How to Set Up Your Note-Taking System Without These 3 Mistakes

A Zettlekasten can accelerate your personal and professional development. Unfortunately, I’ve made a few mistakes on my journey. I’m sharing this here so you can avoid my mistakes.

Get all the benefits while avoiding these three mistakes.

Mistake #1: Digital or Analog approach? This can be a huge time suck. The fix is to pick ONE. I go analog first. Starting as simply as possible gets the hurdle of learning a new tool out of the way. You have the option of adding complexity later.

Mistake #2: Should I separate work & personal? Another question that seems more significant than it is. You are one person. A Zettlekasten is a project for life. There is little value in separating your knowledge artificially.

Mistake #3: Why would I even want to do this? Motivation is a foundational concern. This is a question best answered before you start. Do you want to:

• Learn faster?
• Build expertise?
• Improve your relationships?

Your answers will be the direction for your approach.

You can avoid these mistakes and speed up your adoption of what can be your knowledge superpower.