---
aliases: ["Evergreen Note Writing"]
Is A: Procedure
Belongs to: "[[responsibility-learning]]"
Cadence: Weekly
Owner: "[[person-luca-rossi]]"
---
# Evergreen Note Writing

Evergreen notes are the building blocks of original thinking. Writing 1-2 per week forces you to process what you are reading, hearing, and observing into durable ideas that compound over time. This procedure supports [[responsibility-learning]] by turning passive consumption into active knowledge creation, and feeds directly into the content pipeline when notes mature into publishable essays. See [[on-consistency-in-creative-work]] for why this rhythm matters.

## Steps

- [ ] Review highlights and annotations from the past week's reading sessions (see [[procedure-weekly-reading-session]])
- [ ] Identify 1-2 ideas that feel genuinely interesting, surprising, or in tension with something you previously believed
- [ ] For each idea, write a clear, standalone note: one core claim supported by reasoning, evidence, or examples
- [ ] Connect the note to existing evergreen notes using wiki-links — look for patterns, contradictions, and extensions
- [ ] Add relevant tags and metadata so the note is discoverable in future searches
- [ ] Pressure-test the note: would this idea make sense to someone encountering it without context? If not, add the missing framing
- [ ] Track output against [[measure-evergreen-notes-created]] to maintain accountability

## Notes

- Quality over quantity. One well-developed note with clear thinking is worth more than three shallow observations. If you only write one note in a week, that is fine — as long as it is good.
- The best evergreen notes often come from the collision of two unrelated ideas. Pay attention to moments where a podcast conversation echoes something from a book, or where a business observation maps onto a fitness principle.
- Do not wait for ideas to feel "big enough." Many of the best notes start as a single sentence and grow through revisiting. Write the seed now; refine later.
- Revisit notes from 2-4 weeks ago during this session. Fresh distance often reveals whether an idea has legs or was just a passing enthusiasm.
- This practice directly feeds [[responsibility-content-production]] — the best newsletter essays start as evergreen notes that have been refined through connection and reflection. See [[newsletter-subject-lines]] and [[the-real-job-of-a-newsletter]] for how these notes eventually shape published work.
