Folders or Links? The key to both is A.C.C.E.S.S.

[@seankim7912]

Thanks for the awesome content!! After checking the LYT 6 guides, I wanted to explore more on the ACCESS approach, but the only way to do that was by checking the actual obsidian vault. However, with this, it's a lot easier and simpler to learn it :) I can't quite afford the LYT Workshop, so I'm grateful for all these guides you make on youtube!

[@maurolimaok]

Same here, from Brasil. These videos are pulling me out from a "black hole" of knowledge management in order to make it useful. Very appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[@spencerfretwell7780]

Thank you for this system, Nick! From it, I've created my own structure that's exactly the same in spirit but uses a different acronym that I more identify with: (B)ases - Home Base -> where we start and go from (R)outines - Periodic | Temporal | Habitual (A)toms - Zettels | Ideas | Nuggets (N)exes - Self-Made Fusions of Ideas -> Guides | Models | Templates | Diagrams (C)ontent - External Ideas -> References | Libraries (H)yperspheres - Contexts | Metastates | Roles Totally just a re-skin of your idea, so anyone is welcome to use it!

[@AK-ox3mv]

Thanks for your system. How you use Nike's space folder? I'm a bit confused about it Thanks

[@spencerfretwell7780]

@@AK-ox3mv Well, like I listed next to it, Nexes holds things I make (for example from my Atoms) that synthesize other things from my Vault. It is a collection of my current Working Knowledge on the subjects I care about. I have a couple Vaults, one for Work and Life separately, so in Life these Nexes might be Friends, Finances, Music, etc. In Work they might be Coding, Scientific Presentation, Colleagues, and Collaborations. Notes in these folders converge Atoms, which still exist unsiloed in Zettelkasten fashion in the Atoms folder, but are linked to Nexes Notes as relevant. As a guide for myself, I put only transient, personally relevant things in Nexes. If it's permanent and export grade, it's likely Content; if it's permanent but not export quality it's likely project material, which goes in H (now I call History), which has project folders organized by Big Project or Context then Year. So, Nexes is an always changing representation of my understanding (with diagrams and pictures), how I do things (templates included), and ultimately a place to focus and hold the knowledge I find most important.

[@NathanSeiling]

I manage a startup company for construction contractors and I have around 10,000 pages of notes. In Nick's early days he seemed to be pushing links over folders. I am glad to see this approach as folders are also key in managing large amounts of information. I have boiled my main entry into: Person and Work (as he said), then I have 10 entry points, then within each entry point can have between 3 and 10 more. Once I get to 10, I try and break the logic down to 3 and move information more inward. It makes finding info much easier when I need to find a concept (rather than specific information) . I use the links as they stop me from re-writing data over and over again, but the reader can easily reference the linked information if they need it. Thanks Nick, you really go deep with this information. I am almost done moving the 9,000 pages I had in Workflowy over to Obsidian. That has been a task....

[@PeregrineChurch]

Workflowy has internal links including backlinks, they added them in december

[@brentjohnson7044]

Nice. This seems usable (with some tweaks). However, I prefer not to have duplicate letters in my acronyms if I can avoid them. I might call these something different: Overview, Timeline, Ideas, Resources, Bibliography, Spaces. Then the acronym is ORBITS. It's not just folders and links, though. The tension is three-way: folders, links, and tags (respectively for organization, browsing, and search).

[@legendreoli]

love this!

[@denoise4033]

damn

[@sewpungyow5154]

Great idea

[@Flackon]

One can think of tags as a particular case of links

[@brentjohnson7044]

@@Flackon Functionally, yes. The difference would be in how they are created. You're sort of creating the backlink.

[@bokinloch9045]

This is genius. I’m a knowledge worker- actually a meta-knowledge worker. I’m a director of legal operations and organizational KM is where I started that journey. I love Obsidian’s map/graph data structure. I think this hybrid is going to be capable of being applied both personally and organizationally.

[@AdamKadmaon]

"We shall call you A.C.C.E.S.S., the God of Balance you shall be" - Rush 'Hemispheres' (sort of), as C.G.Y.N.U.S. is one hell of an anacronym to match the concept.) When balance is struck between the fractured world of the split hemispheres of Left vs. Right brain thinking. The Holistic, Creative, Right brain (linking) vs. Linear, Logical, Orderly Left Brain (Folders). The first link I made watching, anyway. Great Video Nick. Thank you.

[@psheldon12]

This is brilliant! I’ve struggled for a few years now to find the best way to integrate these instruments and somehow there is always a piece that doesn’t quite fit. This solves that. Difficulty now is migration…where is the line of diminishing returns for taking time to migrate old knowledge to a new system. Thanks for making this content free! I hope to be able to attend a workshop one day.

[@Tylermania66]

You couldn't have posted this at a better time for me. This was exactly what i was looking for. I just started using obsidian, and I've been trying to hash out a folder system without nullifying the usefullness of links.

