Just to save future people some time, this is by far the SIMPLEST and easiest video to follow to get started with Obsidian and building your own Zettlekasten. I started with this video, and nothing else I've watched all day really compares. A very practical place to start! I also deeply recommend Nick Milo (Linking Your Thinking) and his videos for amazing videos that get you onboarded fast. The only reason I rate this video above Milo's is that his vids are more instructional guides to using Obsidian efficiently, not about crafting an ideal workflow. Don't waste your day like me watching other videos, Artem and Nick's videos are all you need!
True. I only watch this video, proceed to clean my vault, setup again, start taking note. I have seen significant changes on how I used it now compared to before as I focusing more on writing note while templates and hotkeys handle most of the work. The references to the “fake note” is better than the tags imo since it will helps linking every related notes into one single node, and you can instantly see it in the graph view.
man I get everything up until 11:00 the most replayed part I don't know what it is, but it's like my brain shuts down when he talks about where to put the references or how they're automatically put in there. Like under references, he writes down where the idea came from but in his example, it just has his linked atomic habits so he's just linking atomic habits and references? I'm just confused because I thought the concept was like emerging links naturally rather than having to connect it through references manually? He creates a separate note for the atomic habits source bubble in the graph view and puts that in references, but I don't see how that just automatically collects all of the connected notes. Wouldn't you manually have to do that? I feel so lost cause I feel if I understand it, it would be helpful.
This is by far the best video on setting up a Zettelkasten in Obsidian. Over a year ago, this was one of the first videos I watched. Since then, I must have watched every video on the topic. I still find this video to be the most useful-very practical setup and actionable advice. I've gone through several (very different) "Second Brain" configurations, and the one I've settled on is essentially the same as this. Don't waste time with other videos or setups. This is all you need.
I have seen a lot of Zettelkasten how-to videos at this point. This is one of the best. I like how it is made by a guy that has actually used it for more than a couple weeks, and how it emphasizes keeping it simple and friction-free rather than showcasing a bunch of super refined, predefined "workflows" which I always found defied the purpose of the Zettelkasten. Great work!
I just started with obsidian and I started in a very traditional way of creating a bunch of useless folders, tags, structure that I didn't need. This is such a great video and I'm glad I caught it early.
That is a pretty clever way of using Obsidian and a Zettlekasten. In particular the "ghost notes" concept and the iterative growth of an idea one keeps thinking about as well as using the Command Palette to create new notes. I had to watch this a couple of times to understand the power of your workflow. To anyone finding this video that may be as equally dismissive as I was, I encourage you to re-watch and possibly write your ideas about it down :) Thanks for sharing, peace.
Agree that the ghost note idea is cool and works great. However, do you know how he uses the Reference notes folder and the Files folder for that matter too?
@@discobacon5160 he has another video where he talks about Reference note in more depth. My interpretation is as follows: first Files is simply the location where attachments are stored. When you insert an image into a note in Obsidian it will store that image file in your vault. You can choose this location in settings. Reference notes are used to store a reference to something you are consuming (book, paper, video). These are linked to an idea you may have had from that consumption.
@@discobacon5160 Adding more detail for Reference: 1. Use for organization and leave blank to link ideas related to the source (leverage local graph view). 2. Use as journal for notes as you consume input
Update 2023-05: templates and tags are on by default, the sliding tabs are built-in now. You also need to disable the extra title to use the template from the video, otherwise you get basically 3 titles - one small on the tab, one extra and one from the template. Disable by: Menu (left bottom corner) > [Appearance] tab > toggle [Show inline title]. The safe mode toggle looks different now, there's more explanation there. Looks like they've heard you Artem with these changes :) Thanks for the video! Just what I needed to start - couldn't wait to finish reading the whole "How to Take Smart Notes", had to start using it! This video helped. A lot :) The "do not complicate things" force should be strong with us - almost everywhere I look the examples of, say, templates for Zettelkasten are so overcomplicated, bringing friction to the system. However, I still need to get those sweet gradient titles :) Then it'll be a direct upgrade from Nuclino that I've been using while gravitating towards something like Zettelkasten before even knowing it exists (where have you been all these years?). There's one thing in this video that I can't handle as a programmer though: "Status:". That's a "Type:"! :) I've also added a type "question" as an experiment because keeping track of questions is essential for me (here "status: question" → "status: idea" would make sense though). So far I've been keeping them in my GTD system, but they belong here. Putting questions in titles requires to work around the limitation that "?" can't be a part of a title, but I wrote an AutoHotkey that inserts an almost identical, allowed character: #IfWinActive ahk_exe Obsidian.exe ^+?::Send {U+FF1F} ; [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[?] → "？" (FULLWIDTH QUESTION MARK) ^!/::Send {U+3033} ; [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[/] → "〳" (VERTICAL KANA REPEAT MARK UPPER HALF) ^+;::Send {U+A789} ; [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[;] → "꞉" (MODIFIER LETTER COLON) #IfWinActive I've seen glimpses of extremely interesting insight in your notes. Any hope you'll publish some of it via Obsidian Publish? That would be helpful to others (the drawback is probably that it'll bring some friction to your writing unless you're comfortable with adding to/changing something that's public).
Thanks for your comment! I don't get the idea behind status either, plus I not sure if everything stats as an idea, I know I can use other templates, but anyway I still dont get the status
You must turn on Templates under Core Plugins before you can specify Hotkeys for Templates. Took me a bit to figure out why I didn't have that option following the order it is presented in the video.
After watching like 20 videos on youtube about zettelkasten in Obsidian, I can confirm this is by far the best one. You covered most of the topics to start with Obsidian in very simple terms. Congrats!
I think this is the best video to send someone who's starting out with obsidian and note taking you go through everything and give enough fundamentals to start from! incredible!
100% the most straightforward and understandable walk through of Obsidian. I really appreciate it. It was first overwhelming but after a few watches I am starting to get it now. Thank you for the folder and template suggestions!
Super appreciative of the explanation of how Obsidian works under the hood. That removed some of the anxiety of diving into yet another productivity tool.
