I’m going to have to note the shit out of this

~ talkingmoose
The Martian (2015)

Two things are at the top of my mind at the moment.

First, I’d suspected it for a while — and with my past diet, I’m not surprised — but my doctor just asked me to schedule an appointment to discuss my new Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. I’m so uneducated about it I had to look up whether it’s diabetes with a capital “D” or lowercase “d”. And I know it’s about sugar and insulin.

Also, as part of my fascination with time management, productivity, note-taking, etc., I’ve started reading Scott Scheper’s Antinet Zettelkasten: A Knowledge System That Will Turn You Into a Prolific Reader, Researcher and Writer. If you’re not familiar with the term Zettelkästen, it’s German for note box. An Antinet Zettelkasten is an analog system for storing and retrieving information to help produce knowledge by finding unique associations between topics.

Three white 4-inch by 6-inch note cards loosely stacked one on the other and spread out top to bottom. The top-stacked card at the bottom says “Natural Sciences” in the middle with “3000” in the upper right corner. The middle card under the top card says “Biology” in print with an explanation of the term written underneath in cursive writing. It has “3100” in the upper right corner. The bottom-stacked card at the top says “Human Biology” in print with an explanation of the term written underneath in cursive writing. It’s has “3180” in the upper right corner.
Scheper suggests organizing a new Antinet Zettelkastenusing the outline of academic disciplines found on Wikipedia.

My original intent for the Zettelkasten was to understand how it works and see if it’s something I want to invest my time in. My goal for using it was to begin a project I’ve been kicking around in my head about The Compleat Mac Admin. The few chapters I’ve read of Scheper’s book make it seem ideal. Plus, I love that it’ll give me reason to return to an analog system. My note-taking today is mostly digital for work projects that are fleeting.

Now, I have a second purpose for my Zettelkasten — diabetes research around health and nutrition. My own health and nutrition. I’ve already started a few cards based on examples from Scheper’s book and online tutorials, and I’ve captured a few websites using the Zotero research app he recommended. I’m anxious to see where this can take me.

My mindset is very much like Mark Watney’s, the character Matt Damon plays in The Martian. He has no need to waste time processing the stages of grief — shock, anger, rejection, acceptance, and hope (SARAH). Like him, I’m going straight to acceptance and not wasting any time. ◼︎