[@stugots2863]

Can't justify the cost of the LYT workshop, but can I just say that LYT and this ACCESS methodology is the best pkm concept I've come across! Thank you Nick!

[@pablomarkaide5466]

I really appreciate the effort in trying to "balance" the forces you mention, but after seeing the video I don't see it as a huge solution. You just create a folder and subfolder structure with fancy acronyms with either adding stand-alone notes or MOCs. So you just tidy up the notes into folders and improve browsing capabilities. Even realizing you are using a mock example, in the entire video you didn't make examples of using intensively links or examples of how this system leads into action. I really would like more examples on usability, because the idea is good.

[@emotionalmindedstate]

Yea. It feels to the current day that he is just trying to differentiate himself in the market and doing it completely for himself, not bothered with customers. But the idea of links vs folders is great, but not new. Check qualitative coding))) Hybrid upward downward process of code generation

[@arthurbringel8610]

In the cards you put the links to related notes, you put links to something you put in source like a book, and tags which are notes that you link too, I think he didn't show it in the video (at least until now) but it's what i see everybody else doing including one person who based his approach based in this video. I think maybe it's in the longer video, he said that this was just a demonstration

[@ChipWhitehouse]

I am so grateful to have found your channel. I only wish I would have found it earlier! Better late than never. You and Tiago Forte are my heroes now. I literally am just discovering this Second Brain/ Zettelkasten/ Obsidian world only a few weeks ago and it feels like something I have been waiting for my entire life. I feel like I intuitively have wanted to keep detailed notes like this my entire life but felt insane for even having the thought. It’s like I finally have the permission to do it and explore and get all my thoughts, passions, ideas, and curiosities out of my head and down onto “paper” or into the digital world. Obsidian is LIFE CHANGING! I can’t believe I only learned about it a few weeks ago!!! 😭😭😭 Thank you for this! I can’t wait to devour more of your content. Makes me so happy 💖💕💖🙌 Appreciate you and your passion for PKM!

[@paulmfti]

Nick, thanks for your awesome contributions to PKM through obsidian. Your ideas have been so helpful. You are definitely a giant in this space.

[@ac27934]

Wow, it seems like a lot of personal epiphanies have been unified together in a really elegant, practical way here. The theory makes sense, and so does the practice. I’m really looking forward to what more you have to share on this. It feels fresh and full of potential.

[@tristanrentz7687]

Jeez I'm glad I hadn't put off watching this video any longer! WOW!! Really impressive Milo. And much gratitude

[@niluferozyoruk]

The organization you have here seems like it will cover all my multi-focus life accumulations without me having to focus too much on how to operate it but, focus on organizing my stuff. Seems perfect for me. By the way, I love your approach and enthusiasm. 😊🌟

[@hc2159]

you can do all these things with both links, tags and MOCs. What wasn't clear to me from this video was how this actually differentiates or adds anything other then having to add another organisational task alongside current links and tags.

[@matrhein]

Extremely inspirational. To me, it is not about copying the access letter by letter but getting the concept behind the combined power of both folders and links. I will translate the folder idea into namespaces in LogSeq and see what structure will emerge. Thank you for this unique perspective, Nick!

[@linkingyourthinking]

That's exactly it. Curious what you come up with

[@LUKASENKYT]

It's amazing to me how much love and effort you put into that video. Thank you, it's going to help me a Lot!!

[@KimKorn]

Nick, Brilliant! Simply brilliant! Thanks so much!

[@linkingyourthinking]

Appreciate that Kim!

[@tylerchasebusiness1001]

I’ve been struggling to integrate GTD over the past year and a half and recently started combining GTD with PARA but it’s been missing something. I think this is it. This is everything I need!!! Thanks Nick 🎉😊

[@linkingyourthinking]

Happy to hear Tyler. Let me know how it goes! - Nick

[@GFmama]

GTD seems to be an rational and easy concept but it really isn't so easy to implement and maintain, is it? What were your struggles?

[@thomasquendt3238]

I'm very interested in PKM systems for decades now. ACCESS is very well thought. IMHO the best I've ever seen. Chapeau!! At the moment I'm applying ACCESS into my personal PKM system and it's great so far. But I struggle a little bit about the decision wether to put a note into the Cards folder or within the appropriate Space/MAPS folder. That's sometimes a hard decision....

[@linkingyourthinking]

Try the Cards folder if it feels more "evergreen". Stuff in Cards should have the longest shelf life, while things in the Spaces areas usually have a shorter lifespan

[@javedrahman3040]

Hi Nick, Has your ACE framework replaced ACCESS?@@linkingyourthinking

[@cyberpsion]

I hope i knew this earlier.. Finally found what I wanted for so long. Thanks for sharing..

[@linkingyourthinking]

You are welcome! Glad to help.

