Great system! So I have a whole chest of old notebooks and journals. Have you/do you recommend working backwards through old content or just making a fresh start of it? Mine go back decades so there’s obviously a lot that are probably not worth going through except for nostalgia.
Exactly, I’d work backwards at least for a start and then you can get in the habit of processing your incoming writing too. Recent things are often the most relevant. Then again, sometimes the dust has long since settled on older journals and you can take a more objective distance with those. (For journals, I tend to index all the dates and backfill their contents later. But more on that in an upcoming post.) In any case, you don’t have to go in a particular order, because this approach is contained within each notebook—so do a new one, do an old one, etc. Feel free to jump around!
I really enjoyed reading about your system! In an amazing coincidence, I wrote this morning about what I'm doing with my physical notebooks. While I also have a stack of catch-alls and planners, I'm focused on my journals, and the solution I'm trying is using AI to digitize and organize them: https://bdewey.substack.com/p/notebook-index
Have you ever thought of trying to bridge your paper records with digital?
Since my day job is coding websites and software, I’ve had many ideas of how I could do that. But all my physical notebooks can be handled with analog tools and the mind: the most digital I get is publishing them on this blog. Then again, I should do a better job of integrating my digital notes and other documents into this system. Thanks, @Brian Dewey
great content. I had not heard of Zettelkasten, but after reading up on it a bit, the ideas in this post seem to strike a great balance between the joy of carrying a catch-all/commonplace book and the fruitfulness of analog information systems. thank you!
Great system! So I have a whole chest of old notebooks and journals. Have you/do you recommend working backwards through old content or just making a fresh start of it? Mine go back decades so there’s obviously a lot that are probably not worth going through except for nostalgia.
Exactly, I’d work backwards at least for a start and then you can get in the habit of processing your incoming writing too. Recent things are often the most relevant. Then again, sometimes the dust has long since settled on older journals and you can take a more objective distance with those. (For journals, I tend to index all the dates and backfill their contents later. But more on that in an upcoming post.) In any case, you don’t have to go in a particular order, because this approach is contained within each notebook—so do a new one, do an old one, etc. Feel free to jump around!
Thanks! I’m eager to give it a try!
I really enjoyed reading about your system! In an amazing coincidence, I wrote this morning about what I'm doing with my physical notebooks. While I also have a stack of catch-alls and planners, I'm focused on my journals, and the solution I'm trying is using AI to digitize and organize them: https://bdewey.substack.com/p/notebook-index
Have you ever thought of trying to bridge your paper records with digital?
Since my day job is coding websites and software, I’ve had many ideas of how I could do that. But all my physical notebooks can be handled with analog tools and the mind: the most digital I get is publishing them on this blog. Then again, I should do a better job of integrating my digital notes and other documents into this system. Thanks, @Brian Dewey
great content. I had not heard of Zettelkasten, but after reading up on it a bit, the ideas in this post seem to strike a great balance between the joy of carrying a catch-all/commonplace book and the fruitfulness of analog information systems. thank you!
Thanks for reading, Braden.