Fantastic video! Great explanation of the Zettelkasten method and how it is used in practice. There are many great learnings here including how to get the best out of Obsidian.
Here’s a structured list with **timecodes** and the **main topics** covered in the video: 1. ****00:00:00** - **00:00:39**** - **Introduction to the Video** - Overview of the video: How to use Obsidian with the Zettelkasten method and take smart notes. - Target audience: Beginners and those familiar with Obsidian and Zettelkasten. - Goal: Provide practical tips to start your Zettelkasten and Obsidian journey quickly. 2. ****00:00:39** - **00:01:58**** - **Disclaimer and Personal Approach** - The video reflects the creator’s understanding of Zettelkasten, which may differ from others. - Encouragement to adapt the method to personal needs. - Advice: Avoid overconsuming content and start taking notes immediately. 3. ****00:01:58** - **00:04:09**** - **Setting Up Obsidian** - Step-by-step guide to downloading and installing Obsidian. - Creating a new vault and choosing a location (e.g., iCloud, Google Drive). - Importance of backups and syncing options (e.g., Obsidian Sync). 4. ****00:04:09** - **00:05:59**** - **Creating Folders in Obsidian** - Essential folders for Zettelkasten: - Fleeting Notes - Literature Notes - Permanent Notes - Demonstration of creating folders and notes in Obsidian. 5. ****00:05:59** - **00:08:03**** - **Obsidian Features and Shortcuts** - How to create notes, tags, and links in Obsidian. - Customizing shortcuts and using the command palette. - Setting default locations for new notes to avoid clutter. 6. ****00:08:03** - **00:10:44**** - **Daily Notes and Additional Features** - Using daily notes for journaling and planning. - Creating canvases for mind maps and mood boards. - Exploring the graph view and backlinks panel. 7. ****00:10:44** - **00:13:49**** - **Types of Notes in Zettelkasten** - **Fleeting Notes**: Temporary notes for capturing ideas and thoughts. - **Literature Notes**: Notes from books, articles, podcasts, etc. - **Permanent Notes**: Atomic, well-structured notes for long-term use. 8. ****00:13:49** - **00:17:22**** - **Detailed Explanation of Fleeting Notes** - Fleeting notes serve as an inbox for raw ideas. - Process: Capture ideas, process them later, and either delete or transfer to permanent notes. 9. ****00:17:22** - **00:19:06**** - **Detailed Explanation of Literature Notes** - Organizing literature notes by categories (e.g., books, articles, podcasts). - Adding tags, dates, and outlines for better organization. 10. ****00:19:06** - **00:21:03**** - **Detailed Explanation of Permanent Notes** - Atomic notes: Short, concise, and self-contained. - Writing in your own words to ensure understanding. - Linking notes to related ideas and avoiding copy-pasting. 11. ****00:21:03** - **00:22:55**** - **Structure of Permanent Notes** - Tags, dates, and brief explanations. - Linking to similar or opposing ideas. - Adding references and sources for context. 12. ****00:22:55** - **00:25:59**** - **Real-Time Note-Taking Example** - Demonstrating how to take notes while reading a book (e.g., *Hyperfocus* by Chris Bailey). - Creating outlines, linking concepts, and transferring ideas to permanent notes. 13. ****00:25:59** - **00:28:03**** - **Additional Folders and Organization** - **Content Creation Folder**: For UA-cam scripts and video ideas. - **Unsorted Folder**: For attachments, clippings, and templates. - **Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Reviews**: For tracking progress and reflections. 14. ****00:28:03** - **00:30:59**** - **Obsidian Tips for Beginners** - Obsidian is not as complicated as it seems; it’s a text editor with markdown. - Avoid overloading with plugins; focus on note-taking. - Recommended plugins: Calendar, Checklist, Natural Language Dates, etc. 15. ****00:30:59** - **00:33:59**** - **Graph View in Obsidian** - Visualizing connections between notes using the graph view. - Identifying orphan notes and creating new links. - Using the local graph view to focus on specific topics. 16. ****00:33:59** - **00:36:59**** - **Conclusion and Final Advice** - Encouragement to start taking notes and develop your own system. - Avoid over-customizing Obsidian; keep it minimalistic. - Focus on the core features and let your knowledge base grow organically. 17. ****00:36:59** - **00:39:59**** - **Closing Remarks** - Call to action: Ask questions in the comments. - Thank you for watching and encouragement to start your Zettelkasten journey.