[@alskorohod]

Amazing, thanks for your work and this is very cool! I have folder structure in dropbox and thoughts/ideas in evernote - now I start to use obsidian and learn from your videos - you have very deep concepts - thanks! And hello from Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@jimpoole6037]

hope you are alive and hanging in with all the turmoil

[@julieoc5049]

This couldn't come at a better time! I was just trying to find a way to balance Links, MOCs and Folders in my own set-up. With the number of notes incrising, it was getting difficult to easily navigate them. At first glance, I'm a little confused by MOCs in two different locations (Atlas and Spaces). While the ones for Life makes perfect sense to keep separate from the rest, I'm wondering if there's not a risk of misplacing or duplicating with the ones for Work, depending on how one uses their PKM. I'll take a closer look now, and maybe I'll find the answer to my question :)

[@alanissac1294]

Same

[@strictnonconformist7369]

I have similar thoughts: there’s often a crossover between work and life, and for some, work IS life anyway. For example, I’m working on an iOS patterns/antipatterns book, and that is a personal project away from work, but I’m in development for a living, and there’s massive amounts of crossover as a result.

[@hana3877]

Brilliant !!! How distinct !!! I really love your thought ! As an creator who research for the Algorithm in Nature and interest in different between abstract and logic things, your insight is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks for your sharing. Help a lot!

[@linkingyourthinking]

Happy to hear! I am curious how it works for you

[@hana3877]

@@linkingyourthinking Your diagram and system thinking cover multiple thinking pattern. Therefore, It helps me to define a flexible path which my intention can be processed and put all things in more clear frame. Especially, I usually dealing with some kind of material between logic and abstract things and trying to organize an analogous pattern/module in abstract things. Like Philosophy, Biomimicry, Parametric Design, Generative Art...etc.

[@EmouAcademy]

How do you apply ACCESS in between abstract and logic things? It sounds interesting!

[@BrandonKBoswell]

Great video, Nick! I found that I came to a similar conclusion when building out my vault. I recently did a video on "Should you use PARA in Obsidian?," and someone mentioned in the comments about your system. I am thankful they did. Have a great day!

[@yohanesliong4818]

Thank you. This is very mind opening 👍👍

[@raultizze]

That is a really cool approach! I use groups with tags for spaces but never think in that way. Awesome!

[@mausunk]

Wanted to share a change I feel fits nicer: I've made "Extra" --> "External (sources)" and "Sources" --> "Support (files)". I missed a proper place to put existing files/attachments/pdfs/presentations which were already in a certain folder structure, as I don't perceive them as 'extra', this is also the place where I have the most heavy folder/file structure as opposed to the other ACCESS folders. I also felt 'source' can be interpreted generally, and I like 'external' as it gives a sense of my internal PKM structure vs linknig to external/outsourcing sources to be noted on. This changes the order of ACCESS, as "Support" for me is now completely on the bottom with "Spaces" above it. Thanks for inpsiring me, and let me know what you guys think about my change!

[@manuelblinkert3200]

Hi Nick, thanks for sharing your knowledge management. In this diagram with Knowledge to Actions and Folders to Links, where would you place MS OneNote? I love Obsidian, but OneNote offers this nice feature of synchronisation and scrolling vertically.

[@GaraksApprentice]

Some great thoughts to chew on here. Especially I like how flexible this folder structure can be. For me personally, having Spaces with Areas inside them would be overkill. But that's something I can easily adapt for my life and way of working.

[@lut3k_vfx]

I've been struggling with my productivity system for some time, but this ACCESS approach looks great. I'll definitely try it.

[@linkingyourthinking]

It may not be your final answer, and that's fine, but hopefully it gets you closer!

[@samuellewis3991]

Can you go into more detail about the Atlas? I'm kind of confused on what "Scopes" and "Logs" are. Also why is Essays kept here instead of, say, your Work Space?

[@jmatter981]

Absolutely beautiful work ! Thank you for sharing.

[@mausunk]

Hi Nick, Great video, this is by far the most fitting organizational system for me and I am excited to set it up for myself, thank you! I had some questions: 1. Can you give me your thoughts on the importance of adding date/time of creation of a (atomic) note on the note itself? 2. Maybe some practical application(s) where you use that type of metadata later as well? Thanks, Maurits

[@okayashwin]

18:57 It sounded funny when he said “I had a life space, *we all have that one.*” No, not all of us sire 😂

[@AK-ox3mv]

That's magic of mathematics and writing. in math, we formulate a 1 with 100 zeros to 1^100 to make it manageable for weak working memory of human and thats similar for other complex concepts.we Just need to fill variables in formula to solve the problem. now digital note(=though out) organizing systems are doing the same.by having a top view of book notes,journal notes,plans,life situation,... All the same time,we can manage and priorities more effectively,find problems and gaps between our goals ,our situation and our way to goals and manage the unmanageable.

[@bradheitmann]

I’m brand new to Obsidian. I use folders / Evernote / Trello / Notion etc. and just search for what I need. I have like 60,000 pictures and 10s of thousands of documents / notes. The thought of migrating is daunting. Q: am I alone in finding this super overwhelming? How do I migrate?

