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

Obsidian has been the centerpiece of my self-education for 10 months now, proving itself as the perfect outlet for my reading, writing and thinking.
By combining mini-essays with the Zettelkasten system, I've created a workflow which fits my learning like a glove, and I hope it'll work the same for you.
Here, notes go beyond mere online post-it notes.
They're opportunities to learn, to practice writing, to store big ideas and to serve your future projects in any creative endeavor you love.
Subscribe to my Newsletter:
odysseas.ck.page/509a9315a4
Download Obsidian:
obsidian.md/
Atomic vs Literature Notes Video:
• Effective Note-Taking ...
Mini-Essays Video:
• Mini Essays: The Ultim...
For more Obsidian (some of the resources that helped me set up my own):
• My simple note-taking ...
• Solving The Folder, Ta...
• Watch This to Finally ...
00:00-00:16 Intro
00:16-2:23 Avoiding Toxic Perfectionism
2:23-2:53 My Testimony
2:53-4:22 The Zettelkasten
4:22-5:12 The Value of Being Slow
5:12-6:25 Instant Feedback
6:25-9:14 Perfect Idea Storage
9:14-10:22 The Power to Remix Ideas
10:22-14:00 Your Personal Writing Assistant
14:00-20:34 Folder Setup + How to Tag
20:34-22:30 Important Settings
22:30-24:03 Note Template
24:03-24:58 Creating a New Note
24:58-35:38 Writing a Note (Start-to-Finish)
35:38-36:26 Ask Me Anything

[@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 :(

[@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

[@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

[@James-Renown]

@@JamesSmith-ix5jd is elitism personified. You're a joke.

[@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

[@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.

[@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 !

[@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

[@n.j.9117]

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

[@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.

[@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?

[@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

[@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.

[@ricardofleuranvil]

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.

[@EcomCarl]

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

[@odysseas__]

Thanks!

[@EcomCarl]

@@odysseas__ Cheers my man! keep winning

[@Rebleeude]

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

[@Fotenks]

I’ve been using Obsidian for a couple years. Yes there is a learning curve but it’s way easier than it might appear and oh so worth it. I feel like I’ve built a really efficiently read Wikipedia of my knowledge and brain that has made learning way better but also saves me so much time from re-researching old topics I delve back into. I put my vault in iCloud so that my notes are always synced to my phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop.

[@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!

[@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!

[@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

[@brileecart]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@FracturedParadigms]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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 ^_^

[@ashkumar7224]

This was a great video. It has helped me attempt to make the jump from casual Obsidian user - mostly using it as a simpler Word - to using it more as a journal. I'm also happy that this lead me to your channel since you have a lot of interesting content on an interest we share - how to become a polymath. Looking forward to your videos.

[@Congq13245]

Thank you, the keyword i learned from is "keep it simple"

[@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!

[@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

[@vlchalwell]

Man, thanks for this! I've struggled with this. Love your approach.

[@LuigiSimoncini]

I found this video BRILLIANT and wanted you to know how grateful I am, just what I needed!

[@GabrielCarusetta]

Love the way you wrote this video! Can’t wait to try it!

[@gustavosena7876]

Thanks a lot. I'm going to start using it, and maybe a year from now, I'll be very grateful for this.

[@carythesnail]

I just put together my first Obsidian Vault because you mentioned it offhand in your Mini Essay video. Such an incredible tool, and I was stoked to see that you’re going to go more in depth on it!

[@odysseas__]

Cheers, hope it helps

[@orestis1]

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

[@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

[@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!

[@AMVSSound]

Yesss, been looking forward to this one. Have been interested in various subjects like psychology, philosophy, theology, this is gonna be great to keep everything in one place. Thanks for taking your time on this one, glad it’s finally out !

[@odysseas__]

They'll merge nice with this -thanks too!

[@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!

[@bronjo9343]

Great video guide, simple and straight forward. 🤩 I set everything up right away, ready to grind.

[@aydeepng]

this is a brilliant video, a lot of other Obsidian videos, try to elaborate on much more complex ideas in a quarter of the time and it definitely puts people off trying the system. You kept it simple, explained it clearly and didn't rush. Thank you!

