The Complete Guide to Atomic Note Taking
Created: Jun 14 2026, 17:40 UTC
Last modified: Jun 14 2026, 17:40 UTC
Describes an iceberg with 4 levels of taking notes:
- Just take notes, link them together
- Take atomic notes, with heruistics, like having an easy title, or a “short” note.
- Understand that the heuristics are part of a bigger system of knowledge, where we truly understand what an atomic note is, as an element of thinking.
- Level 4 is weird, it’s basically just understanding that level 3 exists
Steps to create an atomic note:
- Just make the note. Don’t worry about it.
- Edit it. Remove unnecessary stuff. Is it one idea? Do you have t9o break it up? Is the title good? Do you have a good one line summary?
- Identify the knowledge block.
Tiers of notes and ideas.
| Tier | The Idea | What to do with it |
| S | Major leap for your thinking, very likely to support a current and important project | Unleash the kraken |
|---|---|---|
| A | Improves your thinking, supports a current project, helps with future projects or areas of responsibility | Get at least to level 2, consider level 3 and 4 |
| B | Seems useful, a clear connection to an area of responsibility | go to level 2 |
| C | Interesting, possible connection to an area of responsibility | Don’t sweat it, consider putting in your Rumen |
| D | Interesting, has some connection to your life | Put it somewhere, but not in your Zettelkasten, possibly your Rumen |
| F | Interesting | Nothin g |