Book SummaryHow to Take Smart Notes, by Sönke Ahrens

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of How to Take Smart Notes

If you’re someone who publishes original insights for a living—like a non-fiction writer or an academic—how can you make your writing process as efficient as possible? In How to Take Smart Notes, researcher Sönke Ahrens presents a method for doing so: The slip-box system is a method of taking notes and organizing them that fosters the creation and publication of original ideas. In the original version of the system, writers took notes on index cards and organized them in a “slip-box,” or cabinet; today, a digital version is more common.

Ahrens argues that since this slip-box system is specifically designed to help you both have and share original insights—and make the writing process easier overall—it has several benefits over the traditional writing process: For example, using it will make you more efficient and lead to more creative insights.

(Shortform note: Most English-speaking users of the slip-box system refer to it as the Zettelkasten, its original German name. But Ahrens uses the term “slip-box system” because it’s the direct translation of Zettelkasten, and because he uses the term Zettelkasten to refer to a specific computer program by that name. To avoid confusion with this computer program, this guide will also use the term “the slip-box system.”)

In this guide, we’ll first discuss the origins of the slip-box system: Who invented it, and why have you (probably) never heard of it before? Then, we’ll preview how to use the system and examine whether you should try an analog or digital version. Finally, we’ll discuss the specific features of the slip-box system that make it an improvement on traditional productivity systems. Along the way, we’ll examine how Ahrens’s techniques compare with the advice of other productivity experts.

The Origins of the Slip-Box System

Ahrens explains that the slip-box system was invented by Niklas Luhmann, an incredibly productive German sociologist. Not only did Luhmann publish nearly 60 books within his lifetime, he also has several posthumously-published books to his name—thanks to the ideas he collected within his slip-box.

(Shortform note: Writers before Luhmann, who was born in 1927, also used note-taking systems similar to the slip-box system. Notably, in 1921’s The Intellectual Life, French philosopher Antonin Sertillanges also describes a note-taking system where you take notes on uniform sheets of paper, label them, and relate them to each other with a classification system.)

Luhmann was vocal about how the slip-box system helped his productivity. However, the system only gained popularity within a small niche, which Ahrens attributes to two main reasons. The first is primarily linguistic: Since Luhmann was German, most of the publicly available information about his system was in German.

(Shortform note: If you do speak German, reviewing the digitized version of Luhmann’s slip-box in conjunction with his published works may help you gain a more thorough understanding of his system.)

Second, as Ahrens argues, people misunderstood the system: They focused solely on the slip-box and not the overall workflow dictated by the slip-box. Since they didn’t understand how to use the slip-box system to its full advantage, they were never as productive as promised—and the system never gained the popularity it deserved.

(Shortform note: It’s possible people haven’t focused on the workflow because it’s hard to see. Many modern users, notably researcher Andy Matuschak, have published their slip-boxes online. However, since they don’t publish the drafts of their publications, you can’t see exactly how the notes within the slip-box turn into a publishable manuscript—so it’s not as easy to understand how that part of the process works.)

How to Use the Slip-Box System

If the slip-box system is only effective when you know how to use it, as Ahrens contends, you must learn how to properly use it. In this section, you’ll learn the specific steps Ahrens outlines to effectively use the slip-box system to create a publishable manuscript.

Step 1: Take Notes

Specifically, Ahrens recommends taking three types of notes: temporary notes, literature notes, and evergreen notes.

(Shortform note: Users of the slip-box system use several different terms to refer to these three types of notes; for example, Matuschak popularized the term “evergreen notes” and occasionally calls temporary notes “transient notes.” However, the term “literature note” is common—both Matuschak and Ahrens use it exclusively.)

1. Create temporary notes, which Ahrens calls “fleeting notes.” Most of us have random ideas as we go about our day. Jot these down so you don’t forget them, and put them all in one place—an in-tray, or what Ahrens calls an “inbox.”

(Shortform note: To write these as quickly as possible, use techniques to make them more concise—like by picking constructions that contain fewer words.)

