Interconnected Notes: A Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) System

When we create content, we share our thoughts, feelings, and observations about the world. We begin with the context of the stories, ideas, information, events, and movements we encounter each day. And the context continues to build throughout our lifetime. 

Yet, content increasingly comes from everywhere. We barely acknowledge one piece of content before switching to the next, making it difficult to shift from consumer to curator to creator. We store content in our brains (and hope we remember). Or, we save it in an array of digital and analog storage tools. 

How do we keep track of it all?

Content, content—everywhere!

I was drowning in content. I had too many tabs open in my brain—and I sometimes lost track of where to find what I needed. Is it in my notes from working at the library or from college? Which conference or webinar did I jot down that thought to explore later? Did I reflect on that quote in a journal, or did I start a draft on my work computer (Or personal computer. Or iPad. Or iPhone.)? Is it in Notes? A Stenopad? Scribbled on a loose piece of paper? Perhaps I didn’t capture the thought after all. After some research, I decided to build a personal knowledge management (PKM) system.

PKM is known by many names: Zettelkasten (in German, note box). Writing to learn. Active notetaking. Building a second brain. Smart notes. Blog as Library. Mind Forest. Living Notes. Commonplace book. Note Garden. Working out loud. Personal design “playbook.” Learning in public. Extended mind.

No matter how you describe it, the method resonates with the way I think, design, and write.

A personal knowledge management system grows your body of knowledge through proactive, inferential notes. Notes connect to other notes. You refine your thoughts as you iterate through the information. As a learning designer, I’m also interested the elements of active learning involved—reflection, writing in your own words, teaching others to teach yourself—these strategies encourage the transfer of knowledge.

Documenting my first steps in PKM

Over the spring, I researched the conversations around PKM: history, best practices, methods, tools, etc. I determined my interpretation needed to be flexible for the sheer volume of content I would encounter.

The guidelines include: 

1. Create a system: This includes content sources, tools, and frequency of capture. In this stage, I identified my priorities. 
2. Capture the information: Basically, import all of the (important) stuff. It’s a long, time-consuming process to review a backlog of content stretching decades. I started with digital content saved in the past five years.
3. Curate and sort: This might differ depending on the tool and system you chose. You might decide to dump all content in a single location (using tags for organization) or create folders based on topics or purpose. As you sort, you’ll see patterns, themes, and connections emerge.
4. Review and write notes: The key to interconnected notetaking starts with taking notes and seeing where ideas fit with previous notes. While detailed notes might be daunting as you begin, you can start with a quick note or outline and return later to fully develop the ideas. 
5. Repeat: You will encounter new ideas, and your notes need to be updated to remain relevant.

I started Phase One of my PKM project over the summer. I still have a lot of content to review before I can really work through all of the connections. I’ll keep you updated as I work through improving my PKM system and process.

Are you using a PKM? I’d love to hear what works for you.