HACKER Q&A
📣 arbes

Does taking notes help? Is it worth it to use systems like Zettelkasten?


There is quite a fuzz about taking notes and systems like Zettelkasten lately. Roam Research (https://roamresearch.com/) contributed to these things going viral.

I have a question regarding this: do these systems help in the context of programming/software development/computer science? Does note taking help you to understand, remember and learn things?

I am quite struggling if I should take on such a system myself and what the benefits and disadvantages are.

  👤 kixiQu Accepted Answer ✓
Just try something without paying for it, set some reminders to make sure you use it, don't be too prescriptive, don't do so much that it frustrates you, and only change one thing at a time about your process so you're doing most of your notetaking process on autopilot.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter that notetaking helps me. You need to see if it helps you, and you have to try it to do that. But it's one of those things where it isn't all or nothing. Start small and if it helps do more.

👤 devchris10
From my personal experience, taking notes by hand, at least after the initial presentation of information, is better for recall and synthesis. There's plenty of research that support this if you look online.

But obviously, digital storage is much better for data persistence and sharing. I personally think maintaining a Zettelkasten-like system by hand is too much of a barrier. Try looking at apps like Bear or Notable for your needs.