A hierarchy of value-producing activities in while processing knowledge in a Digital Garden, Zettelkasten or pretty much any other way of constructing and learning from notes:
- Reading
- Collecting quotes
- Creating excerpts
- Creating Atomic Notes
- Creating Connection
- Creating Tools and Products
And concrete steps to improve value:
- Identify the structures you want to build within your system. What would be a resource for your future self? Be deliberate and avoid all vagueness.
- Ask yourself how your input sources can be used to improve those structures. Then use your inputs to improve those structures.
- Repeat. You need practice. Any form of disciplined PKM is a recurring pattern that highly intelligent people who are experts in their fields can struggle with. To even write a single proper note can be a struggle if you aren’t deliberate on what will be a resource to your future self.