Excellent! I'm the "completely lost, don't know where to start" guy who has spent a week bouncing between Obsidian and Logseq putzing around with plugins and themes instead of getting my system started. This video just popped up on my TH-cam home page this morning and you may have just saved me! Doing this, I can just get started.
This is the only video I have seen so far that adequately explains what underpins this app and how it can be used. Well done, and thank you. Something for me to practice with while recovering from the floods in Australia.
Just what I was looking for-a simple Obsidian note-taking system based around Zettelkasten, suitable for beginners, and explained by someone with actual experience using it. Excellent work! Didn’t have to think twice about subscribing🙌🏼
I just stumbled upon Obsidian yesterday and was really frustrated that there was no video from someone who actually used it for more that a couple of weeks. Today I randomly watched your video on the logarithmic nature of the brain and by luck saw this video on obsidian. By far the best advice to use it productivly! Thanks.
I'm glad your video showed up in my feed. I just started using Obsidian. I stopped everything I was doing and recreated my system to match yours. It makes sense and the simplification brings relief. Thanks.
Artem, this is incredible. As soon as you mentioned the MOC it all made sense to me. I thought making individual folders would make my workflow easier, but in reality it made it more convoluted. Thank you lots. Cheers!
Same, I've watched a few videos trying to figure out Obsidian and kept seeing MOC all around. Didn't really grasp the concept but it's making sense thanks to this video. This man has an excellent way of explaining things.
This is probably this best video to show some one that is new to Zettelkasten but still wants to get some power out of Obsidian. It's simple to get into and build on. Amazing video!
Because I just went looking for it: The sliding panes plugin is now integrated into Obsidian by default. It's in the arrow menu in the top right, "stack tabs" To open a new note while in the view, you can either right click and "open in new tab" or command + click
Big thumbs up - concise and to the point. Just what I expected from a fellow bassist. ;-) Thank you so much - instead of watching a 4 hour course you gave me a great starting point to act now.
I was browsing around to see how other people setup their Zettelkasten workflow (they really suck). Among all Zettelkasten videos, yours is the only making thing simple and practical. You setup is exactly like mine (im also a researcher). The core idea is to let the knowledges emerge naturally into clusters or sub-clusters around specific topic (MOC in this case). Keeping track of linking between MOCs make it much much easier to overviewing and developing new ideas. Much love ❤
Wow this video helped me so much! 1. It helped me kick off the obsidian+zettel as I had a decision fatigue and didn't really know how to start. Your folder structure + simple template and plugin was awesome. 2. Before I would use #tags as Tags rather than the empty notes as you are using. This part really helped allot as tags in zettel and tags in obsidian carry different meanings, it just clicked. After hearing about MOC here I look around for other videos on it, and I have to say that I like your approach where your MOCs are organic and happen as a consequence of your interests and ideas rather than other way around. Thanks man, subbed.
I'm in the same decision fatigue after watching like 10 Zettel + Obsidian videos lol, finally settled for this structure. Could you elaborate more on the difference in the meaning of tags in Obsidian and Zettel?
@@jotaporras Well as you can see in the video tags (#idea) are not used as zettel tags instead the idea is to use [[zetel_tag_name]] instead, that way the tag can lead to another zettel which is the point and it makes it much easer to structure. Lets say I have a Zettel that is called Next Action, since it is a GTD thing I will add a [[GTD]] tag. And since there is no GTD.md at the moment it will be grayed out, but when I am using another Zettel, for example, "GTD Project" I can also tag it with [[GTD]] as it already is used in another document. And when I decide to have a MOC I can just naturally do it by creating a Zettel called GTD. If I have done this with tags (#gtd) then I would not have that ability. This will make much more sense as you start working in this way.
This video by Artem was very practical in its recommendations (and it is not the first one I have seen). Is clear that he is a serious user, and not one who put it to use for a week to make only a review. It seems to me very sincere and judicious. Thanks
Thanks Artem for this and your first Zettelkasten video. You really demystified it, gave super clear examples that showed me what to do. I found it really helpful to see full examples of one of your Notes, with the links embedded into the normal text. That was a game changer. It was so helpful to see your setup, I could follow it and in ten minutes I was on my way. I've just spent 3 days putting in my first 100 notes and you're the one that helped me get there 🙂
Thank you Artem! I am just starting a PhD and looking to set up a Zettelkasten workflow. This is the most helpful, practical and entertaining video on the subject I have seen to date. Please keep up the good work. 😃
I ended up looking into Zettelkasten because trying to make future-proof structure always got in my way, and just like you say, the premade Zettelkasten setups presented the same problem. Thank you for the great video!
I'd like to tell you something: if think you are one of the youtuer with the biggest potential I know....you have less than 6k subscribers and yet thank to you I discovered Research Rabbit, Obsidian and One amazing concept about neuroscience....THANK YOU. And I'd also like to point out that all my friends and colleagues that saw your channels and video (after I showed them eheh) think the same... so pls, PLEASE don't give up and keep sharing great content and advices. We believe in you
I would call this the most reasonable Obsidian video on YT. Clear practical examples of both how to set up the environment and how to use it, keeping everything simple! Moreover, you nention how to adapt to personal needs.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've tried to use Obsidian in the past but found it overwhelming and essentially gave up on it. After watching your tutorial and setting my vault up in this way I feel like there is some structure to my notes and I feel that I can make this work for me.
Artem, you hit the nail on the head. Great video. Thanks for boiling down hundreds of videos and thousands of ideas into K.I.S.S. mode: Keep It Simple Stupid.
What makes MOCs so powerful in Obsidian is you can also use the `aliases` feature to give your MOC multiple names so when you [[Link]] to it, you won't have to worry about accidentally creating duplicate tags (e.g., "Canines", "Dogs", "Canids")
Thank you very much for this video Artem. I went back to school to work towards an undergraduate degree, but my research work is clustered around conceptualizations that I may bring into graduate studies. This will help me collect and build on my ideas as I progress.
best video on creating a simple workflow that also works great for students and researchers! i find that most workflows require more time in decisions and thinking about structure more than just doing something.. this is bare bones and that‘s great! thank you
Hey artem! for me you were the best discovery of this second half of 2021. I am a phd student from brazil, and i'm sooo happy to have found your channel. you are so smart and speak about stuff in a way that is so easy to follow. Keep up the amazing job dude, your video on neuron manifolds was a fucking bop. amazing.
