Note-takers “churn and burn” through their notes. They take them for a specific short-term (“just-in-time”) purpose—like a test or a project. When the milestone concludes, the notes lose their value. This type of note-taking doesn’t accumulate long-term value.
Note-makers “know and grow” with their knowledge. Instead of losing value, note-makers create living notes that are able to grow in value and evolve over time.
Properties of living, evergreen notes
While evergreen notes are just regular notes, they have principles that generate value.
- Clear and concise - The title for evergreen notes should be a clear title or statement.
- As you form this one-liner, you clarify and sharpen your thinking. It’s like a mini-thesis. This process naturally enforces an atomic note size.
- Don’t stress about making notes “atomic”. Follow the Goldilocks rule: Not too short, not too long.
- You will know if it’s too long if you have trouble linking it because it’s saying many different things.
- Own words - Writing in your own words forces you to deeply think about what you’re trying to say.
- You will find this is a forcing function to naturally draw out your unique perspective.
- Linked - Your living, evergreen notes should have links to other notes.
- You will naturally make links if you’ve made clear notes in your own words.
- Non-static - As you encounter new things in life, you can re-write or re-factor your notes to capture more meaning and value.
- This means evergreen notes become living entities—gaining in insights and complexity as more time passes.
Benefits of note-making, linking your thinking, and evergreen notes
Cultivating a growing mass evergreen notes opens up a powerful way of connecting ideas and generating insights.
- Note-making sharpens your thinking
- Linking your thinking encourages leaps of insights
- Note-making creates unexpected optionality
Want to make more of these kind of notes? See On the process of note-making
References
Evergreen notes—a term coined and developed by Andy Matuschak—are a digital evolution of the “atomic” notes that Niklas Luhmann pioneered.