[@odysseas__]

Hearing this means a lot, thank you

[@user-vq4le9si6w]

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

[@user-vq4le9si6w]

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

[@nedyalkokarabadzhakov5405]

This is in top 3 best explantions with very clear and understandable approach about this topic, which only comes if you truly understand the topic.

[@CRANEREVIEWS]

Who would the other two be, mind sharing? Urgh, KZbin doesn't have a DM function, right? :(

[@princeinparis]

i've been looking to get in the zettelkasten wave for a while but couldnt find a simple SOP for doing it, you deserve all the love in the world man, ty.

[@odysseas__]

Cheers I really appreciate it

[@AfterimageTV]

Wow this video came out with incredible timing. I found Obsidian a little over a week ago and I knew that I needed to find a system for note taking that would work for me before becoming deeply involved with using this program. I'm currently wrapping up my first semester of grad school. I've been trying to find good note taking habits, and between finding Obsidian, and now finding your video I feel better equipped but also a little overwhelmed to find that my note taking skills are in their infancy. But you referenced a lot of useful tips, books, and your other videos, so I do thank you for the time and consideration you put towards this video. I'm absolutely subscribing and I will be checking out your other videos to learn more. Thanks a bunch, I know for sure that this will have a positive influence on my work life!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks! It's tricky at first but I'm sure you'll find a flow in no time

[@posionsoup]

How has obsidian worked out for you since then?

[@AfterimageTV]

@@posionsoup I haven't gotten to really go in on it. But I do use it daily. I haven't done any indepth note taking on it yet. I'm reading through a book that I plan to note take on. I start my summer semester next week so that's when I'll probably be putting it to heavy use.

[@WesleyCraig93]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this process. I've been sloppily taking notes in my Notes app for far too long and have been hungry for organization. I'm excited to give this a try!

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated, hope it works well for you

[@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!

[@specialrobot71]

This was just the video I needed after watching the one on mini essays. I'm liking Obsidian, so far.

[@user-hx1lp6fc9r]

Such a nice time for your video to come out, I just wanted to learn obsidian and you are the perfect teacher and first impression. Thanks :)

[@masonmrf]

such a great video after I've struggled (and given up) on the idea of a second brain altogether. thank you so much

[@adohira_8053]

Ive just been using my obsidian as a sinple way to get onto writing my book, (its fiction) but i have like 5 folders so far with many notes and mini folders within the 5 main folders, one is for my characters, one for my art, one for my references, one for my plot, and one for my raw ideas, this video has definitely helped my understanding of obsidian and reignited my creativity, maybe now i will be overy writers block

[@kaylemfj]

This is revolutionary, I'm excited to get started

[@svensvw]

Im really glad I stumbled over this video. I tend to have a problem with focusing on reading or elobarate on stuff I read although I would really like to. As well as I really want my own ideas to form something own I can publish eventually. This video really motivated me to start my own "Zettelkasten" and to revist the books I have read to further elaborate on stuff in them. I even got motivated to look into things I am not that interested in normally. Like maths etc. Thanks a lot! Now I only have to make filling my "Zettelkasten" a daily habit :D

[@ofenkaseoffizier9343]

Short time ago when i first learned of Obsidian i was sceptic but now having implemented it, it works fir all my uni and private reading and working. Thanks for the tips!!

[@MrZzack]

could u tell me how it helped u with ur uni studies?

[@ofenkaseoffizier9343]

@@MrZzack So im studying philosophy, and i use obsidian in two ways. First when I have to read journal texts i in a course i will collect all my notes on the text in an obsidian note, and all texts in an an index, i will have to write a paper at the end of the term, so i read additional texts on the side to find a theme for that paper and go through all my notes again in one place and what if written about it. Second thing is I do a kind of personal glossary, for example in logic where i extract definitions from the textbook. For example validity is an obsidian note and in there cunter examples might play a role, so its linked to the note counter example and so on. THe bene fit is for me to have it explained to myself in my own words, instead of reading it. I hope this helps you

[@thejokewasonme8062]

Hi Odysseas, thank you so much for the pointers in taking down notes, mini essays, passive learning and now for Obsidian. I am a tax professional, and in our tax advices, I relate to your ideas that some cases or applicable rules for research are lost if not used in the final deliverable -- hence, lost and forgotten. This made me realize to organize my notes in order to avoid the mental strain in remembering and retrieving ideas.