[@niluferozyoruk]

You are absolutely not alone ❣ 🙂

[@linkingyourthinking]

Do you prefer folders or links? Or both? How are you using them together?

[@antintin880]

What I'm still struggling to understand are the distinct uses of tags and folders. Other than the practical difference in the navigation GUI, aren't hierarchical tags essentially the same thing as folders but more flexible (since 1 not can point to multiple tags)? It's just difficult for me to conceptualize how you can somehow fit both of them into a PKM, each with their own distinct purpose, when their functionality is so similar.

[@antintin880]

Also, could you explain how to prevent overlap between Cards and Spaces (especially in Life)? Or am I missing something?

[@mjt1517]

@@antintin880 Cards are for individual ideas, thoughts, bits of knowledge, etc. Spaces are for actions.

[@trabalenguas]

@@antintin880 Nick said: "try the Cards folder if it feels more "evergreen". Stuff in Cards should have the longest shelf life, while things in the Spaces areas usually have a shorter lifespan."

[@ckatheman]

I have been using both as a mixed up PARA method right now. I can see elements of PARA in the Spaces folder. Not sure if I will change tactics.

[@jeremiahbaxter6887]

A little unclear on what goes into areas. As a teacher, I have a lot of praxis-related content notes that until now have been in my "cards" folder. But since these are mostly not evergreen notes and they're domain-specific, I figured they'd go better under spaces/work/areas/teaching. Not sure if this is the right call though and would love some input.

[@strictnonconformist7369]

It’s meant to be a starting point and modified to suit your needs. It appears you’re suffering from paralysis via analysis, so consider changing things to where it fits best for you and decide once how you wish to work with it, so you don’t suffer needless decision fatigue each time you add notes: this is a personal data vault for your use, why do you care if it works exactly like that which someone else uses?

[@DustinMillerPolyInnovator]

The "Sources" is basically my Modular Degree concept, which I think could help a lot of people organize their learning. Even if they don't use my PIOS system, and instead use this ACCESS. #awesome

[@tylerchasebusiness1001]

I have the LYT Kit 6.0, in which you have 2 sub-folders in + Encounters: Cooling Pad and Unsorted. How do you use these?

[@iacopozanazzi7062]

Hi Nick, i follow you from Italy and I love your videos. Could you please make a video in which you explane how to use Spaces more in depth? It would be awesome :) Thank you!

[@Josh-iq1zu]

Awesome video. Thank you so much. I’m very new to obsidian and trying to build my second brain is extremely daunting but your videos really help.

[@MariusGerome]

Something I don't really like about it; why does it always need to b.u.i.l.d a word that you can remember? Because of that, the folders have strange bizarre names… Your 'Atlas' is my Framework, your 'Calendar' are yearly folders (2022, 2023…), haven't understood your cards yet, I keep watching :D 'Extras' are my Assets, 'Sources' is literally called External in my vault. Spaces is interesting - for me they do have their own folder and link directly from the core (core is me, 'marius') there's my personal brand and brands I want to create. And one big Projects Area. Interesting how common this already is… we just use slightly different names and a little bit of a different workflow. Otherwise, Mr. Link :D I do really like your videos

[@davefar2964]

Thanks a lot, very inspiring. Could you please elaborate what kind of notes go into the Area in each MAPS? Since MAPS is for action, I would put everything into Projects...

[@johnmicheal5722]

I randomly came across this while looking into Obsidian. Access sounds like a brilliant way to organize information and it's quite impressive, but it gave me headaches at some point. My brain wasn't ready for it, I guess.

[@CraigLaBruno]

I like the general idea of ACCESS but it's a little bit ovekill and a bit confusing to be honest. Maybe I just have to watch the video again and dig in a little. There has to be something out there that is somwhere inbetween PARA and ACCESS that checks all the boxes but is a little less complicated.

[@Obsidian-v2e]

Aamzing video thanks :)

[@salmonsandwich3183]

very very helpful. thank you

[@linkingyourthinking]

Glad it was helpful!

[@adco]

Pretty cool stuff it seems.

[@mfpears]

New to Obsidian, but I think folders could just be a note with a list of links, then you could use a template for folder structures that should be the same, like the MAPS pattern. Folders are easy to sort though. Ultimately I really want a powerful way to query the link graphs that would allow stuff like sorting.

[@abdurazaqsalama]

Thank you very much for the awesome content, you are very good at transferring what you want to say, thanks

[@izabela3626]

I've downloaded the LYT kit from the given link, but the content does not match to the one presented in video. Is there any chance for updated LYT kit?

