Building a personal knowledge management (PKM) system involves several key steps:

Unit 1: PKM & Idea Emergence

  • Understanding how linking can reduce effort and increase productivity.

  • Creating valuable relationships between notes.

  • Identifying situations where traditional note-taking isn’t effective.

  • Practicing different types of note relationships.

  • Using PKM assessment tools to clarify specific use cases.

Unit 2: Growing Value

  • Learning the pitfalls of poor note-taking and how it can lead to shallow thinking.

  • Using note-making to unlock deeper cognitive processes.

  • Techniques for increasing the value of notes over time.

  • Practicing 7 principles of effective note-making.

  • Grasping the basics of fluid thinking.

Unit 3: Accelerating Ideas

  • Recognizing and overcoming mental bottlenecks.

  • Understanding and utilizing Maps of Content (MOCs) for idea development.

  • Practicing 11 principles for creating a map of knowledge.

  • Learning about the benefits of MOCs and other PKM tools.

Unit 4: Your Custom PKM System

  • Completing your network for emerging ideas.

  • Building a personalized note library.

  • Creating an ultimate dashboard for note reference.

  • Refining organizational methods like links, folders, tags, and queries.

Unit 5: Processing Newness

  • Differentiating important information from noise.

  • Transitioning from idea reception to note-making.

  • Developing PKM workflows.

  • Learning advanced strategies for processing and understanding new information.

Unit 6: Sharing

  • Reviewing and applying sensemaking strategies.

  • Sensible sharing tactics within your PKM system.

  • Engaging in community activities related to PKM.

  • Strategically determining what, where, and how to share knowledge.