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated, and it's great to see it work in professional fields too

[@jeremyessers1091]

Clearest Zettlekasten setup video I've ever seen. I never started because it was so daunting. But this seems way easier, thanks!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, glad to hear it's understandable

[@jdmregal]

Love this. Always enjoy watching people's processes. Thanks for the great videos.

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, I do too. Always something nice to steal, or at least consider

[@jdmregal]

@odysseas__ to paraphrase a quote...one source is stealing, multiple sources is research.

[@odysseas__]

@@jdmregal Amen to that

[@cody.vagabond]

Nice tutorial! I took A LOT of inspiration out of this. I made an extra folder, "Assets". It's photos and videos mostly, which I copied into the file folder and I'm linking in notes I write (they also show up in the note if it isn't a too wild file format). For example, I'm on a photography platform where I gave a like to every photo I found to be excellent work or something I'd like to do myself, about 1000 photos. And I link them in a note and describe what I like about it and what it inspires in me.

[@maherhasan4517]

You made me use obsidian again after i left it for pen and paper but faced the same problem you mentioned in the video. Great video. You earned a new sub.

[@valentinnemirovsky2971]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@MarigoldAW]

I came to the same conclusion as well! all those other plugins and features are just gimmicks that didn't really help me start taking notes. Just getting started with Obsidian bare bones really helped me start to get into the groove of linking and organizing. Awesome video that will help many many people.

[@39ElBarto]

one more thing which you can use for tags: for your tags-notes you can add file property 'aliases' and to put there synonyms of your tags. this will allow to find your tag in search with different words. maybe it is more necessary for people, who use 2 or more languages. For example I use 'health' tag and put in aliases "здоровье" (in russian). then I can write in search any of these words and file 'health' will be founded.

[@odysseas__]

I didn't know this existed but it sounds great

[@bucketaos8066]

Genuinely so happy that I found this channel when I did You've been so helpful in me starting a new chapter in life

[@odysseas__]

I'm thankful to hear it -best of luck to you

[@stephaniemuller5500]

Found you 2 days ago and keep saving your videos en masse for learning during my sabbatical, very excited about this one, thank you!

[@odysseas__]

Grateful to hear it, thanks!

[@rimuru2235]

thanks man I been wanting to have something like this in my life. Something where I can keep my thoughts or things I learned or read just everything I want to take note off so I can look back and read it again and maybe explore it deeper. Great guide im going to dl it now.

[@AmbientTonez-fr4pw]

Omg your story is identical to what I did with did Airtable. Every emotion and all of the trial and errors of perfection. Thanks for this video!

[@peach9265]

I've been using obsidian for a little while now and while I don't think I will be using it quite the way you do, I found your method of tagging really useful and will try implementing it in my vault! so thank you!

[@odysseas__]

Nice, it's good to stay true to your own system sometimes, so I respect that

[@raveendiran_rr]

Found this video informative and crisp. Thanks for making this video

[@odysseas__]

Glad to hear it, thanks

[@39ElBarto]

Thank you for this video! I totally agree with you , that after 10 videos about obsidian you begin to afraid use it. You approach seems to be interesting. I'll try! thank you!

[@LucasSantos-vk4dk]

O vídeo mais completo de Obisidian que já encontrei na net...thanks bro!

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated

[@lambdacalculus3505]

Thank you! I just started learning how to take notes, and this seems great as both a personal journal and a note-taking device. Going to binge watch your videos now :]

[@odysseas__]

Thankful to hear it! I hope they serve you well

[@gobi7764]

No way- i was going to learn obsidian today and you dropped a video o it with a perfect timing! Looking forward to using obsidian, thank you!

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it, thanks!

[@PeterIntrovert]

Synchronicity 🌌

[@hamoody122]

I have waited for so long for this and it's finally here thank you.

[@odysseas__]

Relieved to have it out -hope it does the job

[@SilentRaven77]

Was looking forward to this. Thank you so much!