This would be the number one video on Obsidian that I should have watched (And I highly recommend starting Obsidian with this video to avoid getting stuck and disliking the tool!). Having watched multiple tutorials on Obsidian, I'd say this the absolute MUST-WATCH video to help you kickstart your journey with the tool. Simple, to the point, and clear explantaion of what you truely need to learn about Obsidian. This video helped me to organized scattered and complicated stuff I had watched on UA-cam. Thanks for the video, and keep up posting more videos.
Thank you very much for this video, I suffered from several of the things you mentioned in your video. I was a bit overwhelmed by so much information and ways to use Obsidian or implement Zettelkasten that I ended up more confused than I had arrived. Thanks for making it so clear and understandable, at least now I have a clear idea of how to get started and use the notes properly. Thanks a million, your channel deserves a lot of support.
I've been using Obsidian for about 5 years now and I absolutely agree with you Obsidian is not complicated. Great video! Im borrowing the Connected Ideas in your notes section in your
This video is truly a game-changer for mastering Obsidian and the Zettelkasten method! Your attention to detail, from organizing notes to maximizing the graph view, is exceptional. You’ve clearly thought of everything, and your workflow feels both practical and inspiring. To push this even further, it might be fascinating to see: 1. How you manage long-term refinement of notes over months or years. 2. Any creative hacks or unexpected uses of Obsidian that you've discovered. Incredible work-this was an absolute pleasure to watch!
Timestamps 00:05 - Learn practical tips to start Zettelkasten with Obsidian. 02:08 - Steps to download and set up Obsidian with a secure vault. 06:47 - Zettelkasten structure includes fleeting notes for idea capture. 08:49 - Literature notes organize consumed content into structured references. 12:52 - Understanding key concepts enhances note-taking effectiveness. 14:57 - Organizing notes in Obsidian enhances understanding and connections between concepts. 19:02 - Creating an effective note-taking system in Zettelkasten and Obsidian. 20:56 - Integrating tools and structure in Obsidian for effective note-taking. 24:42 - Key features of Obsidian's plugins enhance productivity and visualization.
Excellent video Destina! How did you get your Kindle highlights into your template? Did you just copy them into the template or is there some kind of plug-in that does it for you?
Thank you for that insightful video. Now some concepts become more clear and looking at my vault I fear that I have to reorganize some parts of it. What I'm still wondering: How often do you look at your fleeting notes and what is your workflow or schedule to make something out of them, e.g. transforming them into permanent notes and then deleting the fleeting note? For me at the moment Obsidian is a good daily journal with some habit trackers (properties n the daily template). And I use it to take weekly notes during my weekly review, I crafted a long template to prompt for things like "what went good",. "what went wrong" or even "what things are you stuck at or always postponing". This really foreces me to focus on the progress that I made in that week and think about how I can improve. And also thank you for the plugin menitoning, yes I agree focus on the basics and don't waste time with fancy plugins that you will rarely use.
I'm glad you found this video insightful. I don't have a specific rule for reviewing my fleeting notes. I generally do it a couple of times a week when I have the time. However, doing it at least once a week sounds pretty reasonable to me considering I do weekly reviews.
Thank you for this clear and insightful video! It’s exactly what I needed to organize all my reading notes. Could I ask which font you’re using? Thanks!
Thank you! I use Obsidian’s default theme but I changed the accent color from the settings. Additionally I changed the font with a plugin that I mentioned in the video (custom font loader). It’s actually quite easy to do so the vault is not as customized as it might seem at first 😊
Thanks for the simple explanation. I have been using Obsidian for over two years now, initially with Zotero whcih did help during my grad studies making writing papers easy and referencing not such a pain. But, since, I have not really been able to make good use of my notes. I did read Tiago Forte's book on PARA method, and re-organized folders into PARA method, and also have been watching tons of youtube videos of zettlekasten and I am not really sure now if I should redo the vault following zettelkasten method. I have really lost the motivation partly because I havent been able to make use of notes. I do have a graph but I am not sure if that actually serves a purpose other than looking nice. appreciate if you have any advice for my use case.
