Andy Matushack’s Evergreen Notes are notes that grow and improve over time. They become valuable building blocks for thinking and writing.
Most people take notes as a way to remember key facts and details. These are jotted down in a notebook and reviewed just before a test or a project.
Evergreen notes, on the other hand, are intended to help you think.
Matuschack cites Nikolas Luhman’s zettelkasten process as an inspiration, particularly for the “atomic” construction of each note. But his system also draws on techniques like spaced repetition to help revisit and re-consider questions.
Matushack’s formula for notes is:
- Notes are “atomic”: just one idea per note. This way notes can be combined like Legos to form new ideas.
- Group notes by concept. This way related ideas won’t get “lost” because they were grouped by author, book, or general subject matter.
- Notes should be densely linked.
- Don’t force notes into categories. Let the structure emerge over time.
SEE ALSO
One reason to keep a system such as Evergreen Notes is that it might be Impossible to think without writing
While it might seem convenient to group notes according to categories…and in fact some knowledge bases such as Evernote, OneNote, and Notion encourage you to do so…it is unlikely that you can have a clear understanding of categories in the beginning of your research. Categories can have a negative effect because Imposed structure hinders thinking.
One idea, one note, Evergreen notes are atomic
