I use Supernotes daily for my current work and my lectures. While I am restarting my career with completely new (unknown) topics I am looking for some ideas how you would handle this in SN having an existing structure and a probably completly different topics and ideas will reach you.?
Merci
-ausblicksstark
You haven’t shared what your current structure is, or where it’s not meeting your needs. So it’s difficult to recommend something specific. However, you could start by taking a look at my current approach, as I find it works well with discovering new topics.
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Hi @JamesT many thanks foor pointing me to your current appraich.. In fact I was curious how others start with SN in new fields, without having a given structure. I also find the idea of having an action centre like @isaiur and @freisatz mentioned in your post - for me also a must.
For me beginning a new work environments I’ll start with a bunch of notes, to evolve them and migrate them to a structure later, ata a time where I know more about possible connections.
@ausblicksstark what you describe seems like a reasonable approach. I do something similar which, when made explicit, gives me a feeling of being in control despite allowing for organic growth.
Let me outline the key idea. Instead of prematurely trying to find a complex structure that is capable of providing a dedicated place for any potential future input (that would fail), I put new cards at some place thats good enough, in that it reflects my personal connection to its contents as it is just now.
Rather than relying on a static organization scheme, I believe that the workflow is more important. That is why whenever I get in contact with my contents, I check whether I can contribute to its improvement (boy scout rule). One aspect of that is structure. In a process I call abstraction, if some set of cards share a common theme that has previously not been recognized, I create a new parent to reflect this connection.
Let me give an example. Let’s say I want to file a card Prevent distractions where possible in my database. I file that card in a parent Productivity, as that is my superordinate interest that makes me want to keep the card.
Over time, I add cards The Pomodoro technique, Define clear goals and Multitasking does not work to the Productivity parent. This gives a hierarchy.
Interests
- Productivity
- Prevent distractions where possible
- The Pomodoro technique
- Define clear goals
- Multitasking does not work
At some point when browsing this part of my database, I may realize that three of these cards share a common theme that seems worth highlighting: they are all on Focused work. This is an valuable insight: It appears to be that Focused work is an interest of mine! Maybe I should follow that path, find some literature on this? At the very least, I use this realization as an opportunity to refine my structure:
Interests
- Productivity
- Focused work
- Prevent distractions where possible
- The Pomodoro technique
- Multitasking does not work
- Define clear goals
This approach, when repeated over and over, can lead to a deep and meaningful structure. At the same time, adding new contents remains reasonably easy.
Maybe it helps.
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@freisatz That’s an excellent explanation of your approach—and I do exactly the same. New areas of research start out “flat”, then clear groupings and structures emerge over time. 
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@freisatz Thank you for your elegant post, you describe nearly how I work and I pack notes together in a similar way - I don’t do it any differently. What strikes me in particular is the fact that it’s not about functions and usage workflows in the software itself, but about the mental structure of topics that puzzle themselves together.
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Very wise words!
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