@Malicos omg ahahaha I just saw your reply. Based on my commentary history the best discovery on the first half of that year was a sci-channel called KORANOS. Also Arca was a musician that i was pretty into at that time of the year ahahahahahah
Really helpful, thank you Artem! In particular, I like the way you treated categories as an emergent property, & showed how to do that practically with ghost tags.
Just another guy that didn't use the Zettelkasten method as the other tutorials on youtube were not clear enough for me... Until now. Thank you very much, I will amend my obsidian structure to give this method a try
I had to come back to this video to set up ZK on my new work laptop. This is still the best and clearest 'getting started' video on the topic. Thank you.
Just amazing. I'm starting a university master and I wanted a solid yet simple method to organize my notes, summarize bibliography and link everything. Thank you so much for the clear explanation, I'll start using this system and I'm curious to know how it will look like in a few months.
@@FEZ_gg Not so good, I have to say I made the mistake of creating notes that were way too long (a single note for a full day lecture!). I was using Obsidian to take real time notes during the lectures, and although it was a fast method, I didn't have the time to review everything and re-organize it afterwards into small atomic notes with my thoughts/links over certain topics. I should have taken the notes with a text editor like Google Docs and only later start the process of creating notes in Obsidian - after having reviewed and summarized the topics.
@@greggggg Ah, that's a shame. I haven't been in a class since I started using Obsidian so I haven't had a chance to practice lecture notes. I have been using it for book notes. What I do is when reading, I place small bookmarks next to quotes that I deem to be important or interesting. I don't take any notes until I'm done with the chapter. Then I create a note for the chapter and use 2 headers to split the note into sections. One section will hold all the relevant quotes I bookmarked, and the other will be my own personal notes, with links created for anything I want to remember beyond reading the book. I had planned to use a similar structure of reference notes vs my own notes whenever I got into a lecture. That being said I didn't take the sheer size of a lecture into account, since I've never been in a full-day lecture myself. Regardless, looking back at the notes and rewriting/summarizing them in some form later seems like the key to properly break them down into smaller notes for future use.
This was really concise and informative. I've been using Obsidian for a couple years now and realized I haven't been utilizing it's features completely. The Zettlekasten system was also eye-opening. Might give it a go! Thanks Artem!
0:50 as a noob, I totally agree with how that comes across. I'll watch the rest of this 15 minute tutorial, instead of or at least before the 4 hour introductions I've seen in my TH-cam search results.
Thank you! When I first heard about Obsidian I also thought that I just need to write notes and eventually the app will connect those ideas for me as I link to other notes. But upon watching tutorials and saw how they use many folders etc, Obsidian doesn't feel that different from other note-taking app. Now that I saw your video, I can really focus on building my knowledge wiki instead of worrying about the setup.
I was struggling on organizing information that came from courses or similarly massive content. This organization scheme was just what I needed. It converts Zettelkasten in a personal encyclopedia and does not have repeated content. It build upon itself!
Great Video Artem. Totally agree: All those videos with complicated workflows just created a bunch of nods in my brain... So sticking with SIMPLICITY is king. Not only with the Plugins, but also with the folders and the templates. As Sonke Ahrens puts it, in "How to take smart notes": "Most people try to reduce complexity by separating what they have into smaller stacks, piles or separate folders. They sort their notes by topics and sub-topics, which makes it look less complex, but quickly becomes very complicated. Plus, it reduces the likelihood of building and finding surprising connections between the notes themselves, which means a trade-off between its usability and usefulness." Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for this video. Your initial description was just too fitting to how I felt. I saw so many videos where people presented these very intricate workflows but I could not help then to feel overwhelmed. Your focus on simplicity was really refreshing.
I know you posted this a while ago, but I found this very helpful, starting my new college adventure. I needed a comprehensive, and note-taking system that worked better. I found this very easy to follow and set-up using your guide, with a few modifications in the app. I have started using your four folder system currently and can't wait to start taking notes and learning new things.
Thank you for this! I know I'm just adding to what everyone else already said, but this was exactly the kind of concise, no-boilerplate video I was looking for. Excited to try this out!
For people who wonder what the status: #idea means: I believe Artem use Status: #idea to denote this particular note/zettel/entry is a single idea. Some might call it an atomic idea, a building block of this system. We can deliberately link one idea to another if we see their important relatedness and believe future self might benefit from seeing such relatedness. However, if many ideas we entered comes from a book we read, we might not want to link all the individual idea to each other because it might not be useful to do so except for organization purpose. But there is some kind of relationship between all these ideas as they come from one book. We could use tag, but it doesn't show the relationship on the graph. Thus, creating a note/zettel/entry that is Status: #book to include all the individual ideas we derive from the book can serve this organizational purpose. This will result to forming a hub on the graph. You can think of this #book entry as a table of content, and some call it Map of Content (MOC) in the zettelkasten world. And it doesn't has to be #book. You can name it #Music if you derive ideas from a piece of music and want to create a parent note to tie those ideas, or #Movie , etc.
Great instruction, not deterministic, but delivered with humility and grace. Just starting this system so all seems rather daunting at present. Time (summer break of 5 months)and not falling into wormholes is the key, thanks for reminders!
Thank you! I've played around with an analog zettelkasten recently -- and it was very similar to what I intuitively did nearly 3 decades ago! But I couldn't figure out how to get my analog notes into a usable digital format. A friend recommended Obsidian, but I was intimidated by markdown. Between your video and another one this week, I have my Obsidian / Smart Notes / Zettelkasten ready. Now I'm figuring out my workflow. . .
Thank you. yes, thank you to be clear and objective. Even if you are not speaking in my native language, you gave me the tools to start Obsidian and Zettelkasten without being overwhelmed.
