# Isolated notes are dead notes Notes that stay on paper, on a device, or in a system outside your knowledge base are nearly wasted effort. They live in isolation and die in isolation. The value of a note is not in writing it down. The value is in integrating it into a system where it can connect to other ideas. Whether you captured something on a [[reMarkable]], in a physical notebook, or on a napkin, the critical next step is always the same: transition those notes into digital form if they are not already, and integrate them into your knowledge base. If you skip this step, you will have to go back to the original book or device to find your discoveries and thoughts. That is friction you do not want. You do not want your ideas scattered across books, devices, and apps. You want them in your [[Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS)]], your [[Single Source of Truth (SSOT)|single source of truth]], ready to be used and leveraged. ## References - ## Related - [[Why you need a single source of truth for your PKM]] - [[Single Source of Truth in a PKM system]] - [[Knowledge capture must work in any context]] - [[Books are linear presentations of graph-structured knowledge]] - [[Atomic notes]] - [[Note-taking is a tool, not a goal]] - [[How I leverage my Notes with AI]]