Obsidian: The King of Learning Tools (FULL GUIDE + SETUP)

[@odysseas__]

Quick note: To get relevant links to show up at the bottom of each page: 1. Make sure the 'backlink' core plugin is turned on, as well as the 'backlinks in document' toggle within it. 2. Exit the settings and press Ctrl + P 3. Search for and select 'Backlinks: Toggle Backlinks in Document'

[@Wingedmagician]

nice of you not to make this an info-product 😅 thanks

[@Connn]

Hey thanks for this! Is there a way to get the ctrl T function to make a template for your note easily on android mobile?

[@odysseas__]

@@Connn No idea, sorry

[@blvcksync]

@@odysseas__ Thanks for the info man, I gave obsidian second chance because of you. But how you managed to make note titles in backlinks blue? Bcs they are grey by default :(

[@KingOfTheDeepSea]

​@@Connn You are use the "command pallet" by swiping up in android mobile. Here is how to: 1. Open Obsidian on your mobile 2. On the main page, there you will see 4 buttons, Swipe up; instead of swiping down like one would do when scrolling, do the opposite. 3. Doing so, it will open up a menu called "Command Pallet". 4. Once you see it, there will a search bar. Type "Template" and you will see the option to "Insert Template" 5. Click on it and the template shown in the video will be inserted nice and good.

[@Shwetakhari070]

now this video is like a genuine helping hand in the swarm of deceiving ones ... -No bs -No exaggeration -No irritating aestheticism just pure minimalism and pragmatism. Also i really appreciate how you pulled off such a technical task with such simplicity. I am not a native english speaker but i can understand each and every bit of it ...keep it up dude.

[@odysseas__]

Thanks! Glad to hear it's easy to follow, that's the most important of all

[@probrickgamer]

I speak American and it was also easy for me to understand as a second language mate.

[@MkwesiW901]

Absolutely stellar comment, exactly what I was thinking! Hey I was imagining what a community for this stuff would look like. If he made a community for us, what kind of stuff would you want to see?

[@emirobinatoru]

@@probrickgamer American is English...

[@Fateeh.22]

It's called English not American and Americas don't use "mate"​@@probrickgamer

[@autodidact-d]

I had never heard of Zettlekast or Obsidian until this morning. Every so often, YT's algorithm nails it. I'm excited to get into all of this. Thanks for being concise and sharing what you've learned. 🙏🏾

[@kazz-ef4sv]

lol , me too ! recently got my first lap and i didnt know such a world exists !

[@catedoge3206]

yuh. username checks out!!! fun fact, when asked for 3 words to describe me in one highschool english class (first week of school) I used that word!!

[@Moors-f7n]

@@catedoge3206 calling yourself an autodidact while attending a high school class is literally the funniest thing you could possibly say lmfaooo

[@Esch-a-ton3]

the potential for this is really mind-blowing. research papers and other papers could be completed in hours rather than days with a highly sourced vault

[@JamesSmith-ix5jd]

I think good writers are basically doing the exact same thing but in their mind almost unconsciously.

[@trevanleckie6755]

⁠@@JamesSmith-ix5jdbut the mind can forget the vault will not, and can link multiple thoughts

[@faye_gwenn]

@@trevanleckie6755 The mind can also link multiple thoughts lol, in fact that's kind of its whole thing lol

[@catedoge3206]

yes

[@catedoge3206]

crazy enough. since i read sherlock holmes, I have made my mind work like a mind palace. and now since I've learned of this. I'm slowly rebuilding how I think in my mind as a love child of mindmap/mind palace/ctrl F function/and obsidian!!!!

[@Timy_tim]

Quick tips for creating concept notes from books. To avoid doing it “manually” I use the Note Refactor plugin. In a large Obsidian “name of book” note, I write down all the insights I had while reading. At the very end, I go over it again and give a title (e.g. H3) to each “concept” in the book. So that they become independent notes I launch Note Refactor which will automatically separate my concepts into different notes. The advantage is that each note is automatically linked to my large book note.

[@johnzabroski5396]

Thank you. This one comment was more useful than this whole video

[@vaisakh_km]

i have a doubt, if 2 topic have 3 subtopics, how do it understand?

[@PS-ej2xn]

​@@vaisakh_kmin Note Refactor you have the option to split notes by heading level (H1, H2, H3 etc.)

[@GabrielCarusetta]

One of the KZbin videos you just HAVE to watch all the way through, trust me. Incredible job with this video. THIS is what I go on KZbin for. You sir, are a gentleman, and a scholar

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, real grateful to hear it

[@SeanThomasCross]

I've been using obsidian for 2 years on and off. I say "on and off" because of these common hangups I continued to get annoyed by. I go through phases of switching between MS word, notion and obsidian over and over never feeling fully comfortable in any them. After watching this it's time to go again into Obsidian, but fresh. This is by far the best Obsidian video I've seen because it is simple and exactly how to use it PRACTICALLY. You are quickly becoming one of my favorite channels on all of youtube and just joined the newsletter. THANK YOU.

[@odysseas__]

Real grateful to hear this, thanks. I hope you can get a nice flow going.

[@ashishawasthi9796]

What is better in, your opinion, Notion or Obsidian?

[@morfrikel7472]

@SeanThomasCross: Do you use links inside the notes? like the hyperlinks on wikipedia?

[@SeanThomasCross]

​@@morfrikel7472 No I don't. I let all the tags be the way he discusses. I tried for a bit to use the links within the writing like wikipedia and it just gets messy to my eyes, also I could link endlessly within the writing, so where's the limit? I like to look in the same part of the note in every note exactly where all my links are. Keeps it tidy and if I ever convert out of obsidian there won't be a ton of [[links like this]] throughout the text. You know? But, try it, if it works for you then good. There's no right answer to that.