Really well done! I’ve watched many Obsidian Zettelkasten videos now. (Also an art of procrastination). The thing I really loved about how you structured your notes isn’t just the simplicity but the manner in which your structure implements the exact philosophy of the Zettelkasten system. I just finished reading “How to Take Smart Notes” -- what you describe is exactly that system and it operates in a kind of automatic user proof system. What you’ve accomplished here is really quite something. I guess the only thing I would add to the presentation to make this structure work is the regular habit of reviewing the notes on a frequent basis to review ideas and look for links between ideas as mentioned in the book. Speaking of reviewing notes, is that something that is part of your regular routine? If so, do have a method of reviewing notes and looking for links? Your tip about using command O to create a note . . . Also genius. :) Thanks a lot. Very Sincerely.
That's what I was thinking too. In the original Zettelkasten method you review your fleeting notes and transform them into permanent notes, but this part wasn't mentioned in the video. I reckon you can use two different tags for the Status of the notes, instead of just #idea. Of course there might be a better way to do so.
Instead of reviewing notes, i feel memorizing concepts (i.e the Why of something) is more efficient. A spaced repetition software like Anki helps me here.
Thanks for this video. It's very educational and as said before here in the comments an easy-to-follow instruction to start with Obsidian and Zettelkasten. Also - I simply love the name you gave yours.
Dear Sir. I come accross your videos too latee. This is by far the best, easiest and most pratical guide I have seen for Zettelkasten. May I ask you a question, whether this system is still flawed and there should be better ways/functions to improve this? Looking forward to others’ comments as well. Thank you all!
Loved the detail in the video! It's been a couple of years since the release, I would love to hear about what you're system is looking like these days given you're still using Obsidian.
Gracias! La verdad que la mayoría de los videos que había visto son exactamente como los describiste, ninguno me animaba a empezar porque creaban cosas que a mi parecer eran sumamente superfluas y que iban a enlentecer mi intención. Así que, gracias por todo, y manos a la obra! EDIT: My only critic (is just a matter of taste): why do people that talk about taking notes and obsidian, etc. always read the same books... Almost every one of that books is perfectly clear: the ideas, structure, relations, etc. I will like to see something more not precooked books. I mean those books are recipes. Im not saying that are not good books. Anyway, again, i really like your video, and thanks for share your knowledge!
Why does a chef go to Culinary School? Or read recipe books? Any genius stands on the shoulders of those that went before. So, researching what already exists is an easy way to familiarise oneself with the territory, but it does not preclude experimentation in any way. But it does reduce the chance of wasting time and effort in going down experimental cul de sacs that take one nowhere near where you want to go. But I think I understand what your point in that Familiarity breeds Contempt in that one might miss an interesting gap to explore. If you are into music see Adam Neely's latest video about Adele's song 'Rolling In The Deep' subverting professional musicians' hearing what is actually being sung: th-cam.com/video/IUfJZJofdj8/w-d-xo.html. Have fun!
Not sure if you will see this, but it would be nice to have a downloadable example of the kind of notes in action. A how-to instructional video like that only does so much for me, but if I can explore it myself, I'm more likely to understand it deeper.
Superb video explaining Obsidian and Zettelkasten. Will be coming back to it for sure. What I am yet to see, though, is a real world example of how the Zettelkasten method has yielded any new ideas or truly useful connections and insights. Especially in areas other than productivity and related activities. Of course it is possible that people don’t share that kind of thing, or, maybe I missed it. Have you seen any examples. Thanks!
I have always wondered how to make a system in Obsidian to write a small research article/report. I seem to be a bit confused in how the atomic ideas and references can 'combine' to develop an argument. The video at certain points goes too fast to understand especially where you are explaining the MOC concept. Really hope that you make another detailed video on the same topic as your approach seems really good (practical and doable).
Artem, congratulations on the video! You’re able to make simple what most have made complicated. Your video opened my mind on how simple the system can be. I would also like to understand how is the decision making on when a new folder (Out of the Zettelkasten) needs to be created.
Familiar with obsidian and looking to implement zettlekasten in my note taking… loved your video and system, certainly will draw on this as I start my system.
This is wild because I'm a huge fan on your computational neuroscience videos and I just stumbled upon this video because I recently started using Obsidian. I guess we have a lot in common!
Just to save future people some time, this is by far the SIMPLEST and easiest video to follow to get started with Obsidian and building your own Zettlekasten. I started with this video, and nothing else I've watched all day really compares. A very practical place to start! I also deeply recommend Nick Milo (Linking Your Thinking) and his videos for amazing videos that get you onboarded fast. The only reason I rate this video above Milo's is that his vids are more instructional guides to using Obsidian efficiently, not about crafting an ideal workflow.
Don't waste your day like me watching other videos, Artem and Nick's videos are all you need!
Thank you for saving my time Dezziex!
True. I only watch this video, proceed to clean my vault, setup again, start taking note. I have seen significant changes on how I used it now compared to before as I focusing more on writing note while templates and hotkeys handle most of the work. The references to the “fake note” is better than the tags imo since it will helps linking every related notes into one single node, and you can instantly see it in the graph view.
This is what I needed to hear :) thanks!
man I get everything up until 11:00 the most replayed part I don't know what it is, but it's like my brain shuts down when he talks about where to put the references or how they're automatically put in there.
Like under references, he writes down where the idea came from but in his example, it just has his linked atomic habits so he's just linking atomic habits and references?
I'm just confused because I thought the concept was like emerging links naturally rather than having to connect it through references manually?
He creates a separate note for the atomic habits source bubble in the graph view and puts that in references, but I don't see how that just automatically collects all of the connected notes. Wouldn't you manually have to do that?
I feel so lost cause I feel if I understand it, it would be helpful.
Bud I haven’t watched the video yet… but before I even got here your thumbnail just screamed ‘I have a mysterious European accent’
This is by far the best video on setting up a Zettelkasten in Obsidian. Over a year ago, this was one of the first videos I watched. Since then, I must have watched every video on the topic. I still find this video to be the most useful-very practical setup and actionable advice.
I've gone through several (very different) "Second Brain" configurations, and the one I've settled on is essentially the same as this.
Don't waste time with other videos or setups. This is all you need.
I have seen a lot of Zettelkasten how-to videos at this point. This is one of the best. I like how it is made by a guy that has actually used it for more than a couple weeks, and how it emphasizes keeping it simple and friction-free rather than showcasing a bunch of super refined, predefined "workflows" which I always found defied the purpose of the Zettelkasten.
Great work!
