“Zettelkasten” literally means “slip box,” i.e., a box holding index-card notes.
So what kind of notes can we have in our Slip Box?
- Fleeting notes – quick, disposable captures of ideas or observations; process or delete soon after.
- Literature notes – brief, cited summaries of what a source says, written in your own words.
- Permanent notes – distilled, stand-alone insights that connect to other notes and stay in the system.
- Structure / index notes – hub pages that group and link related permanent notes to show the big picture.
- Project notes – ad-hoc planning, to-dos, or drafts tied to a specific project; archived when finished.