[@justlc7]

How did you fix the lag issue? its killing me and pasting code in toggles is absolute nightmare.

[@devongiguere3721]

I literally got this yesterday after watching your video on mini-essays , so this is actually perfect for me. I'm an anthropology and philosophy undergrad with a personal research project on archiving my local city's working class culture and history. I've been archiving, taking photos of places, and reaching out to my community to make it a collaborative process.

[@emirobinatoru]

This is actually incredible! Congratulations and I wish you the best!

[@odysseas__]

Sounds like a valuable undertaking, love it.

[@PeterIntrovert]

Cool project! Obsidian and mini-esseys might become great tools in your arsenal. I see documentary projects like this on Kumu where places and processes were captured. It would be interesting to show interaction between places and micro-communities inside your local cite. This is a beauty of antropology when you can tell te story about dynamics and development of people's life. Just an idea. 🙂 Keep going 👍🏻

[@MkwesiW901]

Good luck on your current undergrad journey. Just graduated last may and the real world isn't as bad as people say. I saw you spoke about community and I was wondering if he made a community for us, what kind of stuff would you want to see in that community. What kind of stuff would you expect?

[@maxresdefault8235]

that sounds hella fun

[@carlosbrown6208]

This has been almost exactly my experience with Obsidian. The low barrier to entry, the ability to expand tools within the ecosystem, and most of all, a structured way for your knowledge to accrete and combine is so powerful.

[@mynickisnick8270]

I started out by placing this video as a source material and wrote about Obsidian and the things I gathered about it Pretty good starting exercise

[@abdullah__ausaf]

this is single handedly the greatest obsidian note taking video ever. had it been 10 minutes longer, it would have been the greatest note taking video ever.

[@Roylaffman]

Yea this video is really good. I was lucky and it was my 2-3 video on the subject and it transformed my notetaking

[@noahjfowler]

Man. This is so helpful. I know you are worried about being another voice in a virtual sea of voices, but the reality is that this video--your video--might just be the one that will help certain people, where nothing else has worked. I am a grad student, teacher, author, and I run a history and literature society. I have been so overwhelmed--to the point of having to go to therapy, where I discovered something about myself: I thrive off of structure. I know I have to get things out of my brain and onto a page--but I always avoided that because it was messy. I have since started bullet journaling, but that is mainly for calendar and habit tracking. What do I do about all these books I'm reading, these books I'm writing, the things I'm teaching, the things I'm studying? Well, I can't say for sure, but hopefully this is it. Cheers - and thank you.

[@odysseas__]

Fair point! And I feel you with structure, this was my exact way out too

[@paulovitch-95]

I just finished reading "How to Take Smart Notes" and I'm returning to your video a few weeks after seeing it first to set up Obsidian. Thank you tremendously for sharing your setup. Eager to see my notes turn into a beautiful neural network!

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it, and thanks. Hope you can get a good flow going.

[@k4but0x]

My first entries on my fresh install of obsidian is this video. Anyone else? Thanks for such great advice and informacion sr Odysseas.

[@odysseas__]

Cheers man, and good luck

[@PhillipHungerford]

This is the best Obsidian tutorial I have come across on KZbin so far. Easy to follow, simple with examples and use cases. Thanks!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, I'm grateful to hear it

[@EcomCarl]

The emphasis on simplicity, learning, and connecting ideas is invaluable! 💡

[@odysseas__]

Thanks!

[@EcomCarl]

@@odysseas__ Cheers my man! keep winning

[@anbuithien6345]

I have been trying to use Obsidian for a very long time. But I keep dropping it after a day or two despite knowing that Obsidian is probably the best studying tool out there. But this video is straight to the point, no bs whatsoever, and most importantly it finally gets me to start using Obsidian on a daily basis and actually be able to use it efficiently.

[@eriko9011]

Thank you! This is the best obsidian tutorial out there. So straight to the point and practical! Please make it into a series of videos so we can see you use your system more and learn it in depth. That would be gold!

[@RajvardhanShinde-wh1ok]

This is the best video I’ve come across so far. I regret having wasted so much time on traditional note-taking methods, only to lose much of the knowledge I’d gained. You’re absolutely right-I used to study a topic, take detailed notes in a notebook, and then, a year later, when I needed to review the concepts, I had to relearn everything from scratch. I repeated this process countless times. I wish I’d discovered this approach earlier; so much of what I learned could have been retained.

[@dilermo4943]

OMG man, I literally couldn't describe all my pain of note-taking including that subfolder unseen division, and thrown research for other related topics. God bless you because you have that ideea to post this video

[@BERNERAUS]

Firstly, thank you for a well structured, clearly explained video. I am in my 60s and have been reading, writing and teaching all my life. I am what is known asan "early utiluser" of technology. All that taken into consideration, I still find my system of hand-written notes - on sheets of paper, tagged by hand using 3M stickers, stacked in a binder under general headings - the most conducive to learning. Writing by hand slows you down, utilises more than one physical sense, and so focuses attention. For those who have ever seen a biblical concordance, you'll get what I am talking about in terms of system. I also believe that my constant shuffling through my notebooks also produces a kind of serendipity, and I often get unusual or novel ideas from pulling out unrelated stuff in ways that software precludes.

[@thepurposedrivenman]

I agree with this approach. As a young man in my twenties, when I really want to learn something, this approach has helped me retain and grasp the concepts better.