I think you should focus on finding ways to make use of your notes. Otherwise note-taking will be a waste of time. I also tried many methods including the PARA method but it never worked for me. I understand why one would lose motivation. It can be pretty annoying to constantly search for the perfect note taking system/app. I'd suggest trying Zettelkasten for a couple of weeks. You can even create a separate Obsidian vault and start from scratch to see if it fits you. If it meets your needs, you can easily transfer your old notes. Hope it helps!
@ thanks for your prompt response. I will give it a try and hopefully will be able to use my notes. for now, if I need to write, I go back to search and tags to find notes that might come handy. but its a rather slow process.
@@hikmatamin8337the PARA method helps you manage your life, but Zettelkasten is for generating ideas. Sure, your fleeting notes and literature notes could go into PARA, but your permanent notes are meant to be your original thoughts and questions. I guess zettelkasten permanent notes could be considered a project, especially if your notes are focused on a particular topic (such as to write a book). Carl Pullein’s adaptation of PARA made all the difference for me.
Fantastic video Destina. Thanks for explaining Zettelkasten in simple way. I have one question regarding the atomic notes that you created while reading the book. For eg. "The rule of 3" note that you created in the literature note folder, did you move the note in Permanent Note as i saw it was part of "Permanent Note" but any new note created would ideally go to "Fleeting Note" in your case right?
Thank you! I’m glad you liked the video. Yes, in my case I created a link for the note in literature notes (while reading the book) but the note itself is located in permanent notes. So yeah, you will have to move it there once you make sure it’s processed properly. If it’s unprocessed and new, those notes go automatically to fleeting notes.
Permanent note is a type of note. Atomic note is a format of the note. Ideally your permanent notes should be atomic meaning: one note = one idea. And the note itself should be short. Hope it’s useful.
I found the main issue is synchronization with the multiple device. Is it possible to use notion? Two way linking possible in notion. Is obsiden better than notion for zettlekation way of note taking method.
I’ve never tried using the Zettelkasten method in Notion but I think it’s possible. You can watch some tutorials or find templates. Maybe it’ll somehow work with databases.
It always makes me smile when non-Germans say Zettelkasten. For English speakers, the pronunciation is something like TZEH-tel-kas-ten. This is not a hate comment but rather a friendly note about a potentially interesting thing. I think your video is very good. :)
I’ve been learning German for years, so I’m familiar with the correct pronunciation of Zettelkasten. That said, since I speak with an American accent, I usually opt for a more natural pronunciation to keep things consistent and approachable (and not pretentious). Thanks for the comment.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
If you’re enjoying this video and want to support the channel, you can use Super Thanks. It really helps me keep making these videos for you! 🤎
Thank you ❤
Fantastic video! Great explanation of the Zettelkasten method and how it is used in practice. There are many great learnings here including how to get the best out of Obsidian.
Thanks you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Here’s a structured list with **timecodes** and the **main topics** covered in the video:
1. ****00:00:00** - **00:00:39****
- **Introduction to the Video**
- Overview of the video: How to use Obsidian with the Zettelkasten method and take smart notes.
- Target audience: Beginners and those familiar with Obsidian and Zettelkasten.
- Goal: Provide practical tips to start your Zettelkasten and Obsidian journey quickly.
2. ****00:00:39** - **00:01:58****
- **Disclaimer and Personal Approach**
- The video reflects the creator’s understanding of Zettelkasten, which may differ from others.
- Encouragement to adapt the method to personal needs.
- Advice: Avoid overconsuming content and start taking notes immediately.
3. ****00:01:58** - **00:04:09****
- **Setting Up Obsidian**
- Step-by-step guide to downloading and installing Obsidian.
- Creating a new vault and choosing a location (e.g., iCloud, Google Drive).
- Importance of backups and syncing options (e.g., Obsidian Sync).