[@odysseas__]

Hope it was worth the wait, thanks

[@Binhdubiee]

Here we are🎉! Congrats on this great video. This video really helps me on my journey of managing my PKM. Big thanks!!!

[@odysseas__]

Thanks! Love to hear it helped

[@rianbaring1684]

i never knew how much i needed you.

[@colinmiller744]

Many thanks for this, really helpful, like you I’ve struggled with Obsidian and using it in a way I find useful. And like you I’ve gone down that rabbit hole of plug-ins and systems. I’m a historian so I need a system that links masses of material, links that make sense is key. So just like you I restated stripped everything out and create notes pretty much like you do. Like the idea of empty notes as tags and converting them to index’s.ill use that.

[@DayoSamuelMastery]

Just to let you know, I just installed Obsidian yesterday and thought let me find a video to understand what next. I was beginning to go down the setup path, before I paused, in fact what led me here. So great job, mate

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it, thanks

[@anthonylopez1077]

How iconic, I just downloaded obsidian yesterday

[@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

[@silverstar501]

i only just started this video but i am glad you pointed out the videos watching and the toxic perfectionism thing since i've been trapped in that for so long

[@bran5605]

I just started reading Sönke Ahrens book last week and was overwhelmed by Obsidian! This came at the perfect time

[@Nali7890]

yh zettlekasten is very interesting

[@shubhamthakur3321]

I was literally about to uninstall the obsidian, because I am unable to keep my notes organized, but this video seem straight forward, hope this will help me big time. THANKS ALOT!!

[@presto1750]

Yes! Thanks for making this video. I've gone back to using Obsidian after seeing your mini-essay video.

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated, I hope it works for you

[@padawanlence7039]

thank you so much! the source material section makes so much sense! never woulda thought of that

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated!

[@maldoso76]

I recently got Obsidian bc of your videos. It's bittersweet because I do have notebooks 📓 full of notes from my reading these past few years that I have to sit through and kinda upload to connect them with the rest of my notes. 😅 such a great system of knowledge organization.

[@PeterIntrovert]

Maybe that's better. You can use Obsidian to store information and stuff but that would be only convinient. The main point of Obsidian if you use it for thinking is that you constantly work on your notes and go back to previous ones to revise them. Now you have occassion to look again on your own notes and make them alive again. If it was me I would probably don't just upload content but rather do selection and put to the system only the best notes and also would try to simplify them and transform a little to adapt them to a new role. It's like in another system I saw, your notes would be captures and references but now you can do next step which is cristalization. If you see emergence of bigger patterns, some general themes then you can create hub notes that would summarize and connect related notes. Nice idea I discover recently. Wish you satisfying experience with Obsidian. 👋

[@odysseas__]

I had the same trouble to start -I'm still slowly transferring them over, which at least keeps it from being boring.

[@elisa8666]

Great video, as always. I find your content so inspiring and I’ve been playing around with mini-essays for some time now and they’re so cool! I know you are not using plugins but I will suggest one (1) that I think is a game changer for obsidian: Excalidraw. I feel like one of the main drawbacks of Obsidian is the absence of diagrams or drawings (schemes, etc) that might be helpful to better visualise the content of the note - as you highlighted in the intro, drawings are the best advantage of hand-written notes. The plugin has a lot of stuff one can play with, but it is incredibly intuitive in and of itself, so I feel like it could fit in your minimal workflow. I use it almost daily especially for more scientific-centered notes, but I feel like it might be interesting for philosophical arguments as well.

[@hangryzombit535]

hay, this video is really good, I think it's a good length and teaches a lot about methods to use obsidian, thanks a bunch!

[@AlexisLK]

I don't want to break your hype, I was also into Obsidian for a while, I thought it was the best, then, I discovered Capacities, and I truly realized that it's going to be the best (at least for me) for many years.

[@odysseas__]

Had a look and it doesn't seem too different -what attracts you to it?