2. Create literature notes. Always read with a pen—and whenever you come across interesting, potentially useful ideas, create literature notes. Using full sentences, summarize the text in your own words, making sure that you only include one idea per note. In each note, include information about the source material (like the book’s author, the year it was published, and the page number on which you found the idea). Place these literature notes in your in-tray.

(Shortform note: Like Ahrens, Matuschak suggests that [writing literature notes is helpful because it forces you to engage with what you’ve...

Shortform Exercise: Should You Use the Slip-Box System?

You now know how and why the slip-box system works—but is it something you actually want to use? Answer the following questions to help you decide.

Think about the last time you had to write a manuscript in which you shared your original ideas. Describe the process of doing so—from researching to publishing.

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of How to Take Smart Notes

If you’re someone who publishes original insights for a living—like a non-fiction writer or an academic—how can you make your writing process as efficient as possible? In How to Take Smart Notes, researcher Sönke Ahrens presents a method for doing so: The slip-box system is a method of taking notes and organizing them that fosters the creation and publication of original ideas. In the original version of the system, writers took notes on index cards and organized them in a “slip-box,” or cabinet; today, a digital version is more common.

Ahrens argues that since this slip-box system is specifically designed to help you both have and share original insights—and make the writing process easier...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary The Origins of the Slip-Box System

Ahrens explains that the slip-box system was invented by Niklas Luhmann, an incredibly productive German sociologist. Not only did Luhmann publish nearly 60 books within his lifetime, he also has several posthumously-published books to his name—thanks to the ideas he collected within his slip-box.

(Shortform note: Writers before Luhmann, who was born in 1927, also used note-taking systems similar to the slip-box system. Notably, in 1921’s The Intellectual Life, French philosopher Antonin Sertillanges also describes a note-taking system where you take notes on uniform sheets of paper, label them, and relate them...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary How to Use the Slip-Box System

If the slip-box system is only effective when you know how to use it, as Ahrens contends, you must learn how to properly use it. In this section, you’ll learn the specific steps Ahrens outlines to effectively use the slip-box system to create a publishable manuscript.

Step 1: Take Notes

Specifically, Ahrens recommends taking three types of notes: temporary notes, literature notes, and evergreen notes.

(Shortform note: Users of the slip-box system use several different terms to refer to these three types of notes; for example, Matuschak popularized the term “evergreen notes” and occasionally calls temporary notes “transient notes.” However, the term “literature note” is common—both Matuschak and Ahrens use it exclusively.)

1. Create temporary notes, which Ahrens calls “fleeting notes.” Most of us have random ideas as we go about our day. Jot these down so you don’t forget them, and put them all in one place—an in-tray, or what Ahrens calls an “inbox.”

(Shortform note: To write these as quickly as possible, [use...

How to Take Smart Notes Summary Why the Slip-Box System Is Superior

You’ve now learned how to use the slip-box system, but why should you? In this section, we’ll dive into five specific features of the slip-box system that Ahrens argues make it superior to traditional methods.

#1: The Slip-Box System Requires You to Write at Every Stage of the Creative Process

Ahrens contends that people who write using the traditional note-taking process are intimidated by the blank screen because that’s the first time they think critically about their argument. As Ahrens points out, traditional note-taking methods focus on capturing others’ ideas instead of thinking extensively about them. So even if you’ve taken lots of notes by the time you sit down to write, you still haven’t thought about or developed your argument. You only do that when you sit in front of your blank screen—and that’s what intimidates you, not the writing itself.

(Shortform note: As one writer points out, the blank screen may also terrify you because you’re afraid your writing will be terrible—in other words, that you’ll fail. However, in _[The Magic of Thinking...

Shortform Exercise: Should You Use the Slip-Box System?

You now know how and why the slip-box system works—but is it something you actually want to use? Answer the following questions to help you decide.

Think about the last time you had to write a manuscript in which you shared your original ideas. Describe the process of doing so—from researching to publishing.