4. ****00:04:09** - **00:05:59****
- **Creating Folders in Obsidian**
- Essential folders for Zettelkasten:
- Fleeting Notes
- Literature Notes
- Permanent Notes
- Demonstration of creating folders and notes in Obsidian.
5. ****00:05:59** - **00:08:03****
- **Obsidian Features and Shortcuts**
- How to create notes, tags, and links in Obsidian.
- Customizing shortcuts and using the command palette.
- Setting default locations for new notes to avoid clutter.
6. ****00:08:03** - **00:10:44****
- **Daily Notes and Additional Features**
- Using daily notes for journaling and planning.
- Creating canvases for mind maps and mood boards.
- Exploring the graph view and backlinks panel.
7. ****00:10:44** - **00:13:49****
- **Types of Notes in Zettelkasten**
- **Fleeting Notes**: Temporary notes for capturing ideas and thoughts.
- **Literature Notes**: Notes from books, articles, podcasts, etc.
- **Permanent Notes**: Atomic, well-structured notes for long-term use.
8. ****00:13:49** - **00:17:22****
- **Detailed Explanation of Fleeting Notes**
- Fleeting notes serve as an inbox for raw ideas.
- Process: Capture ideas, process them later, and either delete or transfer to permanent notes.
9. ****00:17:22** - **00:19:06****
- **Detailed Explanation of Literature Notes**
- Organizing literature notes by categories (e.g., books, articles, podcasts).
- Adding tags, dates, and outlines for better organization.
10. ****00:19:06** - **00:21:03****
- **Detailed Explanation of Permanent Notes**
- Atomic notes: Short, concise, and self-contained.
- Writing in your own words to ensure understanding.
- Linking notes to related ideas and avoiding copy-pasting.
11. ****00:21:03** - **00:22:55****
- **Structure of Permanent Notes**
- Tags, dates, and brief explanations.
- Linking to similar or opposing ideas.
- Adding references and sources for context.
12. ****00:22:55** - **00:25:59****
- **Real-Time Note-Taking Example**
- Demonstrating how to take notes while reading a book (e.g., *Hyperfocus* by Chris Bailey).
- Creating outlines, linking concepts, and transferring ideas to permanent notes.
13. ****00:25:59** - **00:28:03****
- **Additional Folders and Organization**
- **Content Creation Folder**: For UA-cam scripts and video ideas.
- **Unsorted Folder**: For attachments, clippings, and templates.
- **Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Reviews**: For tracking progress and reflections.
14. ****00:28:03** - **00:30:59****
- **Obsidian Tips for Beginners**
- Obsidian is not as complicated as it seems; it’s a text editor with markdown.
- Avoid overloading with plugins; focus on note-taking.
- Recommended plugins: Calendar, Checklist, Natural Language Dates, etc.
15. ****00:30:59** - **00:33:59****
- **Graph View in Obsidian**
- Visualizing connections between notes using the graph view.
- Identifying orphan notes and creating new links.
- Using the local graph view to focus on specific topics.
16. ****00:33:59** - **00:36:59****
- **Conclusion and Final Advice**
- Encouragement to start taking notes and develop your own system.
- Avoid over-customizing Obsidian; keep it minimalistic.
- Focus on the core features and let your knowledge base grow organically.
17. ****00:36:59** - **00:39:59****
- **Closing Remarks**
- Call to action: Ask questions in the comments.
- Thank you for watching and encouragement to start your Zettelkasten journey.
This would be the number one video on Obsidian that I should have watched (And I highly recommend starting Obsidian with this video to avoid getting stuck and disliking the tool!). Having watched multiple tutorials on Obsidian, I'd say this the absolute MUST-WATCH video to help you kickstart your journey with the tool. Simple, to the point, and clear explantaion of what you truely need to learn about Obsidian. This video helped me to organized scattered and complicated stuff I had watched on UA-cam. Thanks for the video, and keep up posting more videos.
Thank you so much! I’m glad this video was helpful.