[@AlexisLK]

@@odysseas__ It would be long to explain, but to make it short, the big difference is that Obsidian offers you almost unlimited personalization BUT in exchange you have to spend hours and hours just learning how to code it or watching tons of tutos to just setup the tool and it's constantly pushing you to modify it and it never stops. Capacities offers pretty much the same service but everything is way more "framed" so you don't spend tons of hours customizing it, and it super intuitive. If I had to symbolize it, Obsidian is like your own made up computer where you can modify it with all the exact pieces you want to make it unit but in return you spend a LOT of time. Capacities is more like the pre-built super strong computer, that skips the months of making your computer yourself and gives you right away the perfect balance and configuration for very similar performance.

[@ryadaj2220]

I've been using Obsidian since it was released (almost). I've watched countless videos and read many articles. I have to say, the way you describe links/notes as tags clicked with me. I'm one of those die-hards who uses #tags instead of [[tags]], and I believe either can lead to the same result, but there is certainly an appeal to only using links. My one obstacle was having low visibility on ghost links, but your folder full of empty notes achieves the same result as the tag menu. I like this. Editing a few minutes later to add that a core benefit of "links as tags" is adding synonyms as aliases. Great video and thanks for derailing my work day ;)

[@Ali-mi9up]

yeah but also tags are suitable to use for the property/attributes of the note. The [[thing]] approach is used to make rough smaller scale MoCs like structures that may span subjects/areas. For instance you may have the topic of Discipline in the context of exercise as well as developing habits, and so any allusions to, and use of, [[Discipline]] would be more granular - as Links let us refer all the way down to the level of sections. These references to [[Discipline]] may be from a source note, a rough note, or a core note. Keen observation btw, Links as an affordance let us have synonyms. Which I assume is better used for subject matter, than for attributes/properties.

[@odysseas__]

Thanks, I'm glad it made sense beyond the traditional system (which is also great btw). Also I never knew you could do the aliases thing, so thanks for bringing it up!

[@debastosj]

Thank you for this very honest and practical video. Obsidian has completely revolutionized the way I collect, classify and organize information for research and writing. But I believe that, to maintain this advantage, I have to keep the configuration functional and simple or it no longer makes sense to use it. So it makes a good partnership with pen and paper which I continue to use.

[@odysseas__]

Well said, and thank you

[@justaname999]

The slow down part is so important! I was looking for a decent pdf summarizer to help with a learning resource me and my students were setting up in a class that involved loads of reading and to some extent access to past readings. The idea was to have a student-lead summary alongside a mechanistic/ML-generated summary to see the differences. While evaluating different tools, I came across a comment somewhere asking "can I use this for whole books? I want to be able to read more novels in less time." That is the saddest thing ever, but, unfortunately, that is how a lot of the current attention/learning economy works. And it's really really sad. Now between me being a first-year student myself and being faculty teaching undergrad students, there are only like 12 years. We obviously used computers "back in the day" as well but it was not as ingrained in us to expect access to these condensed bits of knowledge and prepared lecture slides. Some lecturers didn't even have slides. We had reading materials and a rudimentary script with some concepts on it. And that really meant that learning and concept linking had to happen in this slow, deliberate and self-propelling way. It meant that I had a slightly different set of knowledge than the person next to me, a slightly different lens would be guiding my essays than his, etc. I really think that a lot of what you describe is extremely valuable and important and I'll try to pass it on to students.

[@zhongshen.xuexizhe]

Favorite youtuber makes a video about the tool I have been curious about. Isn't that amazing 😊

[@odysseas__]

Thanks! Really appreciate it

[@Nali7890]

fr

[@pourmeaglassofmalk]

Thank you so much for making this video. Another one of your videos inspired me to download Obsidian but I was quickly overwhelmed. I recently decided to get serious about establishing a writing habit, so I'm glad that I have Obsidian set up and I know how to use it. I'm looking forward to having a big web of connections like you do 😆

[@odysseas__]

Love to hear it makes sense, thanks

[@BrotherShev]

Great work, brother. This was very helpful and a great channel. Keep up the excellent work.

[@odysseas__]

Thank you, really appreciate it

[@abysmal7000]

Been looking forward to this video, thank you

[@odysseas__]

Cheers, hope it helps

[@tatame13]

Thank you for your newsletter with this information

[@odysseas__]

Much appreciated!