[@kingoietro99]

i still look often at random notes in obsidian and ridiscover my notes. To each their ones

[@Fernando-vx6rk]

Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences. I am a new teacher (5 years) with a lot to read and understand in order to improve, so I find these stories of years of dedication to learning and teaching truly inspiring. My current system is quite chaotic, and I often find myself switching softwares and wasting work. I am particularly intrigued by your method of using handwritten notes and would love to incorporate some of these techniques into my own system. If you don't mind, could you please share some tips or suggestions on this approach? I truly value expertise and would greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.

[@benbryan3618]

I’ve been looking forward to this like a new episode of of my fave TV show.

[@odysseas__]

Cheers man, I love to hear it

[@Tvtardy]

Same

[@shakebraza196]

​@@odysseas__how did you set up mic i have same but don't sounds like this

[@odysseas__]

@@shakebraza196 I have a preset on Premiere Pro which I learned from a few videos

[@catedoge3206]

Yuh

[@federicomoctezuma7512]

This is the first YT video I've watched more than twice in its entirety. It just made me see what I was doing wrong all this time with Obsidian (and note taking in general). Great straightforwardness and clarity. Thanks for sharing.

[@Red_Proton]

In all the months that I’ve been searching for how to best setup and start using Obisidian, this video has been the most practical, organized, and logical. Thank you!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, grateful to hear it

[@techreader]

Thank you for this. You know how to keep a video interesting, it's packed full of information, and the information is explained in a clear practical manner. I'm in my 60's, and aside from the normal aging and memory loss, caught Covid a couple of years ago. Been losing important memories at a frightening pace. Thinking clearly is a struggle, and I had to relearn how to read. I've been desperately keeping daily journals to remember who my friends and family are, remind myself of important events, and improve reading and writing. It's not been as successful as I'd hoped, but could have been much worse. Recently switched from Joplin to Obsidian, discovered Zettelkasten, found your video, and am incredibly excited. This may be the link between a daily journal and an organic extension to memory. Your explanation of Tags didn't click at first, but suddenly tonight, I got what you were saying! Your tags are like "Tags on Steroids!!" Sorry for the long explanation, but I wanted you to understand, when I tell you how much your video and your method, mean to me. It feels like a reprieve from execution. I'm hopeful and excited for the first time in a long time.

[@giorgiototarella1378]

Hey @techreader, how's going? Is Obsidian helping? Best wishes!!!

[@techreader]

@@giorgiototarella1378 Hi @giortiototarell1378, thanks for checking in! Yes, Obsidian has exceeded my highest hopes. Seeing improvement in at least three categories. In terms of "the missing word", I'm actually remembering words at the point in time I'm trying to use them. Not 100% of the time, but it's a dramatic improvement. My wife has even commented on it. In terms of reading, for the first time in three years, I can read a book and instead of fighting to understand it word by word, I'm finally "seeing" the story. It was so depressing to lose that, and so exciting to have it back!! Lastly, the most surprising aspect to me - the act of making links to things I journal, has spurred a myriad of memories I wasn't trying to think of, and so rapidly. The more things I link to other things and make mental connections, the more random mental connections have leaped into my mind. I'm writing frantically, and keeping crazy lists of "memories to add to my journal", I can't keep up with all the memories. Yesterday, out of the blue I started thinking about working in a graphics section 30 years ago, and suddenly remembered the brand names of the lettering sets I used to love using - Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph, and Leroy Lettering Sets... those hadn't crossed my mind in decades. I'm absolutely obsessed with Obsidian. And using Links as described in this video is what finally made it click. Whew. Sorry to ramble, but it's really exciting. I'm hoping the "2nd Brain" aspect of Obsidian will allow me, when it's my time, to leave a lasting legacy to my son. So that once I'm gone, he can search my vault now and then, remember good things, learning about my life before he was born and while he was little. 😀

[@techreader]

​@@giorgiototarella1378 Sorry for the slow reply; I answered almost immediately, but it doesn't seem to be here now. Trying again... As I've been linking my past year’s worth of notes, those links are also working in reverse and triggering memories that haven’t occurred to me in centuries. Decades, anyway... So while I’ve been going through old notes and linking thoughts in ways that make sense to me, I’m also frantically writing these newly remembered memories down and incorporating them into the gestalt. New things too; anything that makes sense, that I want to keep, goes in the “vault.” At the moment I have over 3000 notes; some just a single word or concept, others in depth. Some things evolve into full categories, which become organized into a series of master links, and I have an index page that links to those master links. As the process continues, I’ve seen interesting changes in three different ways. First, those lost memories. It’s been great (and sometimes not so great) remembering details of my life that I’ve forgotten. In a not-so-well-written-way, my journal has become my own personal “Sand County Almanac” of thoughts and things that dwell behind the wall of time. Second, while I still struggle for the right words, my ability to think of the actual word at the moment I need it is much better. My wife noticed the improvement. Third, and greatest, is the reading problem I’ve had since Covid. I say “forgot how to read”, but it’s more accurate to say I had to read one word at a time, and figure out what they mean as a group of words. What I lost was the ability to look at lines of text in a story, and see the story like a movie in my mind. Anyway, about three weeks after starting this intense process of linking multiple thoughts in multiple ways, I’ve started seeing the stories again. Not overly complex stories, at least not yet. For instance, I’ve always loved August Derleth, but at the moment his writing is too convoluted for me to visualize. It still takes work and concentration to read. But light fiction is working for me now. I read a trilogy by Natalie Grey, the first book is titled “You Need a Bigger Sword.” It was the first book in TWO YEARS and 10 MONTHS that I’ve been able to dive into and see the adventure like I was there. I’ve never stopped reading, and it’s been gradually improving all along, but I strongly believe the change happened because of Obsidian. Those weeks teaching my database to make links, to ‘think and remember’ in a human-like fashion, were also reinforcing that pattern in my own mind. Maybe I would have had that breakthrough anyway, but the timing is suggestive. Anyway, thanks for asking. I hope you're also enjoying the benefits of Obsidian!

