Zum Inhalt

Kata 8 (Create permanent notes)

Note length

Kata 8 - Create permanent notes

Used in Week 5

Theory

Creating notes requires some thought in order to effectively manage personal knowledge. An important foundation here is the atomicity of notes.

Atomicity means that each note refers to exactly one idea. This idea should be elementary and to the point, without prose or unnecessary details. Because of the atomic structure of notes, large ideas or abstract considerations can be created from many small building blocks, or thought processes can be connected.

An important component of a note is the title. This should be unique and designed to be as eloquent as possible. In this way, it is already possible to recognize from the title what the note is about and whether it can be useful for the current project. It is recommended to limit the length of the title to ~20 words^[256 characters including file path].

Regarding the length of the note, the text should be kept short to be able to capture the thought quickly. As a guideline, you can use 450 words or a DINA 6 page.

In summary, creating notebook-style notes effectively requires:

  • Atomicity: each note should relate to one elementary idea, without prose or unnecessary details.
  • Unique, speaking title: the title should get to the heart of the note's idea and be limited to 20 words if possible.
  • Short text length: the text should be kept short in order to capture the idea quickly, guideline is 450 words or one DINA 6 page.

Exercises

  • Find a piece of paper that does not fit into the criteria. The criteria are
    • Only one idea on the note?
    • Does the note fit on a DINA6 page (~450 words)?
    • the title reflects the basic idea
  • Rewrite the note so that the criteria are met.
    • divide it into several notes if necessary, one idea per note
    • Delete unnecessary text (prose)
    • Make the title short, concise and meaningful so that it directly reflects the idea.
      • Ideally, it can be used as a sentence directly in a text.

Learning objective

  • Reduce a note to a single idea.
  • Keep notes short and essential to be able to recall knowledge quickly.