I often struggled the blank page when writing, so I chose to read this book to improve my writing. To me, writing is the process of making a product — an article. To make a good product, I need to know the right tools and know how to use them right. That’s why I read How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens — because the author shares the same goal as mine. I wanted to learn his tool.

This book introduces the famous note-taking tool that Niklas Luhmann — a prolific sociologist — used to take his notes — Zettelkasten (the German words for “slip-box”).

In this book, Ahrens first shows why this tool works to improve writing. I learned that writing isn’t just about putting words on paper (or a computer screen, as I’m doing now). There’s a crucial stage before that, which I call the pre-writing stage. The pre-writing stage includes reading, thinking, and understanding, followed by the actual writing stage. Taking notes helps me improve this pre-writing stage. How?
– When I write notes, I need to read with focus to grasp the core ideas. It improves my reading.
– When I externalize my thoughts in a note, it helps clarify my thinking. It improves my thinking.
– When I rewrite the notes in my own words, it tests whether I understand the content well enough to rephrase them. It improves my understanding.

As I build a collection of notes, the slip-box helps me organize and link them to my previous notes. When my notes are linked, new ideas spark, boosting my writing.

To me, smart notes are the notes that 
1) I write them intentionally (to serve my work or learning or writing)
2) I write them in my own words 
3) I can link them to my previous notes

Now, I’m using this tool in my writing. I’m still unsure if my notes are smarter, but my writing is faster now.

Thank you for reading my post.