# 209 — a System for Writing, With Bob Doto

## Metadata
- Author: [[Focused]]
- Full Title: 209 — a System for Writing, With Bob Doto
- Category: #podcasts
- URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/e1c20f6d-f9a6-4b7f-b5d9-72640dce6349
## Highlights
- Episode AI notes
1. Bob Doto discusses the importance of structure notes within a Zettelkasten system, emphasizing their role in connecting and expanding individual ideas.
2. Structure notes facilitate deeper understanding by providing context and elucidating relationships between concepts, such as comparing yoga's Pratyahara with similar Christian practices.
3. A well-crafted structure note typically includes a title, a sequence of related notes, and contextual writing, serving as a map for organizing and developing ideas.
4. Engaging with various models of habit formation through writing helps individuals distill complex concepts into accessible insights.
5. Writing and journaling practices enhance cognitive clarity by allowing individuals to articulate their thoughts and experiences, leading to deeper considerations of their circumstances.
6. The reflective nature of writing can help create a sense of closure on topics, enabling cognitive shifts that free up mental resources for other tasks.
7. Establishing clear endpoints through writing practices can enhance focus and productivity, solidifying understanding and alleviating the burden of unfinished thoughts. ([Time 0:00:00](https://share.snipd.com/episode-takeaways/3a9d858d-ec17-4e60-bb0f-665052e3574c))
- Exploring the Concept of Structure Notes
Summary:
Structure notes serve as a crucial tool for connecting and expanding on individual ideas within a Zettelkasten system.
They provide a dedicated space to explore relationships between notes, enabling deeper understanding and development of concepts. For example, the relationship between yoga's Pratyahara and similar Christian inward practices can be examined through a structure note, facilitating contextual analysis.
A structure note typically includes a title, a sequence of related notes, and contextual writing explaining their relationships.
This process clarifies thoughts and fosters insights, akin to a map of content that organizes and develops ideas.
By actively writing and engaging with various models—such as habit formation theories from Charles Duhigg, James Clear, and BJ Fogg—individuals can distill their understanding, making complex concepts accessible even to a novice. Ultimately, structure notes transform vague knowledge into coherent explanations while opening pathways for further exploration and understanding.
Transcript:
Speaker 3
And just to clarify, can you explain a structure note for folks who are not familiar with the term?
Speaker 1
Sure. Yeah. So if you have your main notes, which are these individual, roughly single idea-ish notes, connecting in your Zettelkasten relating to one another. These relationships, if you're going to do anything with them, need to be explored, expanded, deepened, whatever. So a structure note functions as a place to do that. So you would simply open up another note or if you're using a paper-based system, you could just have, it could be a sheet of paper, something that has a little room to it. And you bring your ideas from that, say, train of thought into this new document. And there is where you can unpack, develop, and explore the relationship between the ideas you have that come from that train of thought. So the example I give in a book, in the book, has to do with Pratyahara, this concept that comes out of Hindu yogic philosophy. The idea of turning inward in a yogic practice. And I have a number of notes in my Zettelkasten that speak about this. But I have a number of notes that speak sort of adjacent to this. They look at it from a Christian angle. So it's not quite Pratyahara, but it's still this idea of going inward when you're reading or doing spiritual practice. I brought those notes a structure note because I wanted to see how these ideas related. How does the Christian concept of going in relate to the Hindu yoga concept of going in? And that was a place to do that. So technically, you got a title at the top and you have your notes stacked in some sequence that makes sense to you and you contextualize them. You type in, write in why these ideas are related and you start to kind of form your thinking, right? You form your thinking on the concept or on the topic.
Speaker 2
So I think I have a example of this and you can tell me if this is missing some of the key elements of a structure note, but this sounds a lot to me like Nick's concept of a map of content, which Kind of clicked for me is the workbench where you're developing these ideas. So I didn't really know how to do that, but I took a stab at it when I was trying to create my codified thoughts around the topic of habits. And I started with that Charles Duhigg model where you've got the Q, the routine and the reward and there's that that loop and when I read that that book and I came across that idea I'd never Really sat well with me so I'm typing all of this out in my note on habits and I'm because I'm using obsidian I've got callouts that say you know the problem with this model is that as soon As the Q is triggered the routine happens automatically. You don't really have a choice. So then I bring in, you know, the James Clear model from Atomic Habits. Oh, there's another step here now where there's a temptation and sometimes we give into it. Sometimes we don't. Well, this feels better because now we have some agency in the process. I'm not a rat in a machine, but then it opens up another loophole. What determines whether you follow through with that thing? And then you read, then I read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. And there's a whole chart that goes along with this. And I'm finding that as I am writing this note, my thoughts become clear. There's a quote that thoughts disentangle themselves through lips and pencil tips. I've discovered also through clicky keyboards. And as I go, you know, I'm just finding additional things to plug in here. It's like opening new loops. Oh, yeah, I've got something that kind of ties to that. And then the end result is that I have this this structure note. This is what I think about the topic of habits. And if you would ask me before that, I'd been, oh, yeah, yeah, I know what I think about that. But then if I tried to explain it to you, it's kind of clumsy. The distillation that happens as I write all this out in my structure note means that by the time I'm done, I can explain it to a nine year old.
Speaker 1
Yeah, that sounds right. If you were to just say, I had, if you're just tell me what you did there and you say, what is this called? I would say that's probably a structure note. And yeah, Nick Milo's maps of content idea and concept is related for sure. It's sometimes framed slightly differently. I think the maps part of that title pushes people towards like, this is an index or a way to find things in my database. And I certainly think that's the way it was presented earlier on. ([Time 0:38:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a6211c92-4897-420f-ae30-fd75d21f7605))
- The Cognitive Benefits of Writing and Journaling Practices
Summary:
Writing and journaling practices promote cognitive clarity and engagement with one's thoughts and work.
The act of articulating experiences and reflections allows for a deeper consideration of current circumstances, producing insights that may otherwise be overlooked. This reflective process can create a sense of closure, facilitating cognitive shifts that enable individuals to mentally release topics, freeing their minds for other tasks.
These practices not only aid in the transition between activities but also enhance focus and productivity by establishing a clear endpoint for the day's work.
As a result, writing serves as an effective tool for solidifying understanding and easing the mental burden of unfinished thoughts.
Transcript:
Speaker 3
Do you think that the benefit of that is the act of writing it down or the fact that you're slowing yourself down enough just to think about it?
Speaker 1
That's a really good question. Um, I am very pro writing obviously, and I'm very pro even writing small things. So there is, it feels like there is certainly something to taking a beat and, and just saying what I did and what I think I should do. There is some clarity there that comes from that. And, uh, it certainly me to consider what's actually going on in the piece. So it's kind of a last assessment of what might be happening there. So that is true. And like I said, there's also just the explicit directiveness of it that it does just keep me involved in the work and in the process of the writing.
Speaker 3
I'd also argue, because I have a similar interstitial practice, and on my best days, it eases transition. Like when you do that, you finish it, you know that you've buttoned it up for tomorrow, and then you go and do whatever else you do with full attention.
Speaker 1
Yeah, sorry, I thought you were talking about creative log. Yes, the interstitial journaling aspect. Definitely. Yeah, there is a closure, a sense of closure that when I say, you know, finish this, no need to come back to it today. There really is something that happens cognitively. I have read a little bit on this, that when they call it like cognitive shifts, or I forget the term, but something happens where I, my brain says, okay, we're done. We can actually let go of that. I don't need to keep thinking about it. So yeah, absolutely. With regards to the interstitial aspect.
Speaker 2
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