Agreed, this was a nice and organic rundown on a "living system".
Yeah i found this is more practical
I just started with obsidian and I started in a very traditional way of creating a bunch of useless folders, tags, structure that I didn't need. This is such a great video and I'm glad I caught it early.
That is a pretty clever way of using Obsidian and a Zettlekasten. In particular the "ghost notes" concept and the iterative growth of an idea one keeps thinking about as well as using the Command Palette to create new notes. I had to watch this a couple of times to understand the power of your workflow. To anyone finding this video that may be as equally dismissive as I was, I encourage you to re-watch and possibly write your ideas about it down :) Thanks for sharing, peace.
Agree that the ghost note idea is cool and works great. However, do you know how he uses the Reference notes folder and the Files folder for that matter too?
@@discobacon5160 he has another video where he talks about Reference note in more depth. My interpretation is as follows: first Files is simply the location where attachments are stored. When you insert an image into a note in Obsidian it will store that image file in your vault. You can choose this location in settings. Reference notes are used to store a reference to something you are consuming (book, paper, video). These are linked to an idea you may have had from that consumption.
@@discobacon5160 Adding more detail for Reference: 1. Use for organization and leave blank to link ideas related to the source (leverage local graph view). 2. Use as journal for notes as you consume input
Update 2023-05: templates and tags are on by default, the sliding tabs are built-in now. You also need to disable the extra title to use the template from the video, otherwise you get basically 3 titles - one small on the tab, one extra and one from the template. Disable by: Menu (left bottom corner) > [Appearance] tab > toggle [Show inline title]. The safe mode toggle looks different now, there's more explanation there.
Looks like they've heard you Artem with these changes :) Thanks for the video! Just what I needed to start - couldn't wait to finish reading the
whole "How to Take Smart Notes", had to start using it! This video helped. A lot :) The "do not complicate things" force should be strong with us - almost everywhere I look the examples of, say, templates for Zettelkasten are so overcomplicated, bringing friction to the system. However, I still need to get those sweet gradient titles :) Then it'll be a direct upgrade from Nuclino that I've been using while gravitating towards something like Zettelkasten before even knowing it exists (where have you been all these years?).
There's one thing in this video that I can't handle as a programmer though: "Status:". That's a "Type:"! :) I've also added a type "question" as an experiment because keeping track of questions is essential for me (here "status: question" → "status: idea" would make sense though). So far I've been keeping them in my GTD system, but they belong here. Putting questions in titles requires to work around the limitation that "?" can't be a part of a title, but I wrote an AutoHotkey that inserts an almost identical, allowed character:
#IfWinActive ahk_exe Obsidian.exe
^+?::Send {U+FF1F} ; [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[?] → "？" (FULLWIDTH QUESTION MARK)
^!/::Send {U+3033} ; [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[/] → "〳" (VERTICAL KANA REPEAT MARK UPPER HALF)
^+;::Send {U+A789} ; [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[;] → "꞉" (MODIFIER LETTER COLON)
#IfWinActive
I've seen glimpses of extremely interesting insight in your notes. Any hope you'll publish some of it via Obsidian Publish? That would be helpful to others (the drawback is probably that it'll bring some friction to your writing unless you're comfortable with adding to/changing something that's public).
Thanks for your comment! I don't get the idea behind status either, plus I not sure if everything stats as an idea, I know I can use other templates, but anyway I still dont get the status
thanks!
Thank you for this! Very helpful for someone just starting in 2024.
Sincere Thanks to Artem Kirsanov for his exceptionally clear introduction to setting up Obsidian !
You must turn on Templates under Core Plugins before you can specify Hotkeys for Templates. Took me a bit to figure out why I didn't have that option following the order it is presented in the video.
Thank you! I was going trough this exact problem just now.
God bless you Larry
Thank you, thank you!
I was about to go nuts finding templates under hotkeys until I found your directions. Thank you.
Thank you :) .
After watching like 20 videos on youtube about zettelkasten in Obsidian, I can confirm this is by far the best one. You covered most of the topics to start with Obsidian in very simple terms. Congrats!
I think this is the best video to send someone who's starting out with obsidian and note taking
you go through everything and give enough fundamentals to start from!
incredible!
100% the most straightforward and understandable walk through of Obsidian. I really appreciate it. It was first overwhelming but after a few watches I am starting to get it now. Thank you for the folder and template suggestions!
Super appreciative of the explanation of how Obsidian works under the hood. That removed some of the anxiety of diving into yet another productivity tool.
Excellent! I'm the "completely lost, don't know where to start" guy who has spent a week bouncing between Obsidian and Logseq putzing around with plugins and themes instead of getting my system started. This video just popped up on my TH-cam home page this morning and you may have just saved me! Doing this, I can just get started.
Наконец-то. Человек в своём уме.
This is the only video I have seen so far that adequately explains what underpins this app and how it can be used. Well done, and thank you. Something for me to practice with while recovering from the floods in Australia.
Just what I was looking for-a simple Obsidian note-taking system based around Zettelkasten, suitable for beginners, and explained by someone with actual experience using it. Excellent work! Didn’t have to think twice about subscribing🙌🏼
I just stumbled upon Obsidian yesterday and was really frustrated that there was no video from someone who actually used it for more that a couple of weeks. Today I randomly watched your video on the logarithmic nature of the brain and by luck saw this video on obsidian. By far the best advice to use it productivly! Thanks.
I'm glad your video showed up in my feed. I just started using Obsidian. I stopped everything I was doing and recreated my system to match yours. It makes sense and the simplification brings relief. Thanks.
Artem, this is incredible. As soon as you mentioned the MOC it all made sense to me. I thought making individual folders would make my workflow easier, but in reality it made it more convoluted. Thank you lots. Cheers!
Same, I've watched a few videos trying to figure out Obsidian and kept seeing MOC all around. Didn't really grasp the concept but it's making sense thanks to this video. This man has an excellent way of explaining things.
This is probably this best video to show some one that is new to Zettelkasten but still wants to get some power out of Obsidian. It's simple to get into and build on. Amazing video!