[@mingledspringle]

hm, i made a decent folder structure of my own, it's actually quite similar to this, i mainly divided it into concepts, college, projects, media, people and a dump folder for templates and attachments and stuff, think i can actually benefit more from some ideas from this system though, might just download the kit and merge some of the ideas from that to my folder structure, my main problem usually comes around when i try to get metadata for dataview, like games having play status and completion status but then i have to keep track of all these different fields and their values and sometimes i wonder if making so many fields is actually hindering my progress so maybe i find a solution to that in the kit too, hopefully

[@AK-ox3mv]

I'm working on that today. I'm using "tags:" in yaml for everything even status. Also you can use tag wrangler for editing tags and database folder for bulk editing tags

[@chaunguyenbao8662]

I'm using the LYT KIT 6 . model And use 07:37 - Calendar when Click Open today's daily note it automatically creates the folder 2022 > and File date. How can I reset default folder 2022 to 2023?

[@filippopardossi8342]

Why I can't see the back and forth arrow in this beautiful kit? Am I blind?

[@Bilallius_]

I can't download Nick Milo's LYT kit. On the website, it's saying "Subscribe to Download" but the subscribe button is not working.

[@linkingyourthinking]

Thanks for the heads up, we'll look into it and get back to you here

[@linkingyourthinking]

Can you please try this link www.linkingyourthinking.com/download-lyt-kit in a different browser?

[@olllieiscool]

Very interesting Nick, thanks a million. I have a question which is why split MOCs between the Altas and Space folders? And how do you decide whether to put a new MOC in either?

[@ric6611]

I know this is a month old, but maybe someone else stumbles upon this and it's helpful, so I'm going to tell you my understanding of it. This question is similar to people who ask whether notes about a project should be put in Cards or Spaces folder, it depends on the usability of the note/MOC. If it relates directly to the space in a way that won't be very useful in isolation, you should put it in spaces. For example, in his Life space, I believe Nick has a Finances MOC and a Health MOC. They could be MOCs in the atlas instead, but I don't think they're a MOC for relating general Financial or Health knowledge, but rather to track his own personal finances and health. You could have a Finances MOC in a work space if you manage a business's finances too. If, instead, you wanted a MOC to relate general knowledge about finances, stuff like, what is a share, or what's a dividend policy, as random examples, that MOC would instead go in your Atlas. Support Notes in spaces are similar. You could have cards relating to what is a company stock, but a support note talking about stock you personally own. One is general knowledge, the other is very specific to yourself or your business. Finally, it is important to remember that there are no limits to your links. Your spaces MOCs can be full of links to notes in your cards, and your support notes can link to other general notes as well. Just think about the context in which you'd like to see these things. If a note or MOC has the goal of helping you learn new things or reinforce your understanding of a topic, it's probably better in the atlas or cards. If, however, it is more helpful as a way to keep track of a certain project of your life or work, it most likely belongs in spaces.

[@cw1847]

@@ric6611 💡 thank you for posting this! This clears up confusion I had from trying to put this into practice.

[@EmouAcademy]

@@ric6611 thank you. It makes sense.

[@jeremiahbaxter6887]

@@ric6611 Wow, this is exactly the clarification I needed. From someone reading it three months later, thank you for deciding to answer the original question even though it was a month after the fact. You're the real MVP, and I'm going to save your explanation in my Obsidian.

[@Mr.clemclem]

@@ric6611 You're the man ! thank you 🙏🙏

[@gordonbarbay750]

Link to LYT6 guides broken. Above link just goes to LYT with ACE approach.

[@ericvanoppens3179]

A nice approach for zettelkasten in Obsidian. But The brain software had all this for more than 25 year in their solution. Visualising thoughts, allowing files and directory structures linked. A function it has is the wandering function.

[@linkingyourthinking]

What's holding The Brain software back I wonder?

[@astrofutur4656]

Hello, Thanks for the videos ! I feel like "atlas" and "area" are quite similar, as well as "support notes" and "sources" (or "extra") ; could you explain me why it is different ? Thanks !

[@strictnonconformist7369]

This is my perception based on watching the video once: remember early on he states that the Atlas is the very top level of the hierarchy, so each letter below that is a lower level of the hierarchy, so think of them as subfolders referenced by the Atlas, and so on and so on. So, at the very bottom think of the folder path as A C C E S S Or somewhere along the line. How it is actually stored is an abstraction, but there is certainly an expressed or implied order of organization from top to bottom. This may not work best depending on how you think. I’m still pondering if this makes the most sense for my purposes or not, I don’t have enough experience to judge fully.

[@proteusblack8913]

I can already do this with PARA and it be more simple and easier to manage (less moving parts).

[@linkingyourthinking]

where do your journals go?

[@proteusblack8913]

@@linkingyourthinking Daily Notes (if that's what you mean) go in Areas/Personal Development.

[@theoview1113]

Love this framework, thank you! I noticed that the link to the LYTkit does not seem to be working - I filled it out twice never got an email. Does anyone else have the same problem?

[@javedrahman3040]

Curious to hear, whoever implement this - how are you doing? How would you compare this to PARA?