[@techreader]

@@giorgiototarella1378 I've been trying to reply but my replies aren't sticking. Trying a short note, just to test.

[@murdermayhemuk]

I have been using Obsidian for this process for over a year. You idea of tagging is genius thank you for sharing it.

[@JanHoos]

Can I ask what’s better about it than using the normal tags as tags? no obsidian user yet, but curious :)

[@murdermayhemuk]

In my opinion it’s easy to see the files without any complicated data view set up and if you want to change a tag you just change a page name.

[@JanHoos]

@@murdermayhemuk aaah ofcourse! thanks ^_^

[@Ava_Violetta]

I've noticed that I'm unable to create a tag this way if the word already exists somewhere else? Have you also had this issue?

[@brileecart]

I’ve used obsidian for years to organize my coding projects and ideas. Your tagging process is brilliant

[@tamirsalem76]

Could you expand on that, how you do it etc

[@-bacon_bacon-]

Could you expand on the idea?

[@grantm.5975]

@@-bacon_bacon-I'm not OP, but I do something similar. For me this "second brain" note taking is great for both remembering things and for connecting new ideas. When I organize my code, however, I organize them based on projects. My overall end goal for the project Is the original "endnote", and I write out overarching ideas and pseudo code/crude diagrams to give me a feel for what I am attempting. I then break down my ideas into smaller concepts. These smaller concepts are notes that branch off from the original endnote, and go into further detail about the loose ideas jotted down initially. For example, if I wanted to recreate a webpage from scratch, my "endnote" would be discussing what parts of the twitter homepage I wanted to keep and how it might look. The further notes would be discussing how to recreate things like the search bar, and include online references that show me what kind of code I need. It helps my workflow, because I can easily organize my thoughts and quickly check my progress on a given task, and on the project as a whole.

[@amumuisalivedatcom8567]

​​@@grantm.5975 just switch to react bro lmao (just kiddin')

[@KingOfTheDeepSea]

I have completely set this up, on June 22nd, I will come back to this comment and give my overall review of what worked and what did not. EDIT: June 22nd Review I honestly can't thank you enough for this set-up. I had been using obsidian for 8 months now and I had not encountered a set-up this revolutionary. So here's the review, it is the least I can do as a thank you. 1. Tags I am unbelievably impressed. The fact that you came with the revolutionary idea to use notes as Tags was really unbelievable. I used them, and they worked. They helped me keep my notes really organized. I don't what happens, but I really like the feeling when you add a reference in a note. 10/10 2. Indexes Tags helps us organize notes, but how to organize the tags? I had that question for quite a while until I was exposed to "Indexes". I never thought about organizing Tags like this, and I can see it helping me avoid countless hours of organizing in the future. 10/10 3. Templates Even though I was using obsidian for 8 months, I had never knew about templates. And the Template you gave was a great one. Especially when you showed us how you write using that template. 10/10 4. Flexibility I really liked the overall set-up and that I could use it for other purposes with different vaults other than just writing about books, podcasts, articles etc. 10/10 5. Main Notes The idea to store all main notes inside a single folder and then organize them with tags was just fascinating. I used to keep my notes in folders and then subfolders. Which made it really annoying to find them again. 10/10 6. Overall Review Arguably the best obsidian set-up ever. - zero bs - zero exaggerations - detailed explanations - visually appealing - Unbelievably simple yet unbelievably effective - unbelievably GREAT. I hope you all will be open to new updates if I feel as though it will be necessary in future. Love this set-up. By the way, I didn't expect to receive so many replies in the comment. I'm not complaining in any way and I was also happy to see so many people waiting for this. 11/10

[@h4z4rd28]

commenting so that i get notified when you do

[@ivanlu4044]

samesies

[@KARTOPtop]

Progress?

[@gutostudiesmed]

tell me brother

[@KingOfTheDeepSea]

​@@gutostudiesmed Going "very well". The most remarkable thing in my eyes is using notes as Tags. I could talk about it all day but to be concise: it is helping keep my vault as organized as possible.

[@Rebleeude]

Your 'seemless like butter' moment cracked me up. I hadn't giggled like that in a while, thank you!

[@3rd_n3rd]

Same, especially when I considered the idea that butter might actually be quite seamless. Food for thought. 😂

[@merchantvagabond]

@@3rd_n3rd Food... like butter?

[@comment6449]

This is hands down the best guide I've seen to get started with obsidian, beautifly simple!

[@jolenepham]

Honestly when I started obsidian in the middle of my semester to take notes, i got so overwhelmed by the videos (the 1 video i watched), that I started just winging it. I honestly just love the little mind map thing and seeing how everything connects. Now I want to try to do my own research thats not school based, for my own learning! im so excited

[@odysseas__]

It takes getting used to, so best of luck there

[@YosepRA]

What a timely video, reflecting on my urgent need at the moment. My study hasn't been fruitful for a few months now, and I needed to change my system. I found your "Mini-Essay" video, and it struck me. When I read a book, I would often settle with writing a list of pointers about said books. And I found it hard to manage all of these knowledge in case I need to go back to review it. So, writing mini essays would fit perfectly in my routine. Now, that's one. Then I discover Obsidian in that video too. I thought to myself, "Hm, I wonder what this app could do?" I did quick search on KZbin and I found this video, freshly uploaded from 15 hours ago. I thank you for the help. Hopefully, it will also reach people who have similar struggles as I do.

