Why is it different from taking regular notes?

You may have taken and accumulated many notes in your lifetime, so what makes the Zettelkasten system different?

There are several differences including:

  • The Types of Notes you include within it. You may be used to writing by topic, or in a linear fashion. In Zettelkasten, the notes are ‘atomic’, making them useable in various categories or topics.
  • The way you write the notes. The focus is on making high-quality notes that are future-proof 1 .
  • The emphasis on Linking notes/ideas together. Linking ties the notes together so they become more useful.

See Other uses and related systems for related systems.

Footnotes
1.
Future-proof - notes that you will understand in the future without needing the same context in which you wrote them: https://zettelkasten.de/posts/how-to-write-notes-you-can-understand/
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