How do I practice atomic notes?

The most direct way to practice atomic notes is through a focused exercise: Open your note system and find your five most recent notes. For each one, ask: does this note contain exactly one idea I could explain in a single sentence? If a note contains two or more distinct ideas, split it. Create one note per idea, give each a clear title that states the claim, and link them back to each other. You should end with more notes than you started with — and each one should be a standalone unit you could drop into any future argument.

Common pitfall: Writing notes that look atomic because they're short, but actually contain two ideas joined by 'and' or 'also.' The note 'Atomic notes improve retrieval and enable better writing' contains two distinct claims — one about findability, one about composition. Each deserves its own container because they connect to different arguments and different evidence. Length is not atomicity. A 500-word note exploring one concept in depth is more atomic than a 20-word note smuggling in two.

This practice connects to Phase 2 (Atomicity and Decomposition) — building it as a repeatable habit compounds over time.