Interactive graph
The Knowledge Lifecycle
Table of Contents
Ideas move through capture, use, polish, fade, and archive - match effort to the stage.
Key Concept
- Raw capture gets tagged and dated - polish waits until reuse is real.
- Level 1: Write new ideas down with a label and date first - clean them up only when you need to use them again.
- Level 2: Raw capture gets tagged and dated; polish waits until reuse is real - fade is a signal to archive, not proof the idea was worthless.
- Level 3: Lifecycle thinking saves effort because polishing every spark burns time notes never repay.
- Level 4: Tag and date on capture; polish only when an idea re-enters a project - archive when fade says it is done.
- Level 5: Spend effort on polish only when an idea is in reuse - not when it is still raw capture; Note Maturity names the stages this lifecycle tracks.
- Fade is a signal to archive, not proof the idea was worthless.
- Spend effort on polish only when an idea is in reuse - not when it is still a raw capture.
- Note Maturity names the stages this lifecycle tracks.
Examples
- The new set play lives in “learning” for three weeks, graduates to “game plan,” then gets archived when we change offense.
- The school FAQ note started as a fleeting capture, got updated all semester, then moved to archive when the kid changed schools.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | Evergreen Notes | when stage-matched effort beats evergreen polish on every note |
| extends | Evergreen vs Fleeting Notes | Ideas move through stages - match your effort to where the note actually sits |
| extends | Note Maturity | Seedling → evergreen stages this note names |
