Overview
This lecture demonstrates how to start using Obsidian with the Zettelkasten note-taking method, covering folder structure, types of notes, practical workflow, and essential tips for efficient knowledge management.
Getting Started with Obsidian & Zettelkasten
- Download Obsidian from the official website and install it for your operating system.
- Create a new vault and choose a secure storage location, preferably backed up to the cloud or use Obsidian Sync.
- Learn basic navigation: create folders and notes, use tags, and make links between notes.
- Adjust settings to avoid clutter by specifying default locations for new notes.
Essential Folder Structure
- Create three core folders: Fleeting Notes, Literature Notes, and Permanent Notes.
- Optional additional folders: Content Creation (for scripts, ideas), Unsorted (for attachments, clippings), Daily/Weekly/Monthly Reviews, Planning, Templates, and Ratings.
- Organize images and PDFs in a dedicated attachments folder.
Types of Notes Explained
- Fleeting Notes: Quick, unstructured brain dumps or ideas to process or delete later.
- Literature Notes: Notes from books, articles, lectures, or media; typically include title, author, tags, date, outline, and references.
- Permanent Notes: Short, atomic explanations of important concepts written in your own words, linked to related ideas, and include sources.
Best Practices for Smart Notes
- Write permanent notes in your own words to ensure understanding—avoid copy-pasting.
- Make notes atomic: each note should cover one idea and be concise.
- Link related or opposing ideas to avoid confirmation bias and enrich understanding.
- Add sources, tags, and dates for context and easy retrieval.
- Use outlines for structured literature notes and highlight key concepts.
- Review and update your system regularly to fit your workflow.
Obsidian Tips & Plugins
- Focus on note-taking, not excessive customization or plugins.
- Learn Markdown basics for efficient editing.
- Use only essential plugins: calendar, checklist, clearing unused images, font loader, note count, natural language dates, outliner, periodic notes, reading time, and recent files.
- Utilize Graph View to visualize and connect ideas, manage orphan notes, and deepen subject understanding.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Obsidian — A markdown-based note-taking app for personal knowledge management.
- Zettelkasten — A system for organizing notes into interconnected, atomic concepts.
- Fleeting Notes — Temporary, unprocessed ideas to be reviewed or deleted later.
- Literature Notes — Notes summarizing consumed content, categorized and referenced.
- Permanent Notes — Concise, self-contained notes written in your own words, linked to related ideas.
- Atomic Notes — Very short notes focusing on a single concept or idea.
- Graph View — A visual interface in Obsidian showing connections between notes.
- Markdown — A lightweight markup language used to format text in Obsidian.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Download and install Obsidian; set up your vault and folder structure.
- Experiment by taking a few fleeting, literature, and permanent notes.
- Learn basic Markdown formatting.
- Test features like linking, tagging, and graph view.
- Review your workflow periodically and adjust folder/note structures as needed.