[@odysseas__]

Amazing, I hope it's the answer to your issue!

[@TheGarretThief]

Well, I just got it recommended out of nowhere and this blew my mind. This is such an intelligent and informative video on such an abstract topic, huge props for it. And thanks for showing me an instrument I've been looking for!

[@kjoberk]

I recently went back to college and have been struggling with ways to keep my notes in such a way that is helpful when Im writing big research papers and have been using a combo of written notes, notes in books, and notes on word docs - i am so exicted to start using this process.

[@LukeBares]

I really like your approach. Not everything fits the way I work and my needs, but especially the concept of using notes as tags is so powerful! Thank you!

[@sebadziki6807]

You have inspired me to create my own "second brain". It's been years since I started thinking about something similar, but I wasn't familiar with this software. It seems perfect. Thank you so much! Your video was not only very inspiring, but also incredibly helpful. Your calm way of speaking and presenting the information made me feel very comfortable. I'm glad I happened to come across your video and not someone else. It certainly saved me from hyper-fixing and looking for the best options to create my system. Thank you again and I wish you all the best.

[@ByteOutcasts]

if you can't see the Linked mentions inside your Tags, you need to enable it from the top right corner, I might have missed it in the video or the app has a diferent default mode, but just so you know if you just started out, amazing video, thanks Odysseas, this is gold!

[@estebanestrella1558]

Thanks 👌

[@anhphamthikim5702]

i met this problem too and luckily i found your comment

[@gerardoperfors2645]

How?? What's the name of the option please?

[@sbonventure]

AMAZING. I have watched, over time, at least a half dozen videos on this topic. Complete waste of time because of the complexity. I love your system. Although you referred to "tags" in the video, technically, those are links. I'm sure if people are paying attention they'll see that, and, see that it's a much better way to "tag" notes. I have wasted a lot of time with Obsidian, but thanks to your clear, simple and uniquely effective system, I'll be using it A LOT more. Thank-you very much for sharing this. This is probably the most valuable video I've found on KZbin to date.

[@kenkamonn]

Sir Odysseas, I am just starting to be an adult, and I have a rough history. thank you so much for this intuitive work flow! I really relate to the "boggled down by too many features and plugins and that it completed an inefficient work system. This was an absolute delight, as I try to have more fun in the world learning, and starting college. I'm so glad I clicked on this video, because this was the first fun no bs demonstration I've seen done so beautifully. Thank you

[@gaminghubshorts07]

Make money

[@patoastral2118]

​@@gaminghubshorts07 for most thats not the goal, its to live of something you love specially if you are learning

[@gaminghubshorts07]

@@patoastral2118 money gives you power. power to buy time. And time is mos def something you need to pursue anything in life. Make money, buy time and then do whatever the fcuk you want to do.

[@patoastral2118]

@gaminghubshorts07 yeah when your 60 or dead, money is power but not the goal

[@priyankadatta4376]

This video has helped me finally start using obsisdian productively after watching countless other videos that just confused me. Thanks!

[@odysseas__]

So glad to hear it, thanks

[@turbozoid3695]

as a computer science student I usually take my notes in Notion, however this process solves the problem of interconnected topics within the field. for that sole reason alone, this man deserves a sub.

[@moons_mind]

I love organizing/taking notes and have been looking for a system that links ideas like this for a while. I really appreciate your no BS, simple and low maintenance setup. That is a rarity nowadays. Was curious to hear your thoughts on the following: - Do you have any concerns for Obsidian limiting access to your notes via paywall or deleting them altogether if the app is no longer supported? - Do you have any methods you use to transfer notes from physical highlights to digital notes in obsidian? Copying over from physical books seems like a painstakingly long process, have you found any ways of making it faster? The closest thing I can think of is using Kindle or Readwise. - Do you think AI can be leveraged to speed up the linking via tags by asking AI to come up with commons tags for you?

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, I really appreciate it. Interesting questions too! The first point is not impossible to imagine, but the fact they are stored as files locally means I don't worry about it. I have a backup copy too. My physical notes tend to be short and rough -just a sentence in the margin, so typing them up is where the real writing happens. I guess it is slow, but at least it's not boring copy work, and I benefit from the whole process. If I read most things online or on a kindle, I'd definitely use those apps to speed it up. I once used chat gpt to suggest tags for a note by giving it the title, and it was actually pretty helpful to unstick myself. It's risky though because only you know yourself -AI may tag according to what's most logical, but not necessarily what makes sense for your interests. I'd say if you're stuck for how to phrase a tag, use it as inspiration. Hope that all makes sense!

[@raspy__]

You put me on Obsidian a few months ago, but I definitely faced the issues you mentioned at the beginning. Thanks for releasing your system. The organizing structure definitely makes opening Obsidian up again look worth it.

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it!

[@orestis1]

I don't take this help for granted. Thank you so very much.

[@user-eg4nj5mw1d]

Thank you, Odysseas, for making this process as seamless as possible... like butter

[@hayato61256]

This is 100% a video worth watching . Its also something you would want to invest your time into and the benefits are said in the video . Lovely work man!!

