My Personal Knowledge Process (Reflection & Permanent Learning)
I share my effective knowledge management system for personal and professional growth amidst chaos.
In our chaotic world, the ability to be present is ever more fleeting. Simultaneously the ability to capture, process, and leverage knowledge effectively is crucial for personal and professional growth. I've been fortunate to have mentors and experienced individuals in my life who have helped shape my approach to learning. To maximize these opportunities, I've developed a comprehensive knowledge system that allows me to both capture and deliver value to these relationships, experiences, and good ol’ fashioned books.
System Overview
Here is the current incarnation of my knowledge management system.
My knowledge management framework consists of three integrated sub-systems:
A daily carry notebook based on the bullet-journal methodology.
A five-year journal for reflection and growth tracking.
A Zettelkasten system (a note-taking and personal knowledge management method) combining analog notes with digital references in Zotero.
Daily Carry Notebook: Taming the Chaos
Purpose: Constrain daily chaos. Allow me to defer information until I’m present enough to engage with it.
Limit: Temporary storage only. Knowledge captured here is not surface-able long-term.
Everyday is chaotic. Kids stuff. Church stuff. Family stuff. Business/Networking/Work. Hobby. Fitness. Grocery Store. Hardware. The sink is dripping. The daily carry notebook serves as my first line of defense against information overload. Its primary purpose is to constrain daily chaos and provide a holding space for information until I can properly process it.
Holding all that in your head is an enormous burden. Research shows what we perceive as short-term memory is actually a rehearsal loop where we continuously recite information to ourselves1. This process consumes valuable mental resources. By transferring thoughts to paper, we free our minds for more important tasks. As the saying goes, "The weakest ink is stronger than the greatest memory." Write it down, and you are free to forget it.
Information Processing
The daily-carry notebook serves two crucial functions:
Task Management
For tasks under five minutes, immediate execution
For longer tasks, addition to the queue for scheduled processing
Regular review and prioritization of captured items
Knowledge Capture
Recording new learning opportunities
Noting additions to existing knowledge
Marking items for transfer to permanent systems
Five-Year Journal: Tracking Growth Over Time
Purpose: capture the day’s most important aspects, and reflect where I was the same time prior years.
Limit: Emotional growth is more relevant than the day’s tasks. Document the Whys, and feelings.
The five-year journal provides a unique daily practice on personal development. Each page represents one calendar day divided into five sections, one for each year. This structure allows me to track my growth, challenges, and achievements over extended periods.
Key Benefits
Daily reflection on current experiences
Immediate comparison with past years
Recognition of patterns in personal development
Documentation of emotional growth and decision-making rationale
The final point is by far the most rewarding. Looking back and seeing your own archived mind and emotions from years past and a rewarding moment for recognizing growth, and also facing the hard reality of recognizing stagnation. A 5 year journal’s unique format is what makes these moments so effect at personal growth. Simply capturing your day in a linear journal doesn’t have the built in review cycle that a 5-year format does.
Extend existing knowledge
For example, if I come across a new database schema, I will want to add that to the set of database schema patterns I’ve already learned. It’s not possible to come back to all the past journals and annotate that today is new information. This is what I call surfacable information. When I discover a new incremental item to add to the body of knowledge I already have, I have to surface all past knowledge to append to it. Thus, I graduate the information from the notebook to a notecard and file it in the Zettelkasten.
Uncover new learning opportunities efficiently
These are the most exciting, and hence I have a tendency to dive deep into these rabbit holes trying to understand this new exciting thing I found. However this is inefficient. By definition I was doing something else when I found this discovery. To simply dive into every rabbit-hole I find as I find it wastes enormous amounts of time and eventually ends with important tasks not completed. Thus, my daily-carry notebook allows me to defer this excitement. hours or days later when I work on graduating items to the next day or week, I schedule time to dive into that rabbit hole. This is efficient, since often this new distraction is yak-shaving, simply a new thing that to distract me from the current difficult work I’m focused on in the moment. The “excitement” is fleeting, and with some time between the moment of discovery and the disciplined approach to schedule focus I may have discovered its not that relevant to where my long-term plans are pointed. This deferment step, I call graduation and it’s key to the systems efficiency and my own long term defense against burn-out.
Graduate discovery to a plan
An important aspect of my analog system is when I choose to perform the various maintenance tasks. The entire system is designed around deferrable tasks. I can defer actions in the moment to the end of the day, I collect the important items that graduate to notecards and file them. I collect the important task that need to be done to the next day. And I cancel the tasks that turn out to not be important!
At the end of the week, I’m left with a set of tasks that have collected throughout the week, I schedule time to complete them or I cancel them.
Zettelkasten: Building Permanent Knowledge
Purpose: Permanently Learn.
Limit: Zettelkasten does not deal with temporary information.
The Zettelkasten system serves as my permanent knowledge repository. Unlike temporary storage systems, it's designed for long-term learning and knowledge synthesis.
This system allows me to:
Connect related concepts across different domains
Build upon existing knowledge systematically
Develop novel insights through connection-making
Create a searchable, permanent knowledge base
The mechanics and process of my Zettelkasten I discuss in a separate video:
The Power of Analog
I collect fountain pen ink. I derive great personal enjoyment from choosing an ink for the week and writing in the inks of famous scientists, philosophers and other historical people. Hence the most powerful draw to analog for me is reduced screen-time and a quiet moment with my pen and ink. However besides these personal choices, analog offers a number of additional benefits. Writing by hand aids memory retention. Manually searching through cards creates moments of seredipitous discovery. Tactile engagement with thought deepens the meaning. Finally, the act of searching and filing creates a natural review process which naturally refreshes memory. Each new pen’d link mirrors links your own neurons creating an ever increasingly density of interconnected information.
However, if you know analog is not for you, and wish to import an excellently design system into your own life, I highly recommend No Boilerplate’s approach
Conclusion
This system's strength lies in its flexibility and scalability. By separating temporary and permanent knowledge storage while maintaining clear graduation paths between sub-systems, it provides a robust framework for continuous learning and development. The analog nature of the system, far from being a limitation, enhances its effectiveness through deeper engagement and natural review processes.
Remember: The goal isn't perfect capture, but rather intentional growth and learning. Your system should evolve with your needs while maintaining its core function of supporting your personal and professional development.
“How Short-Term Memory Works,” Verywell Mind. Accessed: Feb. 07, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-short-term-memory-2795348 ↩