One of the concepts I struggle with when taking smart notes is the idea of completeness. I worry that I haven’t written all the information available on a given idea. Or I haven’t included everything interesting from a book. Or I haven’t made all the possible connections.
This is not a something to worry about because it is not the point of the notes.
Despite creating a personal wiki being an nice concept for understanding the process of the notes, it is not a perfect analogy. For Wikipedia, completeness is an issue because the goal is to capture as much information on a given topic as possible. However, with smart notes, it is a tool for thinking and forming connections and new ideas, not capturing all information.
Quote
Because the slip-box is not intended to be an encyclopedia, but a tool to think with, we don’t need to worry about completeness. We don’t need to write anything down just to bridge a gap in a note sequence.
Connections
Develop understanding to remember better
Zettelkasten Method vs. Standard Methods
Reference
Book: How to Take Smart Notes Author: Sönke Ahrens Location: 1673