Hi Zettlers,

This is a little flow diagram that illustrates the Zettelkasten Process with the help of one of the principles of the Zettelkasten Method, “Creating Pre-Products”:

The concept “excerpt” might be interpreted as “literature note” since both concepts are similar. To me, creating an excerpt is a methodological approach of using tools to understand a text. So it is more than just about creating notes on thoughts and ideas embedded in a source. (Check out this explanation of Ahrens’s terms, including “literature note”, if you want to learn more.)

Flow diagrams can distract from the actual sites of value creation. They are mostly for superficial overview. There are a couple of different ways to translate the Zettelkasten Method into a flow diagram. At this moment, two flow diagrams including this one are part of the book. I don’t stress the concept of workflow since I fear that it is rather distracting from the more valuable aspects of the Zettelkasten Method. For example: It is by far more important to be able to write a good note than to have some process put in place to extract digital reading highlights from Kindle to the app of your choice.

If you want to improve your own way of processing knowledge, you may ask yourself: Do you have an unbroken chain of transforming the sources of your world into publications, improved habits and actions?

Update 2022-03-07: There’s an improved version.