[@ElectricFlow]

I’m struggling to understand the difference between ATLAS and the MOCs section of a Space

[@Mr.clemclem]

same here

[@krzysztofomilian7295]

Absolutely considering. Apologize for being honest

[@julissaveronica]

Can someone please give examples of what contents go on ATLAS? All that I think about and be in CARDS, thank you in advance!

[@PaulDickson7]

Thank you Nick for all you hard work and the free LYT starter kit. I'm moving over from August Bradleys PPV in Notion and researching the best way to lay out a folder structure. I like your acronym A.C.C.E.S.S - Currently I'm using Notelab(Encounters), MOC (Atlas), Knowledge (Cards), Toolbox (Extras), Vaults (Sources) Spaces and Journal. I was a little confused by Cards and Spaces at first. Still on the fence about using Knowledge. Would Cards be lke a Wikipedia of Information about subjects (i.e Powershell, Windows) and Spaces be the Projects and Areas of your life you're working on like (My Newsletters, My Website, My Blogs, etc)

[@mayflowertv134]

very useful

[@joseantoniogarciarivas8042]

How this connects to the GTD methodology?

[@markuse.828]

The cards folder is the one where zettelkasten ideas would go into?

[@linkingyourthinking]

Yep

[@platonymous]

Is a card kinda like a database? Like I want to have a database of movies im watching would that go in Cards

[@linkingyourthinking]

No, think of an index card

[@eshwarnag]

I like the entire idea on paper, but when I saw it in action, it really didn't stick with me. Either its Obsidian or the system, I am not sure, it looked very chaotic and busy

[@GOZES]

Still waiting for the Link he promised about ppv. He didn't say what it stands for so it's very hard to Google for it

[@yikan1107]

I think this is too complicated. I consume, take first pass notes, then iterate on these notes, then publish them. That’s it. My sources turn into atomic notes. My original source note becomes a top level file with all the forward links to my atomic notes. Tags control my spaces. Folders don’t lend well to renaming. I only use folders on static things like pipeline steps. I have four folders start , middle, end, publish, meta

[@glennoneill6108]

Hi Nick. Thanks for the content. I’m interested in whether you are working with an organisation/s regarding group knowledge management. Cheers.

[@bretwalder]

Hmm How could I implement ACCESS into Onenote? (Work restriction) Where to use a Notebook, a Section and Section Group and Pages

[@strictnonconformist7369]

@Linking Your Thinking subscribed. Not because I’m fully persuaded ACCESS (double usage of two letters in an acronym makes it harder to remember) makes the most sense yet compared to PARA (which I’ve bought the book and mostly read it) but what I was fascinated the most by their absence is using tags in the system. Here is my thinking about this, having been a computer geek for over 40 years now: unless I’m mistaken (I’ve been using Obsidian barely getting started) the links are attached to folders, so if you find a need to move notes to different folders, you break links to whatever it is you move: I don’t want that, that’s too much friction. It imposes a need to get it in the “correct” folder the first time. It also means you need to think consciously about folders, probably more than you should ever do for a process that is meant to rely on a bit of chaos bottom-up order for creating unplanned creative thoughts and discoveries. I’m in tech for a living, and I also create and play-test card and board games. I’m also writing a book related to what I do for a living, as well as I’m seriously considering writing a book about card and board game designs using my own existing games. In neither PARA or ACCESS do those fit neatly. In all those cases of writing, game creation, and research and notes used for the tech-related book, there is a lot of cross-sharing. Taking into account how folders are rather top-down and restrictive, not to mention breaking of links if you have to move things, and the desire to remove all duplication combined with minimizing friction, I would say neither PARA or ACCESS is the right balance, especially in light of the concept of atomic notes. Yes, I’m suggesting a more zettelkasten note-taking/organizing strategy, that involves structure of file names and/or backlinks to refer to parent notes. Why? Because as soon as you allow for editing of established notes, it creates consistency issues, as well as erasing history of how things came about. Consider a project A, which uses B, C, D, E. Where are those things located? Well, if you know a priori that the project uses those things or at least is intended to use those things, create that in the project note that lists the objective of the project and the known knowns, that you assess as of that time. Not all projects use what you start out with, however: it’d be nice to have that documented. The main project card would have: 1. The overall deadline 2. Known resources 3. Budgetary concerns 4. Absolute large requirements All those things would then be general guidelines and guesses, because you can’t know from the start. But this note would never be changed. Instead, like zettelkasten uses (from my understanding) notes with backlinks (or at least suggested as such due to filenames that have a path indicating sub divisions) that refine or have comments about the higher order cards, I’ve considered an appropriate name for these are Augmentation Notes. Why? They add to the note they’re in the virtual subfolder of, and each of these Augmentation Notes can have augmentation notes pointing to them as well. Here is where the real magic comes in: other than augmenting for each of the higher order levels for schedule, next step to take, resources to get or are used, etc. is then another augmentation note points back to something within that project. Where is that augmentation note from? It may very well reference somewhere else in your notes, including other projects, or research areas. These augmentation notes can readily have multiple tags in them to mention they’re using in a given project, but perhaps they’re linked directly to this original project: this gives a nice breadcrumb trail to understand how, when and why things got created, and via search, shows nicely how they’re all tied together without confusing the history. All notes only need to be created as though they’re write-once notes in notecard format as if you used a magic marker and filled up the whole notecard in one step. The structure and the naming of the files document where they belong, including to multiple things at one time, but only one backlink to the originating project or source exists. All other folders exist for things that aren’t yet linked into the system (notes being processed from intake) or confidential things you can’t afford to not secure better, such as personal contacts, things that make sense to restrict via whatever security system. Another aspect of the Augmentation Notes strategy: a number of things may best be addressed via templates, but not everything makes sense to have an all-encompassing template for all the questions or thoughts: create simple templates with minimal interfaces (borrowing software design terminology here) that are sufficient to address the augmentation. For nutrition, there are a certain number of questions that make sense: for code, there is a completely different set of questions that make sense. If the templates with questions are likely to not be answered atomically with all questions answered, perhaps that’s not the right template to use. But, with Augmentation Notes, and backlinking to higher level notes, you can always add to them, perhaps adding clarification, or corrections. Your thoughts?