Thank you very much for this video, I suffered from several of the things you mentioned in your video. I was a bit overwhelmed by so much information and ways to use Obsidian or implement Zettelkasten that I ended up more confused than I had arrived. Thanks for making it so clear and understandable, at least now I have a clear idea of how to get started and use the notes properly. Thanks a million, your channel deserves a lot of support.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked the video. Good luck with Obsidian and Zettelkasten 😊
I've been using Obsidian for about 5 years now and I absolutely agree with you Obsidian is not complicated. Great video!
Im borrowing the Connected Ideas in your notes section in your
Great timing!!! I was finishing up with your previous video.
Great explanation, Destina - thanks for keeping it straightforward!😊
Thanks for this Video. So clear and well artikulated. I love you content and benefit from this video. Please more of such good quality videos.
Thank you for such a lovely comment. I’m glad you liked it.
this is super useful video, thank you!
Thank you 🙏🏻 thanks for keeping it simple and neat explanation..
This video is truly a game-changer for mastering Obsidian and the Zettelkasten method! Your attention to detail, from organizing notes to maximizing the graph view, is exceptional. You’ve clearly thought of everything, and your workflow feels both practical and inspiring.
To push this even further, it might be fascinating to see:
1. How you manage long-term refinement of notes over months or years.
2. Any creative hacks or unexpected uses of Obsidian that you've discovered.
Incredible work-this was an absolute pleasure to watch!
Thank you! I’m glad you like it.
Timestamps
00:05 - Learn practical tips to start Zettelkasten with Obsidian.
02:08 - Steps to download and set up Obsidian with a secure vault.
06:47 - Zettelkasten structure includes fleeting notes for idea capture.
08:49 - Literature notes organize consumed content into structured references.
12:52 - Understanding key concepts enhances note-taking effectiveness.
14:57 - Organizing notes in Obsidian enhances understanding and connections between concepts.
19:02 - Creating an effective note-taking system in Zettelkasten and Obsidian.
20:56 - Integrating tools and structure in Obsidian for effective note-taking.
24:42 - Key features of Obsidian's plugins enhance productivity and visualization.
Excellent video Destina! How did you get your Kindle highlights into your template? Did you just copy them into the template or is there some kind of plug-in that does it for you?
Thank you! You can either use a free plugin called Kindle Highlights or a paid service Readwise.
best advice from 22:55 thats what i think & most UA-cam videos are obsidian plugin quick plugin, etc.
thank you for the advise
I'm guilty for this🥲🥲
Love your videos!
Thanks for talk about zettelkasten, and Obsidian is a powerful tool to create a second brain 😊
Thank you for that insightful video. Now some concepts become more clear and looking at my vault I fear that I have to reorganize some parts of it. What I'm still wondering: How often do you look at your fleeting notes and what is your workflow or schedule to make something out of them, e.g. transforming them into permanent notes and then deleting the fleeting note? For me at the moment Obsidian is a good daily journal with some habit trackers (properties n the daily template). And I use it to take weekly notes during my weekly review, I crafted a long template to prompt for things like "what went good",. "what went wrong" or even "what things are you stuck at or always postponing". This really foreces me to focus on the progress that I made in that week and think about how I can improve.
And also thank you for the plugin menitoning, yes I agree focus on the basics and don't waste time with fancy plugins that you will rarely use.
I'm glad you found this video insightful. I don't have a specific rule for reviewing my fleeting notes. I generally do it a couple of times a week when I have the time. However, doing it at least once a week sounds pretty reasonable to me considering I do weekly reviews.
Thank you for this clear and insightful video! It’s exactly what I needed to organize all my reading notes. Could I ask which font you’re using? Thanks!
Thank you! I use Obsidian’s default theme but I changed the accent color from the settings. Additionally I changed the font with a plugin that I mentioned in the video (custom font loader). It’s actually quite easy to do so the vault is not as customized as it might seem at first 😊
i thank you for introducting me to obsidion
I'm so glad you made it ❤❤😂 19:42
U r a GENIUS ❤❤
Thanks 😅
Thanks for the simple explanation. I have been using Obsidian for over two years now, initially with Zotero whcih did help during my grad studies making writing papers easy and referencing not such a pain. But, since, I have not really been able to make good use of my notes. I did read Tiago Forte's book on PARA method, and re-organized folders into PARA method, and also have been watching tons of youtube videos of zettlekasten and I am not really sure now if I should redo the vault following zettelkasten method. I have really lost the motivation partly because I havent been able to make use of notes. I do have a graph but I am not sure if that actually serves a purpose other than looking nice.
appreciate if you have any advice for my use case.
