Evergreen notes
Evergreen notes decompose complex ideas into atomic, titled concepts that become objects you can manipulate, combine, and stack—without holding them all in your head.
Evergreen notes transform ideas into discrete objects. Each note captures one concept with a concise, memorable title: "A company is a superorganism," "All input is error," "Writing is telepathy."
The Core Insight
By turning ideas into objects you can manipulate them, combine them, stack them. You don't need to hold them all in your head at the same time.
This reframing matters. Notes become building blocks rather than archives. The note "Creativity is combinatory uniqueness" can derive from "Everything is a remix"—ideas compound through connection.
What Makes a Note Evergreen
Atomic scope. One idea per note. The title alone should convey the concept.
Concept-oriented. Notes capture ideas you find interesting, not necessarily ones you endorse. They're objects for thinking with, not positions to defend.
Accumulating value. Unlike fleeting captures, evergreen notes grow richer as you link them to new contexts and refine their expression.
Origins
andy-matuschak coined the term "evergreen notes" to describe this style of knowledge work. The approach shares DNA with the Zettelkasten method detailed in how-to-take-smart-notes.
Related
This philosophy underpins how-i-use-obsidian, where Steph Ango applies these principles to his personal note-taking system. Both emphasize emergent structure through linking over imposed hierarchies—ideas explored further in building-a-second-brain-and-zettelkasten.