:TODO: Video will be great here

Knowledge doesn't live in isolation: It's fundamentally connected to the people and events in our life.

Yet all teaching about PKM (i.e. Personal Knowledge Management) treats knowledge as if it's stand-alone, and that's a pity. Because the knowledge we gather, the moments in our life when it shows up, and the people, places and events related to our growing body of knowledge, all combine into an inherently interconnected whole, and seeing the way your life's puzzle-pieces fit together is like magic.

This book doesn't just explain the principles of PKM or Zettelkasten, but also gives step-by-step instructions to get you started, and most importantly:

It introduces the concept of the Graph Journal, which helps you map out both your knowledge and the significant elements in your life, and show you connections, patterns, and possibilities.

It helps you gain more insight, create better ideas, and get a much deeper understanding of your life, your goals, and how to achieve them. It shows how everything connects together, and will help you see where connections need to be made and gaps need to be filled, in order for you to get to your goals.

Looking back at your graph journal explains how you got to be 'here', and it enables you to creatively and with focus work towards getting 'there' - with more clarity, less distraction, and greater sustained focus on those things that matter most.

What this book will do for you...

All your Knowledge in one place

Having one digital knowledge base lets you find your notes easily - no matter where you are

Better Understanding


The process promotes thinking and understanding - it lets you find important connections

Use your knowledge to create and execute

The reason to gain knowledge is to use it for practical ends - and that is the focus of the book

Martin Stellar's Review of Zettelkasten and Art of Knowledge Management

I've been extremely fortunate to have Binny's guidance and teaching over the last few years, right around the time he was formulating his PKM methodology and the Graph Journal.

It's enabled me to get a much better grasp on my life, my creativity and my work, and interestingly enough: Having a better 'zoomed-out' view on everything in my life enables me to be more focused, more productive and creative, while I no longer have to obsess over the zoomed-in view of maintaining todo lists and meticulously planning out my projects.

Martin Stellar

Sales Coach

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Best starting point for those looking to get started with PKM
I've been a fan of Zettelkasten for several years now, but struggled to get things setup in a way that really worked for me. Binny's book helped break things down into really actionable steps; I felt like I had a friend along with me to mentor me as I figure things out for myself.

This is a fabulous read and will soon become a must-read for people looking to level up as knowledge workers.

Joel L

Product Coach

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This is a relatively simple book (despite its technical tone), that revolves around the essence of constructing the life you desire. With a modest length of 130 pages, it aims to guide you in checking off items from your bucket list, by forging your unique journey toward personal and professional objectives.

The book simplifies intricate concepts, such as Zettelkasten, and the utilization of technical tools like Obsidian. It allows you to use personal knowledge and significant life events as building blocks, enabling the creation of a joyful and purposeful life. I strongly recommend this resource for those seeking practical guidance on crafting a fulfilling life.

Archana Rao D'Cruz

Author, Educator

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This book has been a great and practical read. It taught me a better way to take notes. One of the best part about the book is that it makes you practice this method as and when you are reading the book. By the end of the book, you are well versed with this approach of note taking.

As an active learner and a recent adapter of the Zettelkasten method, I can vouch that this book really simplifies and breaks it down. Just after a month of using this system, I have a decently big Obsidian knowledge base that I'm actively using.

Arathi M D

Board Member

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Zettelkasten and the Art of Knowledge Management by Binny V A is great! If you are someone who takes a lot of notes or learns a lot of things, this book will help transform how you use that information. I am great at capture but shit at linking. And this book convinced me to start linking my notes. There are A LOT of things to learn from the book. And the book slowly builds from the basics. Also has homework sections to quickly learn or implement the skill taught in the chapter. Strong recommend.

Anand Philip

Health + ML Consultant

Table of Contents

If you want a quick peak at what you'll find in the book, here you go...

Chapter 1: Introduction

PKM or Personal Knowledge Management is a systematic way to manage and process large amounts of information coming our way as part of a modern and highly connected world. This is a critical skill for a knowledge worker(which most of us are) - but we don't prioritize learning it.

Chapter 2: What is PKM?

Personal Knowledge Management = Learning Management + Personal Information Management.

Chapter 3: Setup your Knowledge base

The biggest use of the PKM system is having access to all the information you have learned in one place. The first thing you need to do is to set up this vault. There are many good tools for this - and many factors to consider when selecting one. I recommend Obsidian.

Chapter 4: Learning Management using Zettelkasten

Learning management is the system of taking notes when learning so as to improve understanding and recall. This is done using Zettelkasten - creating atomic notes(one idea per note) that can be linked with other notes.

Chapter 5: Note Taking Systems

Even though Zettelkasten comes with a note taking process, you can use other note taking methods to get the same effect. As long as it fulfills these requirements...

  • Create atomic notes
  • Written in your own words
  • Notes should be interlinked

We'll also look at different note taking processes...

  • Zettelkasten Process(Fleeting, Literature, Permanent Notes)
  • Progressive Summarization
  • Feynman Technique

Chapter 6: Personal Information Management using Graph Journal

Personal Information is information pertaining to you - things you would find useful later. This is done using the Graph Journal method - you write your journal by linking any recurring subjects.

Chapter 7: Tools for PKM

To use the system well, you should have an understanding of the tool you use for your PKM system. Most of the tools have a few common features...
  • Graph View
  • Markdown
  • Metadata
  • Taxonomy
  • YAML

Chapter 8: PKM Flywheel

PKM is not something you know - but rather habits you should build. These three habits make up the PKM Flywheel...

Chapter 9: Capture

When you encounter information, you have to decide if it should be captured(would it be needed in the future). If yes, you should capture the information and integrate it with the rest of the vault.

Chapter 10: Manage

You have to review your vault at a frequent interval(say, once a week). During these reviews you read existing notes, update or add detail if needed, make new links, or even delete notes no longer needed.

Chapter 11: Use

The main use of the vault is having all the information in one place. Other uses depend on what you want to do - it can help with projects you are working on, content creation, problems you want solved, etc. It gives you better understanding, better recall through spaced repetition and better visibility.

Chapter 12: PKM And AI - Future of PKM

Large Language Models like ChatGPT are helpful tools for PKM. They let you collect, summarize and connect information. But there are some dangers too - they can give you inaccurate information. Use them as tools - but do the thinking yourself.