Because I just went looking for it: The sliding panes plugin is now integrated into Obsidian by default. It's in the arrow menu in the top right, "stack tabs"
To open a new note while in the view, you can either right click and "open in new tab" or command + click
Thank you mate!
features from Admonitions have also been implemented natively with the Callouts feature.
Big thumbs up - concise and to the point. Just what I expected from a fellow bassist. ;-) Thank you so much - instead of watching a 4 hour course you gave me a great starting point to act now.
Thank you!
Though I'm sorry to disappoint you, the background is my girlfriend's apartment - she is the one who plays bass, not me ;)
I was browsing around to see how other people setup their Zettelkasten workflow (they really suck). Among all Zettelkasten videos, yours is the only making thing simple and practical. You setup is exactly like mine (im also a researcher). The core idea is to let the knowledges emerge naturally into clusters or sub-clusters around specific topic (MOC in this case). Keeping track of linking between MOCs make it much much easier to overviewing and developing new ideas.
Much love ❤
Wow this video helped me so much!
1. It helped me kick off the obsidian+zettel as I had a decision fatigue and didn't really know how to start. Your folder structure + simple template and plugin was awesome.
2. Before I would use #tags as Tags rather than the empty notes as you are using. This part really helped allot as tags in zettel and tags in obsidian carry different meanings, it just clicked.
After hearing about MOC here I look around for other videos on it, and I have to say that I like your approach where your MOCs are organic and happen as a consequence of your interests and ideas rather than other way around.
Thanks man, subbed.
I'm in the same decision fatigue after watching like 10 Zettel + Obsidian videos lol, finally settled for this structure. Could you elaborate more on the difference in the meaning of tags in Obsidian and Zettel?
@@jotaporras
Well as you can see in the video tags (#idea) are not used as zettel tags instead the idea is to use [[zetel_tag_name]] instead, that way the tag can lead to another zettel which is the point and it makes it much easer to structure.
Lets say I have a Zettel that is called Next Action, since it is a GTD thing I will add a [[GTD]] tag. And since there is no GTD.md at the moment it will be grayed out, but when I am using another Zettel, for example, "GTD Project" I can also tag it with [[GTD]] as it already is used in another document. And when I decide to have a MOC I can just naturally do it by creating a Zettel called GTD.
If I have done this with tags (#gtd) then I would not have that ability. This will make much more sense as you start working in this way.
@torocat Glad to be of service, I really have to reitterate just how much this helped me for Obsidian to take wings.
thanks for a simply explanation of an abstract concept (Zettlekasten) and a somewhat complex tool. By far the best on TH-cam for this topic!
This video by Artem was very practical in its recommendations (and it is not the first one I have seen). Is clear that he is a serious user, and not one who put it to use for a week to make only a review.
It seems to me very sincere and judicious.
Thanks
The intro scene on the absurd and hilarious complexity of some of these 'systems' people have made is sooo on point.
Thanks Artem for this and your first Zettelkasten video. You really demystified it, gave super clear examples that showed me what to do. I found it really helpful to see full examples of one of your Notes, with the links embedded into the normal text. That was a game changer. It was so helpful to see your setup, I could follow it and in ten minutes I was on my way. I've just spent 3 days putting in my first 100 notes and you're the one that helped me get there 🙂
Thank you Artem! I am just starting a PhD and looking to set up a Zettelkasten workflow. This is the most helpful, practical and entertaining video on the subject I have seen to date. Please keep up the good work. 😃
I ended up looking into Zettelkasten because trying to make future-proof structure always got in my way, and just like you say, the premade Zettelkasten setups presented the same problem. Thank you for the great video!
I'd like to tell you something: if think you are one of the youtuer with the biggest potential I know....you have less than 6k subscribers and yet thank to you I discovered Research Rabbit, Obsidian and One amazing concept about neuroscience....THANK YOU. And I'd also like to point out that all my friends and colleagues that saw your channels and video (after I showed them eheh) think the same... so pls, PLEASE don't give up and keep sharing great content and advices. We believe in you
I would call this the most reasonable Obsidian video on YT. Clear practical examples of both how to set up the environment and how to use it, keeping everything simple! Moreover, you nention how to adapt to personal needs.
You saved me from losing my wits. This just works, I can already tell. Other creators seem to just show off their complicated systems.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've tried to use Obsidian in the past but found it overwhelming and essentially gave up on it. After watching your tutorial and setting my vault up in this way I feel like there is some structure to my notes and I feel that I can make this work for me.
Artem, you hit the nail on the head. Great video. Thanks for boiling down hundreds of videos and thousands of ideas into K.I.S.S. mode: Keep It Simple Stupid.
What makes MOCs so powerful in Obsidian is you can also use the `aliases` feature to give your MOC multiple names so when you [[Link]] to it, you won't have to worry about accidentally creating duplicate tags (e.g., "Canines", "Dogs", "Canids")
How can you do that?
Thank you very much for this video Artem. I went back to school to work towards an undergraduate degree, but my research work is clustered around conceptualizations that I may bring into graduate studies. This will help me collect and build on my ideas as I progress.
best video on creating a simple workflow that also works great for students and researchers! i find that most workflows require more time in decisions and thinking about structure more than just doing something.. this is bare bones and that‘s great! thank you
I am a complete beginninger in this. This the best video I seen so far on the subject. Thank you!
Hey artem! for me you were the best discovery of this second half of 2021. I am a phd student from brazil, and i'm sooo happy to have found your channel. you are so smart and speak about stuff in a way that is so easy to follow. Keep up the amazing job dude, your video on neuron manifolds was a fucking bop. amazing.
please share the best discovery for the first half of 2021... don't leave us hanging!
@Malicos omg ahahaha I just saw your reply. Based on my commentary history the best discovery on the first half of that year was a sci-channel called KORANOS. Also Arca was a musician that i was pretty into at that time of the year ahahahahahah
Really helpful, thank you Artem! In particular, I like the way you treated categories as an emergent property, & showed how to do that practically with ghost tags.
Best video I've ever watched about Obsidian. I'm really thankful for this content
Just another guy that didn't use the Zettelkasten method as the other tutorials on youtube were not clear enough for me... Until now. Thank you very much, I will amend my obsidian structure to give this method a try
Thank you very much I've been drowning in random ideas and notes on paper and on the computer this will hopefully make my life better.
