect.
    • The value lies in the links between notes, not in the notes themselves.
    • Linking creates a web of thought that reveals surprising connections over time.
  • Structure emerges from the network.
    • Don’t start with rigid folders. Use Maps of Content (MOCs) instead.
    • These MOCs act as exhibitions of your ideas, like my ideas in Newsletter = public exhibition.