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6 min read

Growing Insight: A Natural Approach to Processing Notes

Breaking Free from the Single Document

Meet June, a librarian who used to keep everything in one massive Google Doc titled “Library Observations & Ideas.” Like many of us, she started there because it was simple – just keep scrolling and adding thoughts. But she found herself repeatedly searching for that one observation about reading spaces, or that pattern she noticed about community behavior, lost somewhere in an endless scroll.

[Before]
Library Notes 2024
...
Kids seem to navigate spaces intuitively
...
Book club dynamics interesting today
...
Should look into third places concept more
...
[400 more lines of continuous text]

The breakthrough came when she started breaking thoughts into smaller chunks, each one capturing a single observation or idea:

2024-03-15-reading-spaces.md:
The way kids navigate library layouts mirrors how
they explore digital spaces #garden

2024-03-18-third-places.md:
Something about how "third places" connect to last
week's observation of the bean bag corner evolving
into an informal meeting spot #garden

2024-03-20-book-club-signals.md:
Different book clubs developing their own subtle
signals for "want to share" vs "still processing"
#research #community-spaces

While AI can help find similar content, there’s something special about tags. They’re not just keywords – they’re markers of intention, moments where you consciously connected an observation to a broader theme. When June tags something with #garden, she’s not just categorizing – she’s saying “this belongs in my growing understanding of spaces and communities.”

This is different from letting AI find similar notes. AI might connect notes about “reading spaces” and “study areas” because they’re semantically similar, but it might miss the deeper pattern June noticed about how different groups create their own subtle languages of space.

Growing Organically, Not Rigidly

June doesn’t worry much about whether a note belongs in “Research/Spaces/” or “Observations/Community/” anymore. Instead, she lets ideas grow naturally through tags:

These social reading spaces are showing a pattern:
- Kids naturally claiming territories
- Book clubs developing signal systems
- Even digital natives gravitating to physical anchors

There's something here about how knowledge spaces
need both structure and room for organic growth
#enzyme/digestion #garden/spaces #community-dynamics

The Moment of Recognition

Then there are those special moments – when you notice threads connecting across time and topics. For June, it happened while watching a new book club settle into their corner of the library. The patterns were there, waiting to be recognized. Enzyme is built on a deep understanding that note-taking and knowledge processing is fundamentally organic. We move away from rigid structures that try to predetermine where insights “should” go, and instead embrace the natural flow of understanding.

Tools should adapt to how our minds actually work, not force us into artificial constraints. Tags, loose associations, and organic discovery - these aren’t just features, they’re expressions of how human insight naturally develops.

A Vision for Natural Synthesis

Imagine if your notes could recognize these moments of intentional synthesis and help illuminate the broader pattern you’re beginning to see. Not through rigid folder structures or forced categorization, but through the natural emergence of connections you’ve already marked through tags.

When you’re exploring a train of thought, Enzyme detects not just keyword matches, but the intentional links you’ve created through your tagging patterns. It surfaces relevant contexts and helps you recognize emerging patterns across your knowledge garden.

These moments of synthesis - when disparate ideas suddenly click together into a new understanding - are what we’re building Enzyme to support and amplify. The tool works alongside your natural thought process, helping you discover connections while staying true to your unique way of thinking.

Starting Your Journey

Here’s a concrete path to get started with a more natural note-taking flow:

  1. Break free from the single-document trap

    • Create a new note file for each distinct thought or observation
    • Keep notes focused and atomic
    • Use clear, descriptive filenames with dates (e.g. “2024-03-15-reading-spaces.md”)

  2. Develop your tagging practice

    • Start with broad theme tags like #research or #garden
    • Add more specific tags as patterns emerge (e.g. #community-spaces)
    • Don’t overthink it - tags can evolve and change over time
    • Use multiple tags if a note spans different themes

  3. Capture synthesis moments

    • When you notice connections between notes, create a new synthesis note
    • Tag these moments with #enzyme/digestion
    • Reference the connected notes explicitly
    • Describe the pattern or insight you’re seeing emerge
    • Ask questions about where this pattern might lead

  4. Work with Enzyme’s tools

    • Review suggested connections in your daily digest
    • Explore tag clusters to spot emerging themes
    • Save promising connections to revisit later

The goal isn’t perfection - it’s creating a sustainable practice that helps surface and grow your insights naturally. Start small, stay consistent, and let your system evolve alongside your understanding. Focus on capturing those “aha moments” when they happen, and trust that the larger patterns will emerge over time.

Remember: The best insights often come not from forcing connections or maintaining rigid structures, but from recognizing patterns as they naturally emerge. We’re building Enzyme to honor and amplify these moments of recognition.

Note: This post sketches a vision we’re actively working toward. While the current version of Enzyme helps you explore your notes in new ways, some of these features are still evolving. We’d love your input on how this vision resonates with your own workflow.

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