Thank you for this video!
It really helped me set up and organize my own system.
Even 2 years later it's still really helpful ^^
I had to come back to this video to set up ZK on my new work laptop. This is still the best and clearest 'getting started' video on the topic. Thank you.
Just amazing. I'm starting a university master and I wanted a solid yet simple method to organize my notes, summarize bibliography and link everything. Thank you so much for the clear explanation, I'll start using this system and I'm curious to know how it will look like in a few months.
Same here :D
Although I'm finishing said MSc. I got an extension to do just the Dissertation this year :D
I strongly recommend you use Zotero as well (there's also a video on that)
"I'm curious to know how it will look like in a few months."
It's been a year since this comment, so how has it gone?
@@FEZ_gg Not so good, I have to say I made the mistake of creating notes that were way too long (a single note for a full day lecture!). I was using Obsidian to take real time notes during the lectures, and although it was a fast method, I didn't have the time to review everything and re-organize it afterwards into small atomic notes with my thoughts/links over certain topics. I should have taken the notes with a text editor like Google Docs and only later start the process of creating notes in Obsidian - after having reviewed and summarized the topics.
@@greggggg Ah, that's a shame. I haven't been in a class since I started using Obsidian so I haven't had a chance to practice lecture notes.
I have been using it for book notes. What I do is when reading, I place small bookmarks next to quotes that I deem to be important or interesting. I don't take any notes until I'm done with the chapter. Then I create a note for the chapter and use 2 headers to split the note into sections. One section will hold all the relevant quotes I bookmarked, and the other will be my own personal notes, with links created for anything I want to remember beyond reading the book.
I had planned to use a similar structure of reference notes vs my own notes whenever I got into a lecture. That being said I didn't take the sheer size of a lecture into account, since I've never been in a full-day lecture myself. Regardless, looking back at the notes and rewriting/summarizing them in some form later seems like the key to properly break them down into smaller notes for future use.
This was really concise and informative. I've been using Obsidian for a couple years now and realized I haven't been utilizing it's features completely. The Zettlekasten system was also eye-opening. Might give it a go! Thanks Artem!
0:50 as a noob, I totally agree with how that comes across. I'll watch the rest of this 15 minute tutorial, instead of or at least before the 4 hour introductions I've seen in my TH-cam search results.
I do think that it is important to be simple, frictionless and also, fun.
Im glad to see this and its similar to my beliefs.
Thank you! When I first heard about Obsidian I also thought that I just need to write notes and eventually the app will connect those ideas for me as I link to other notes. But upon watching tutorials and saw how they use many folders etc, Obsidian doesn't feel that different from other note-taking app. Now that I saw your video, I can really focus on building my knowledge wiki instead of worrying about the setup.
I was struggling on organizing information that came from courses or similarly massive content. This organization scheme was just what I needed. It converts Zettelkasten in a personal encyclopedia and does not have repeated content. It build upon itself!
Great Video Artem.
Totally agree: All those videos with complicated workflows just created a bunch of nods in my brain...
So sticking with SIMPLICITY is king.
Not only with the Plugins, but also with the folders and the templates.
As Sonke Ahrens puts it, in "How to take smart notes":
"Most people try to reduce complexity by separating what they have into smaller stacks, piles or separate folders. They sort their notes by topics and sub-topics, which makes it look less complex, but quickly becomes very complicated. Plus, it reduces the likelihood of building and finding surprising connections between the notes themselves, which means a trade-off between its usability and usefulness."
Keep up the great work!
Hands down the best video for zettelkasten I've ever seen
The ideia of using a "ghost" note as a tag is just genius
The best part is that the graph view is beautiful and useful!
This is by far the simplest and most valuable video I've found on this matter. Congrats Artem! 👏👏👏
Best Zettelkasten video. Period.
Thank you so much for this video.
Your initial description was just too fitting to how I felt. I saw so many videos where people presented these very intricate workflows but I could not help then to feel overwhelmed.
Your focus on simplicity was really refreshing.
Wow. I’m so glad I found this. It looks like it’s such a compatible note system for how I approach learning and life in general.
Thank you for this!
This is the most useful video about zettelkasten i ever see. As well as the rest of the channel
I know you posted this a while ago, but I found this very helpful, starting my new college adventure. I needed a comprehensive, and note-taking system that worked better. I found this very easy to follow and set-up using your guide, with a few modifications in the app. I have started using your four folder system currently and can't wait to start taking notes and learning new things.
Thank you for this! I know I'm just adding to what everyone else already said, but this was exactly the kind of concise, no-boilerplate video I was looking for. Excited to try this out!
For people who wonder what the status: #idea means: I believe Artem use Status: #idea to denote this particular note/zettel/entry is a single idea. Some might call it an atomic idea, a building block of this system. We can deliberately link one idea to another if we see their important relatedness and believe future self might benefit from seeing such relatedness. However, if many ideas we entered comes from a book we read, we might not want to link all the individual idea to each other because it might not be useful to do so except for organization purpose. But there is some kind of relationship between all these ideas as they come from one book. We could use tag, but it doesn't show the relationship on the graph. Thus, creating a note/zettel/entry that is Status: #book to include all the individual ideas we derive from the book can serve this organizational purpose. This will result to forming a hub on the graph. You can think of this #book entry as a table of content, and some call it Map of Content (MOC) in the zettelkasten world. And it doesn't has to be #book. You can name it #Music if you derive ideas from a piece of music and want to create a parent note to tie those ideas, or #Movie , etc.
You can enable tags in a Graph view so it will help to realise your new MOCs
Great instruction, not deterministic, but delivered with humility and grace. Just starting this system so all seems rather daunting at present. Time (summer break of 5 months)and not falling into wormholes is the key, thanks for reminders!
More power to you 👍
Likely the most useful and accessible Zettelkasten / Obsidian video I've seen.
Oh, and great-looking bass, there.
Thank you! I've played around with an analog zettelkasten recently -- and it was very similar to what I intuitively did nearly 3 decades ago! But I couldn't figure out how to get my analog notes into a usable digital format. A friend recommended Obsidian, but I was intimidated by markdown. Between your video and another one this week, I have my Obsidian / Smart Notes / Zettelkasten ready. Now I'm figuring out my workflow. . .