[@carriebartkowiak]

Regarding moving a file breaks the link...Obsidian will auto-update the link for you, except in certain cases where you went in and specified a full path rather than just using the method.

[@strictnonconformist7369]

@@carriebartkowiak thank you, I’ve not tested with that yet. A lot of the time, I’ll be adding notes on Apple mobile devices, largely iPad, and that creates a small GUI area. I am doing some off-roading atomic (as in, to be more precise, notes I write in the same sitting and don’t edit later) and pointedly doing backlinking to topics they relate to, recursively, where they augment the note they backlink to. I believe at some point I’ll create MOCs for these. I’m also intending on more largely relying on tags for organization in broad terms.

[@samuelgonzalez9656]

Where do you put things when they are no longer relevant? Like a space that closed out, or a project within a space that is completed.

[@linkingyourthinking]

I know a lot of people use an Archive folder for that type of thing. Maybe you can try that and see if it works for you.

[@tylerchasebusiness1001]

So “Encounters” is like an “in-tray”?

[@linkingyourthinking]

Yep

[@MiamiHeat872]

What is PPV?

[@isaatalay5320]

Awesome approach to all these note taking system. i want to ask simple question; have you tried MARGİNNOTE 3 ? İf you have will you make a video about your thoughts compared to obsidian ? so many thanks and best regards.

[@lukajeliciclux3074]

For me Linux system is the best operating and knowledge system ever made. Without Linux GTD and Para method cannot exists. Not only that, without Linux Google don't exist and many other apps don't exists. Basically Linux is the electricity of our online world and Linus Torvalds is the founding father of the productivity systems.

[@AngelosGeorgopoulos]

I love you

[@danielmmckeown]

I really like this video because in my mind it's your response to the "Four Folder System" that made you "sick". LOL. Instead of just complaining about it you are offering a solution. The thing about the "Four Folder System" is that it can be applied to (almost) any app while ACCESS requires Obsidian. I also am not a fan of the quadrant example because it felt like you were comparing apples to oranges. Word is a word processing application whereas GTD is a productivity methodology where PARA and JD are organizational philosophies. That said, I am looking forward to giving ACCESS a try because I always felt as though my organization was off in Obsidian and couldn't really get JD or PARA to work. My current Obsidian vault is set to my Documents folder where I use the PARA method to organize my documents.

[@linkingyourthinking]

Enjoyed your thoughts. Interestingly, I applied ACCESS to my computer's file system, and am really enjoying it this far. More commentary is needed by me about this, but just wanted to plant the seed that it can extend beyond Obsidian

[@danielmmckeown]

@@linkingyourthinking I'm very curious to see how ACCESS could be applied to a computer's file system. Do you have to use something like Hook since ACCESS makes heavy use of links?

[@linkingyourthinking]

@@danielmmckeown Nothing crazy. I don't use Hook (even though it's great software) just bc I haven't had the time. I'll have to show later, but ALL of my files on my computer, from decades of files, sit in an ACCESS folder structure on my computer. (It is a separate ACCESS deployment than the one I use for notes in Obsidian)

[@danielmmckeown]

@@linkingyourthinking I guess I'll have to just be patient and wait to see it in action. In the meantime, I'm going to mess around in this updated LYT Kit and experiment with ACCESS. Thanks for taking the time to put this kind of content out there!

[@adco]

Nick, you have put a lot of work into managing the info. It seems like you are heading in the right direction. I have an Evernote account I started doing something similar as far as storing information in folders but gave up.

[@apgd81]

Folders x Links….. x Interactions (from social media (?) )

[@dreamysleepyzzz]

i dont get it, i kept trying to understand all these folder vs links kindda thing, but i just dont get it…..

