How to Take Smart Notes
How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrensby Sönke Ahrens
Shares rank 91 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Recommended for showing how writing drives thinking and learning, and for a Zettelkasten reading approach. Critics say it is vague and defines too many note types.
Recommended for showing how writing drives thinking and learning, and for a Zettelkasten reading approach. Critics say it is vague and defines too many note types.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 60%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows how writing drives thinking
“it gets into how important writing is as a part of the process of thinking and learning”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “The Suck Is Why We're Here” “until you write about something, your thinking will be incomplete”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Auto-grading decade-old Hacker News discussions with hindsight” Zettelkasten method makes reading thorough
“using the Zettelkasten method to make reading a very diligent and thorough process”
Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Why books donʼt work (2019)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Vague, defines too many note kinds
“it's not specific or clear enough, and it defines too many different kinds of notes”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “The Suck Is Why We're Here” Too much about Zettelkasten
“The book was more about how good and lifechanging it is to use Zettelkasten”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “A practical guide for setting up Zettelkasten method in Obsidian” Credits Luhmann's method to Ahrens
“Please don't credit Niklas Luhmann for what Sönke Ahrens did”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 on Hacker News
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| How to Take Smart Notesby Sönke AhrensThis page | 3 | 2 | 60% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“using the Zettelkasten method to make reading a very diligent and thorough process”
“The book was more about how good and lifechanging it is to use Zettelkasten”
“Please don't credit Niklas Luhmann for what Sönke Ahrens did”
“it's not specific or clear enough, and it defines too many different kinds of notes”
“it gets into how important writing is as a part of the process of thinking and learning”
“until you write about something, your thinking will be incomplete”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.