Thank you. yes, thank you to be clear and objective. Even if you are not speaking in my native language, you gave me the tools to start Obsidian and Zettelkasten without being overwhelmed.
Really well done! I’ve watched many Obsidian Zettelkasten videos now. (Also an art of procrastination). The thing I really loved about how you structured your notes isn’t just the simplicity but the manner in which your structure implements the exact philosophy of the Zettelkasten system.
I just finished reading “How to Take Smart Notes” -- what you describe is exactly that system and it operates in a kind of automatic user proof system. What you’ve accomplished here is really quite something. I guess the only thing I would add to the presentation to make this structure work is the regular habit of reviewing the notes on a frequent basis to review ideas and look for links between ideas as mentioned in the book.
Speaking of reviewing notes, is that something that is part of your regular routine? If so, do have a method of reviewing notes and looking for links?
Your tip about using command O to create a note . . . Also genius. :)
Thanks a lot. Very Sincerely.
Have you found any methodology to go about reviewing the notes? Thanks for the idea though 🔥
That's what I was thinking too. In the original Zettelkasten method you review your fleeting notes and transform them into permanent notes, but this part wasn't mentioned in the video. I reckon you can use two different tags for the Status of the notes, instead of just #idea. Of course there might be a better way to do so.
Instead of reviewing notes, i feel memorizing concepts (i.e the Why of something) is more efficient. A spaced repetition software like Anki helps me here.
The 'reference' folder is a great idea for what I am using Obsidian for. I am glad you mentioned that. Bam!
Great video! Finding your channel was like finding a gold vein. Keep it up!
Solid content, definitely one of the channels that'll blow up soon.
Learned a lot, even if I'm only using Obsidian as a Bullet journal (Ryder Carrol System). Thank you for sharing !
dude you seem really genuine and cool. Loved the video. Thanks
Thanks for this video. It's very educational and as said before here in the comments an easy-to-follow instruction to start with Obsidian and Zettelkasten. Also - I simply love the name you gave yours.
Dear Sir. I come accross your videos too latee. This is by far the best, easiest and most pratical guide I have seen for Zettelkasten. May I ask you a question, whether this system is still flawed and there should be better ways/functions to improve this? Looking forward to others’ comments as well. Thank you all!
Love the details in your outline and description of various functions! Thanks👍🏼
Loved the detail in the video!
It's been a couple of years since the release, I would love to hear about what you're system is looking like these days given you're still using Obsidian.
I am so late to the Obsidian party. It is very overwhelming. This video has helped me set the backbone. Thanks.
Gracias! La verdad que la mayoría de los videos que había visto son exactamente como los describiste, ninguno me animaba a empezar porque creaban cosas que a mi parecer eran sumamente superfluas y que iban a enlentecer mi intención. Así que, gracias por todo, y manos a la obra!
EDIT: My only critic (is just a matter of taste): why do people that talk about taking notes and obsidian, etc. always read the same books... Almost every one of that books is perfectly clear: the ideas, structure, relations, etc. I will like to see something more not precooked books. I mean those books are recipes. Im not saying that are not good books. Anyway, again, i really like your video, and thanks for share your knowledge!
Why does a chef go to Culinary School? Or read recipe books? Any genius stands on the shoulders of those that went before. So, researching what already exists is an easy way to familiarise oneself with the territory, but it does not preclude experimentation in any way. But it does reduce the chance of wasting time and effort in going down experimental cul de sacs that take one nowhere near where you want to go. But I think I understand what your point in that Familiarity breeds Contempt in that one might miss an interesting gap to explore. If you are into music see Adam Neely's latest video about Adele's song 'Rolling In The Deep' subverting professional musicians' hearing what is actually being sung: th-cam.com/video/IUfJZJofdj8/w-d-xo.html. Have fun!
Thank you!! Your explanation is really simple and straight forward compared to the other videos on the topic :)
Not sure if you will see this, but it would be nice to have a downloadable example of the kind of notes in action. A how-to instructional video like that only does so much for me, but if I can explore it myself, I'm more likely to understand it deeper.
Superb video explaining Obsidian and Zettelkasten. Will be coming back to it for sure. What I am yet to see, though, is a real world example of how the Zettelkasten method has yielded any new ideas or truly useful connections and insights. Especially in areas other than productivity and related activities. Of course it is possible that people don’t share that kind of thing, or, maybe I missed it. Have you seen any examples. Thanks!
I took some ideas from the video and adapted them to my workflow and it's much better for me now, thank you very much for the video!
Superb video! Concise and substantive. Also, thank you for actually showing examples of permanent notes/zettels.
This video is really well done, I endorse all the top comments. Keep doing what you're doing! Great work.
Thank you for making videos. Your way explaining just instantly clicks for me.
I have always wondered how to make a system in Obsidian to write a small research article/report. I seem to be a bit confused in how the atomic ideas and references can 'combine' to develop an argument. The video at certain points goes too fast to understand especially where you are explaining the MOC concept. Really hope that you make another detailed video on the same topic as your approach seems really good (practical and doable).
Artem, congratulations on the video! You’re able to make simple what most have made complicated. Your video opened my mind on how simple the system can be. I would also like to understand how is the decision making on when a new folder (Out of the Zettelkasten) needs to be created.
overwhelmed here. Omg, love your x10 dump.
Great video Artem. Happy to see you also like Obsidian!
The benifits of the system dont increase with its complexity, is exactly why I am here.
Ive lived long enough to feel that at an emotional level.
Familiar with obsidian and looking to implement zettlekasten in my note taking… loved your video and system, certainly will draw on this as I start my system.
This is wild because I'm a huge fan on your computational neuroscience videos and I just stumbled upon this video because I recently started using Obsidian. I guess we have a lot in common!
super helpful. i have been using bear and one fear i have moving to obsidian is how easy it is to overcomplicate. so this was super helpful.
Spot on! Simplicity is one of the main resistances people feel. Most probably, by the urge for control.
Clear, concise, and practical. Thank you for sharing!
This video is actually the best I've found
Finally Obsidian starts to make sense for me... thank you! :)