[@bonifasiusbriantoni5179]

After a lot of pain and overwhelming searching process to use obsidian. Your video is totally worthed to view from the very beginning to very last second. Thank you for sharing, terima kasih

[@patrickhennessey2565]

I have been following your system for only a week, but it has been a revelation. I have wanted to make a Zettelkasten for years, but I always got bogged down in the BS and fluff. But this system actually works! Keep up the great work and much thanks!

[@francescopompo5960]

Great guide, I am setting this up almost identically. One thing only: Do not trust cloud providers, as they might lock your account for unknown reasons or lose the data. Backup both on the cloud and on a offline storage method.

[@odysseas__]

Good point actually. I back it up every week

[@ravanwijk]

Finally! A video that clearly explains how to set things up and examples how the process could work! Thanks!

[@Verition]

What you explained in the intro is exactly what my experience has been in trading

[@marcelberes469]

I have a system of my own up and running, but I like seeing how other people structure theirs. The way you use tags in sticks out to me, you basically create a MOC, instead of relying on the list that Obsidian makes for you with classic tags, it's quite clever.

[@odysseas__]

It's exactly that -I just try to avoid unfamiliar terms so it's simpler to follow

[@pr1712]

what is MOC?

[@pioussutherland]

I started using this for visualising how my work's structures are laid out. Look forward to watching this!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, hope it helps

[@aliopishtofa7073]

5 months of procrastination later I set it all up in less than an hour thank you sir Odysseas

[@devviz]

*20:26* _"chaos will slowly turn into order"_ *i love that.*

[@TheKarolka45]

Hi! I rarely comment on youtube and I actually thought that you have way more subscribers. So I just wanted to say that your videos are wonderful and have been really helpful to me! Your way of explaining things and topics is very clear and understanding, so thank you for sharing your insights and knowledge with us. I really appreciate your effort to make this high quality content, keep up the great work!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks! Really appreciate your words

[@lukakajinic3371]

This is the most complete video on this topic. I watched the two videos you linked here, but struggled to put them into practice. This one connects it all. Thanks Odysseas!

[@sabbotaj]

> Watched a video of you using Obsidian a few months ago > Came back to find the software name > Your latest video is a guide on using it Perfect timing. Subbed to the newsletter, keen to read the mini essays

[@odysseas__]

Love that, thank you too

[@jiaojiao7756]

thanks- i watched this video twice, once before and once after using obsidian, and each time and learnt a lot without getting overwhelmed. this is a gem!

[@lukeneto1990]

your intro has summed up my life in such a specific way it may have hurt physically. I have always been searching for multiple ways to do things, thinking that maybe then I'll end up mastering perfection in life if anything else; yet it is all I have spent my days doing, searching and looking, and reading and writing. Not creating, not posting, not showing, not doing. Now I wanna change it for good.

[@odysseas__]

Powerful words man, wishing you well

[@holasoyjose9683]

2:17 "this setup is free from BS"🤣🤣🤣🤣 you got me with this phrase man (I was skimming the video so as to assess if it was worth watching)

[@odysseas__]

Thanks man, I hope you agree

[@fadodohilario]

00:04 how nice ur graph looks like a fish.

[@FracturedParadigms]

The winds of grace are always blowing, but one needs to raise the sail

[@imgeffrey]

'Tagging' like that and then turning it in an index is freaking brilliant. Thank you for that!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, glad you like it too

[@EvieVerand]

Great video. I took the time in my day to listen to you for 36 minutes and I feel smarter than before. Thank you for providing and creating. I am looking forward to your continued excellence

[@EvieVerand]

Oh and two things more: It should be recommended to back up your files in a different place from time to time. I can't imagine the feeling of losing your notes. And: Try not to use questionable words like "cartel" in your videos, if you want to please the algorithm. Greetings from Germany

[@nandedeska]

"what? butter's not seamless..." cracked me up haha. Great video as always (and was definitely worth the wait) :))

[@odysseas__]

Haha thanks, I appreciate it

[@uncanny.valley]

Everytime I've ventured down this path... I'm left feeling this is nothing more than procrastination and mental masturbation. It's imprisoning. Once you truly understand something, as you've described, it unlocks some path of reasoning that can't be forgotten. And if you need to recall something, the internet is already the world's greatest recall machine.. and AI is only making it more intuitive.

[@theadimar7908]

It depends what you use it for. I'm a software engineer and I need to remember my company's product implementation details that I can't just Google. For that purpose an efficient note taking method makes me more competent.

[@uncanny.valley]

@@theadimar7908 agreed.. but personally I would file that under documentation and really, any wiki app would suffice

[@theadimar7908]

@@uncanny.valley Yes, but when you use company's wiki you can't take those notes with you when you switch jobs :)

[@VensystemsUk]

@@theadimar7908I’m just reviewing obsidian and appropriate use, and I think you’re right in identifying it’s about your own use… not just now, but in the future. Forming thoughts and cataloging with sources so the connections to future ideas are easier to make/recollect/reform in to new thoughts, with your additional knowledge acquired since that time, yet without the effort required to recollect acting as a preventing factor. where the system facilitates deeper research on the previous thought in context to the new idea, however abstract the connection maybe. Starting to see my use of Obsidian Notes being focused on reusable thoughts to allow the forming new concepts at speed, which will only be delivered to a structured medium outside of obsidian, be it a paper, piece of content, design, or database structure.

[@Niro_sounds]

This insinuates your memory is as good as the internet is at retrieving info. That's just not true. There is no way that you can remember everything you have learned all at once. That's what this system is for. It's not so you can feel egotistical about yourself and accomplishments. This isn't something meant to be shown off.

[@johana.1513]

Its time to level up learning!