[@richclearpc]

📂 or🔗🤔

[@EtonFisch]

Thank you for putting all this stuff out for free. I'm new to all second brain stuff and really excited about it. I come from using GTD with a basic to do list app. I discovered your and Tiago Fortes content at the same time and was really intrigued. I was about to implement the PARA system with my new Obsidian vault because it made sense to me after using gtd. It kind of clicked. But after watching this video I´m not sure which way to go. My question to Nick and everybody reading this: Should I stick with the PARA system and develop it as I go a long or should I implement ACCES right away altough it seems at first glance a bit to complicated to me? Thanks everybody

[@Flackon]

I developed my own system inspired by some ideas in PARA, and I can see this also touches on the same concepts. Ultimately as you use your system you’ll find out that knowledge stuff tends to fall in these ACCESS or PARA categories. Depending on how you want to separate things you may want more or less subdivisions but ultimately the knowledge within will be the same. I don’t separate between life and work for example, rather just consider work part of life, but the concepts of Projects and Resources and here Cards and Sources are always present in a lot of stuff you end up doing. My recommendation is to think in concepts and principles, and adapt what works for you, rather than adopt someone else’s system wholesale (although having some else’s framework as a starting point when you still don’t know your own needs well is also a good idea)

[@strictnonconformist7369]

Like the other poster, I’m new to both, though this is slightly after getting the BASB book. I’m not persuaded either one of these as-is makes a perfect system for me. There’s a bit of friction involved, and the question is, is this friction too much? Also, ACCESS is notable in the absence of using tags at all. I’m of the thought that if you use nested tags, actual folders make no sense for this sort of overall organization, because there’s a fine line between work/life and separate projects. I’m in the tech field, and also create card/board games as a hobby. Both are great examples where you may reuse and build off existing things that are under continual evolution, and be used by several projects at the first time. As such, I don’t see how that can work without using symbolic links if I depend on folders, or using tags, which is easier to make portable, and easier to maintain in many ways. For that matter, having to depend on forward links seems like a severe limitation. Consider the scenario of a project where you have a major portion of it: you don’t want to define all the steps a priori because you learn what the next steps are along the way towards completing a portion, as projects that are fully known ahead of time seem more like the exception than the rule, and where they’re the rule, I don’t find those very interesting. So, for smaller actions, I’m thinking create links from the smaller steps using the prefix of the larger scope aspects of the project, and do that recursively: by doing this, you can address the parts of the project using only atomic notes at all levels of scope, so you have a nice history of how things were thought through, scheduled and completed. By using tags for each of these project notes, you can also have a nice way of identifying all the projects that have them as dependencies. This, I think, would give a nice way of quickly viewing how valuable each project or subproject is to all the things you accomplish. I’m thinking that perhaps such tags should be on either the root note of a project, or perhaps on a child note that backlinks to the main root note of the project, and to continue the logical structure, perhaps only create one base tag MOC note for all the places you intend on using it, but adding backlinked notes to that which point to which projects were added or even removed after that, so you see a history that way. By doing that, you can see by the structure how you had intentions to do something at with it that covered a set project or project(s) but later you found it would be useful (or thought it would be useful) for others. As I write this, it occurs to me that perhaps how ACCESS and PARA are described is backwards with expectations of folders: let the structure of how you link and backlink, combined with tags, and the deeper linking of atomic notes be the design. Along the way, each step of notes as they evolve are atomic, and backlinked notes that point to what they modify somehow (I have decided to think of them as Augmentation Notes) are all created one at a time, atomically. This fits better conceptually with the original intent of Zettelkasten and lends itself well to recording history that isn’t mutated by accident in updates, as long as the naming of the files is done correctly.

[@ThePharaohsCat]

Overkill. If you review this and implement, you'll see you only need SPACES section, and you'll find yourself living there most of the time and neglecting the rest. The only way I can see anyone using A to S1 everyday, is with extreme discipline. Frameworks/methods should support the user, not be so rigid as to enforce rules.

[@1conscience0dimension]

behind any link they are folders

[@jovar7545]

One day I want to uninstall finder and only use obsidian

[@ytflix776]

imo, too complicated. ymmd

[@obuyWw]

“simple & elegant”, it really isn’t ..🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@legendarycondor]

This is so overkill

[@linkingyourthinking]

That's brilliant! Introducing OVERKILL: O - Overclassify: Categorize everything to an absurd degree of specificity. V - Verbosity: Use the longest possible words for every label and description. E - Encrypt: Secure each note with a different 128-character passphrase. R - Replicate: Create multiple copies of every piece of information "just in case." K - Kludge: Cobble together an unnecessarily complex system of scripts and plugins. I - Interlink: Connect every note to every other note, regardless of relevance. L - Labyrinth: Design your folder structure to resemble a maze. L - Logorrhea: Never use one word where a hundred will do. Feel free to use!

[@kyle11235]

🤯