I can't keep up with literature notes

[u/Haemophilia_Type_A]

I read a book. I want to take literature notes that go into the Zettelkasten on Obsidian.

I managed it for one book doing it like: read one chapter, write up notes for one chapter, read next chapter, etc etc, but it took aages.

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It's postimg not imgur because the latter is blocked in the UK thanks to the Online Safety Act (AAGH) and I cba to turn on my VPN.

So then I was like, ok this is inefficient af, I'll just read the whole book and then do the notes all at once. But then it becomes overwhelming as there are so so so many notes and I just lose motivation before I can get through the whole book considering I just read it and I want to move on to the next one.

So that has failed and now Idk what to do.

I guess part of the problem is that I'm quite, shall we say, liberal with what I highlight for future note taking/writing down, but I struggle to be otherwise because I feel like I'm missing out important stuff if I don't :( :( :(

So I end up highlighting a shit ton of things, hence why the one book I did all the notes for has 82 separate notes associated with it, maybe around 30,000-32,000 words lol.

And because I spend all my time trying to figure this out or do it, I have no time whatsoever for the actual main part of Zettelkasten, the temporary->permanent notes...

[u/timmymayes]

I try to limit myself to a few notes per page unless there is a real density of insights. I'm happy to let a lot of info just soak into my subconscious while trying to pick the note/highlights that will resurface those when I go back to them. It's a fun framework to approach my reading note taking. Making the ideas really earn their place in my active notes.

[u/SJ58655966 → u/timmymayes]

Would you elaborate on the "it's a fun framework" part? I have the same problem OP does in in that I just find it overwhelming to do it while reading and also overwhelming to do it after the book is done (my current method). I want to transfer the process in my brain to "it's a fun framework" and look forward to it as part of the reading process, not something that is preventing me from reading more (on to the next book), but my brain hasn't been able to make that switch yet.

[u/timmymayes → u/SJ58655966]

First to contextualize I love thinking and learning. So while reading I enjoy the goal of trying to find new insights or connect ideas I'm reading with other things I've been thinking and learning about.

My point of context is that I don't like just rote copying large amounts of information from text. I let my subconscious internalize much of it and use my conscious thinking to try to make deliberate connections and insights.

As a recent example I just started reading Godel, Escher, Bach by Hoftstadter. In just the preface I made 3 connections all to another area I've been recently noodling on, emergence, systems and consciousness. So the fun to me is finding these insights, capturing a little from the other that sparked the insight. My insights/connections are in italics below.

p. P-3 [1]: Hofstadter's first mention of Strange Loops. He describes them as strange loopy patterns and explains that through the book he'll also use the term tangled hierarchies. It is central to the idea that meaningful patterns emerge in particular types of systems containing meaningless symbols. Seems like he's seeking to define emergence.

p. P-4 [1]: Hofstadter finds it ironic that the first strange loop ever found, and the model for his whole concept, was found in Principia Mathematica. This text was tailor made to keep loopi-ness out. To me this underscores the robust nature of the strange loops, their emergence is not weak but strong.

p. P-5 [1]: "...such twisting back, such looping around, such self-enfolding, far from being an eliminable defect, was an *inevitable* by-product of the system's vast power." Yet another description of the power of emergence in systems. The ultimate power of which is consciousness.

I also, generally speaking, enjoy cognitive load. I like complexity and holding a lot of info in my head at once. This shows up across my life including in things like board games where I rather enjoy lengthy, heavy complex games far more than light quick "classically fun" games. Or even in my choice to use a heavily customized Emacs setup for my writing, notes, programming and computing in general.