[@jackrabbitron]

The folders alone are amazing -- I wasn't using tags correctly, but now, storing tags in a separate folder is totally transformative. Great video.

[@edujyoung]

The web of info is not ugly. It’s beautiful. It looks more like life. Organic. Alive. True. I love the folders and IA systems I’ve developed, but I’ve always wanted proper tagging and meta data systems that was accessible and somewhat simple. This resonaaaaates. Thank you.

[@odysseas__]

You're right, and thanks too

[@jameslangbein1471]

To quote my favourite sniper movie: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast 🙂

[@y2kprawn]

I have one of those sewing machines.

[@ampairecollins6126]

What does it mean when you say a SINGLE IDEA?

[@GSD77770]

Every note in the Zettelkasten should contain only one ideia

[@remigilliot9763]

Hey Odysseas, I'm a newbie in that promessing Obsidian world, and your video is by far the best on I've watched out there. (I've watched a lot) I mean like you told us, no bullshit plugins, no tips and tricks here and there or some ultra specific workflow. This is the video, that I'm watching every day since I've started using Obsidian because I feel like you introduced Obsidian the way it should be : a personal tool that will grow with us. Truely love you work, thank you so much !

[@emergencypestwildlife8399]

Thanks for pulling this together. It was the best explanation and guide to setup Obsidian I've come across. For my mind at least. Much appreciated.

[@PSP_24]

Hear me out. Taking notes on a computer is a cripple. Be there in the moment and enjoy life a little. It's not always about the learning and if you just let yourself experience things in real time then you will learn and naturally make connections without relying on a computer to remember everything for you. You dont remember what you type, but you do remember what you write down. Use paper amd write down the important stuff. If you journal every day youll force yourself to reflect more often and the learning is done during your processing and organizing information, not receiving the information. If you're trying to learn from books, use paper back and write inside the book or handwrite some notes, dont put everything into a computer because you dont remember anything and therfore making it harder to actually learn.

[@ivanlu4044]

nice perspective

[@justtese8179]

I agree, but you should try both! I write everything down and then transfer them to obsidian in order to see connections that I might have missed. Transferring them gives me the option to properly organize them and reflect on what I’ve already written.

[@geolrik]

this is a method for people who need something far more thorough, and it is extremely unhelpful to make generalisations like this. everyone learns differently, this isn't for everyone, but it's extremely valuable for those who need to collate a large amount of information (writers, researchers, essayists, students etc...) and sort it effectively. i always prefer taking physical notes but because of my adhd, my memory is poor (not everyone remembers what they write down!) and so obsidian has been massively helpful in being able to actually find what ive written down when i need it instead of rifling through my pile of notebooks for ages lmfao

[@blackwhip8028]

You do remember everything. Reflecting on passages on these books and making visual and easy to modify connections between their points is really useful. It is less time consuming than writing things down. IT doesn't allow for making active connections and creating a breeding ground for insights. Also, like you said, the learnin is done when you are processing the information. But thats only half of it. Actually putting the knowledge to use in your life keeping it constantly fresh and digested in your mind is the higher level of it. Receiving the info, in his more recent video, he already stated that just reading and annotating the book, like you mentioned, was 20%, and I do agree with him on that. I just want to say, that I disagree with what you said that Taking notes on a computer is a cripple.

[@blackwhip8028]

Obsidian has been really useful, and whilst it doesn't really manage my life, (i have a journal, a notepad, and a compendium for that) it has been vital for putting my ideas somewhere organized and somewhere where insights comes freely, and where my information intake throughout the day is constantly processed and utilized.

[@turkanthearabella]

well, am i stupid cuz i couldnt understand anything feeling like crying its so complex

[@JP_-oq3xn]

Literally me rn

[@rseyedoc]

That was me at the beginning also. Remember that a "vault" is just a folder that contains all your text files, any folder you choose or create. Don't install any plug-ins at first. Just use it as simply as possibly. Create a note. In your note add text and then [[new-note]] to see how it creates a new linked note for you. Just play with this until it's comfortable.

[@turkanthearabella]

@@rseyedoc thanks but i was trying to write my book there

[@yugshende3]

@turkanzkaleidescope is it possible that there are certain basics that you don’t quite understand?

[@turkanthearabella]

@@yugshende3 yup

[@soumyamukho]

Absolutely genuine and wonderful video. Man, it's quite unbelievable for me that even that I struggle with watching 20mins (lately, I'm recovering though) videos at one stretch because it feels monotonous, I watched this entire one, even paused, thought, replayed some sections, but I did not get distracted with something else. I've watched you talking about being generalist and I like your videos. Excellent and thanks.

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, that's nice of you to say. Hope it did its job well.

[@MoMunknee]

Thank you for being straight forward and showing us visually how to put this together.

[@jeffbueno6342]

wonderful! I'm coming back here after a few months to thank you for this video. Even though I don't use this structure, and prefer zettelkasten within a more structured system, this was by far the most useful and fluid video I've seen on the subject. It showed me how zettelkasten is not just another study and note-taking method, but a complete change of mindset, and changed the starting point I had to create my own system. Thank you!

[@AIversation]

Watched only half of the video, and loved it so much that I couldn't stop from subscribing to this channel.

[@odysseas__]

Really appreciate that, thanks

[@honotam]

I hope your video will help me with my writing adventure with Obsidian. In 2022, I tried to crawl out of this rabbit hole of tags, various setups found on YT, and unnecessary plugins. As you mentioned in this video, I just wasted my time and haven't done much writing, eventually giving up. Now I go with simple way of set up and focus on what really matters - writing. Thank you for your clear guidance!