I think you should focus on finding ways to make use of your notes. Otherwise note-taking will be a waste of time. I also tried many methods including the PARA method but it never worked for me. I understand why one would lose motivation. It can be pretty annoying to constantly search for the perfect note taking system/app. I'd suggest trying Zettelkasten for a couple of weeks. You can even create a separate Obsidian vault and start from scratch to see if it fits you. If it meets your needs, you can easily transfer your old notes. Hope it helps!
@ thanks for your prompt response. I will give it a try and hopefully will be able to use my notes. for now, if I need to write, I go back to search and tags to find notes that might come handy. but its a rather slow process.
@@hikmatamin8337the PARA method helps you manage your life, but Zettelkasten is for generating ideas. Sure, your fleeting notes and literature notes could go into PARA, but your permanent notes are meant to be your original thoughts and questions. I guess zettelkasten permanent notes could be considered a project, especially if your notes are focused on a particular topic (such as to write a book). Carl Pullein’s adaptation of PARA made all the difference for me.
Make a video of Best fonts for notes
Good video
Is that possible to connect iphone with one drive vault, so it synchronize between mac and iphone?
Yes, it’s possible. I don’t use a paid version yet my vault works on iPhone, Mac and iPad. It’s stable and synchronized most of the time.
How did you connect existing vault in iphone?
Fantastic video Destina. Thanks for explaining Zettelkasten in simple way. I have one question regarding the atomic notes that you created while reading the book. For eg. "The rule of 3" note that you created in the literature note folder, did you move the note in Permanent Note as i saw it was part of "Permanent Note" but any new note created would ideally go to "Fleeting Note" in your case right?
Thank you! I’m glad you liked the video.
Yes, in my case I created a link for the note in literature notes (while reading the book) but the note itself is located in permanent notes. So yeah, you will have to move it there once you make sure it’s processed properly. If it’s unprocessed and new, those notes go automatically to fleeting notes.
@@DestinaG great! thanks for explaining it :)
I’m confused about permanent notes and atomic notes. Did you create both, or do you treat permanent notes as atomic notes?
Permanent note is a type of note. Atomic note is a format of the note. Ideally your permanent notes should be atomic meaning: one note = one idea. And the note itself should be short. Hope it’s useful.
How to take notes for exam prep?
I found the main issue is synchronization with the multiple device. Is it possible to use notion? Two way linking possible in notion. Is obsiden better than notion for zettlekation way of note taking method.
I’ve never tried using the Zettelkasten method in Notion but I think it’s possible. You can watch some tutorials or find templates. Maybe it’ll somehow work with databases.
How long have you been using Obsidian?
Awesome.. keep it up
Can you help me with synchronising obsidian (laptop+mobile) easy simple and free?
I keep my vault on a cloud service. It syncs seamlessly across devices.
You can try syncthing (sync folders from desktop to mobile)
For me I uses iCloud from my windows laptop to iphone.
Then specifically “keep downloaded” Obisidian vault folder on the iphone
Syncthing app is the way
I have tried everything to sync even paid methods. For me hands down syncthing is the way. No cloud,free, pc, mac, ios, linux, android
🙏Thanks
Nice.. you fixed voice issue 😊
It always makes me smile when non-Germans say Zettelkasten. For English speakers, the pronunciation is something like TZEH-tel-kas-ten. This is not a hate comment but rather a friendly note about a potentially interesting thing. I think your video is very good. :)
I’ve been learning German for years, so I’m familiar with the correct pronunciation of Zettelkasten. That said, since I speak with an American accent, I usually opt for a more natural pronunciation to keep things consistent and approachable (and not pretentious). Thanks for the comment.
How you can be both beautiful and humble at the same time! 🎉🎉
loved your content. Thanks