[@luisbauels]

Congratulations on the video. With KZbin full of "experts", finding a video like yours is a huge help, because the proposal was presented from the beginning... in other words, the path you took will shorten the lives of those who start now.

[@squidux]

wow, I've never heard of Zettelkasten or Obsidian and stumbled on this video after prompting with claude and checked this out and OMG. Such a satisifying find and exciting and refreshing. I don't hear people talk about systems that tie together learning, thinking, memory recall, searching, and self induced knowledge base. Being an innovator and builder this is so critical becasue if there is no system our ideas become a distraction and get in the way of actually ... building to the capacity we are capable of and satisfied with.

[@odysseas__]

Glad to hear it, thanks. The goal of this is to make the organisation of notes second nature so that you can focus on the writing and thinking. It's not perfect, but I hope it gets the job done.

[@gustavocarvalho3077]

Thank you KZbin's algorithm for showing me this video. Exactly what I needed at this point in life. Never heard about Obsidian or Zettelkasten system before but I'm giving it a try. Also, great job explaining and walking through how you organize your vault. I'm going to follow that because of the simplicity of it and it is not written in stone, which means I can adapt it to my own goals and writing style.

[@luiskirilovich1182]

This video came out right about the time. I had planned to change my tactic of plannint notes to make them more understandable and catchy. Your labour is a great investment into my future. Thank you a million times for it.

[@SLTYMILK]

One of the best “how to” videos I’ve seen on KZbin for almost anything. This made it easy for me to set up my Second Brain vault in under 20 minutes. Now, time to start moving my heaps of pen and paper notes into my second brain…

[@odysseas__]

Thanks man, and believe me I'm still doing it to this day..

[@sandshrew118]

I've watched tens of videos on how to use Obsidian and other markdown apps like Joplin. I've been using Joplin for a couple of years and I've loved it, but as far as I can tell it doesn't handle links or tags as well as Obsidian, so finding random bits of information in notes you made ages ago seems much better in Obsidian. That's what I want: just make a note now and be able to categorise / organise / link / tag it so I can find it with all other relevant information later. Finally I understand the difference between links, back links, and outgoing links. This is easily the best video on using Obsidian I've watched. You can tell there's such a difference, this guy actually uses it and describes the process really well. Must have taken a while to distill into this simple process. Thanks so much!

[@ganpopanao8006]

THIS IS A MUST WATCH for anyone who's new to Obsidian. You're the man! I was lost in Obsidian plugins madness and obsessed by those unnecessary gimmicks then I found you, Thank you!

[@jackfringe]

Thanks for taking the time to create this. You speak in a language I understand. I use scrivener and word to write fiction. I keep notes in Google Keep, Apple Notes and explore and leave notes in many other programs. Now where did I leave it? I also write reviews on films in IMDB, Vimeo and KZbin as well as book reviews in Goodreads and Amazon. I am all over the place not knowing where anything is - and I have no reference to any of these on my computer. Also, atomic notes is awesome and a whole new concept for me. I am now understanding the idea of a second brain and look forward to getting to know Obsidian better. I have been totally confused by some reviewers on youtube who either cannot explain themselves or are not using Obsidian - but create videos on how to use it. Also thanks for giving links to other videos from reviewers who have inspired you - the Russian chap, Artem Kirsanov, is excellent.

[@Kitty_Cosmic]

My first note, is about this video. I watched this video a couple months ago, and decided hey, I have so many ideas and so much I want to do I better write this all down. But, the thing is I'm sick of traditional notes. I've more had enough of writing down notes on different devices, or apps, all for them to end up lost or meaningless in the end. I'm so glad I came across this video, it's such a big help for me and I'm going to use this to my full potential. Thank you so much

[@James-nj6be]

You've earned my sub, I don't think I've come across another youtuber who has benefited my real life this much.

[@odysseas__]

Cheers man, I'm grateful to hear it

[@y2kprawn]

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us, this is is the most helpful video I have seen to date on using obsidian by keeping it simple. Stuff goes real deep real quick in other videos, and sometimes its nice to just step back and see what the bare basics of what you want to achieve are.

[@gen.ZER0-24]

This was the only video I needed to watch to set up my second brain. Thank you 🙏🏼

[@yvettemedrano6174]

I agreed on you in everything and I'm glad you make a content about this because our notes can be better with Obsidian. Obsidian is more than just an application for note taking system; Its a life-saver. Because I am looking for an application where I can write my messy thoughts and make it understand. But with obsidian, I can understand it faster than I was before. Kudos to who invented this it made my ideas clear and thorough.

[@mostlycoldandfullofrocks3317]

As a creative writer with many subplots, Obsidian's potential of keeping track and drawing threads to my ideas will be wonderful. This'll be quite an undertaking but I'm excited for it.

[@mrbranmar]

I like how you explained the why and the value of note taking before diving straight into Obsidian. This is exactly what I needed. Thank you :)

[@odysseas__]

Glad it helped, thanks!

[@roguephilosopher2465]

Great content! I recently graduated college but I’ve still kept all my research from the beginning of my freshman year. By way of habit, I tend to have an organized chaos which on its surface is organized but on the inside it’s divided. Obsidian is great tool especially for pattern based matching from terms

[@FyreofShadow]

Brilliant! Think this is the perfect thing for my ADHD brain, once my "database" so to speak gets built up I foresee things getting much easier. Really opens a new avenue for me, and I gotta thank you for that!

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it, and thanks too

[@simplyhuman2213]

The speaker is a genuinely good person