Obsidian: The King of Learning Tools (FULL GUIDE + SETUP)
Summary
TLDREl script detalla el proceso de construcción de una 'segunda mente' o 'corteza cero' (Zettelkasten en alemán), una red personal de conocimientos que ha sido invaluable para la lectura, escritura y pensamiento del narrador. Se advierte sobre el peligro de la perfeccionismo al crear una, ya que la observación de múltiples métodos puede llevar a una sensación tóxica de buscar la perfección. Se destaca la importancia de avanzar con lo que se tiene y de abandonar los engranajes innecesarios para enfocarse en la escritura. El sistema presentado es sencillo y minimalista, centrado en las características clave que realmente ayudan a alcanzar los objetivos. Además, se discuten las ventajas de este método de toma de notas, incluyendo la capacidad de ralentizar el proceso de lectura para una mejor comprensión, obtener retroalimentación inmediata en el aprendizaje y formar conexiones entre las notas para un entendimiento más amplio. Finalmente, se ofrece una guía paso a paso para configurar y utilizar la aplicación Obsidian para este sistema de notas, destacando su flexibilidad y la facilidad de conexión entre ideas.
Takeaways
- 📚 Empieza construyendo una red personal de conocimiento llamada Zettelkasten o cerebro segundo, que es altamente valiosa para la lectura, escritura y pensamiento.
- ⚠️ Advierte sobre el peligro de la búsqueda excesiva de la perfección al ver múltiples métodos y técnicas, lo que puede llevar a la frustración y al atraso en el progreso.
- 🔍 La mejora continua y la simplicidad son fundamentales; el sistema no debe ser perfecto desde el principio, sino que debe evolucionar con el tiempo.
- 📈 Los beneficios principales del Zettelkasten incluyen forzar la lentitud para una comprensión más profunda, proporcionar retroalimentación inmediata en el aprendizaje y permitir la formación de conexiones entre las notas.
- 🧠 Demuestra la importancia del enlace entre ideas de diferentes disciplinas para comprender conceptos complejos y obtener una sabiduría más profunda.
- 📝 El sistema de notas se almacena y se organiza de manera que mejora con el tiempo, en lugar de volverse más desordenado y difícil de navegar.
- 💡 Ofrece una forma de escribir y publicar de manera más rápida y eficiente, utilizando las notas existentes como base para nuevos trabajos en lugar de comenzar desde cero.
- 📱 Instala Obsidian, la aplicación utilizada para este sistema, y configura una 'bóveda' (Vault) para almacenar todas las notas.
- 📁 Crea carpetas para agrupar y organizar tus notas: 'rough notes' para ideas temporales, 'source material' para notas de lectura, 'tags' para facilitar la navegación y otras para índices y plantillas.
- ✍️ Escribe notas utilizando una plantilla que incluya fecha, estado, etiquetas, título y espacio para la elaboración del tema y las referencias.
- 🔗 Establece enlaces hipertextuales entre notas relacionadas y al material de origen para facilitar la conexión y la comprensión de las ideas.
- 🔧 Personaliza y ajusta la configuración de Obsidian para adaptarla a tus necesidades y trabajar de manera más eficiente.
Q & A
¿Qué es una red de conocimientos personal y cómo se relaciona con la toma de notas?
-Una red de conocimientos personal, también conocida como zettelkasten o segundo cerebro, es un sistema de organización de información y conocimiento que permite a una persona tomar notas de manera estructurada y enlazable. Se relaciona con la toma de notas en el sentido de que utiliza notas individuales para construir una base de conocimientos interconectada que puede ser utilizada para leer, escribir y pensar de manera más efectiva.
¿Por qué puede ser peligroso buscar la 'perfección' al crear un zettelkasten?
-El peligro de buscar la 'perfección' al crear un zettelkasten radica en que puede llevar a una persona a una paraálisis por el análisis, donde se enfoca demasiado en encontrar la mejor forma de organizar y tomar notas, en lugar de simplemente hacerlo. Esto puede resultar en una sensación de frustración y en una falta de progreso real en la construcción de la red de conocimientos.
¿Cuáles son los tres beneficios principales que menciona el autor de la transcripción sobre el uso de un zettelkasten como herramienta de aprendizaje?
-Los tres beneficios principales que menciona el autor son: 1) Fuerza al usuario a disminuir el ritmo y tomar notas detalladas, lo que mejora la comprensión y retención de la información; 2) Proporciona retroalimentación inmediata en el aprendizaje, permitiendo al usuario identificar rápidamente áreas que no han sido comprendidas adecuadamente; y 3) Permite que las notas formen conexiones entre sí, lo que ayuda a ver el contexto más amplio de los conceptos y a relacionar diferentes ideas.
¿Cómo se puede utilizar un zettelkasten para mejorar la escritura?
-Un zettelkasten puede mejorar la escritura al permitir que las notas tomadas durante la lectura y la investigación se organicen y enlacen de manera que forme una base sólida para la construcción de un texto más grande. Esto permite al escritor reutilizar ideas y conceptos en diferentes proyectos, ahorrando tiempo en la investigación y mejorando la calidad del contenido al tener una base de conocimientos bien estructurada y fácilmente accesible.
¿Por qué el autor sugiere mantener las notas lo más cortas posible y centradas en una sola idea?
-El autor sugiere mantener las notas cortas y centradas en una sola idea para mantener la claridad y la versatilidad de las notas. Esto evita que las notas se vuelvan demasiado complejas o difíciles de entender, y les permite ser utilizadas de manera efectiva en una variedad de situaciones, como la escritura o la revisión de conceptos.
¿Cómo se pueden utilizar las etiquetas en un zettelkasten para facilitar la navegación y la organización?
-Las etiquetas en un zettelkasten se utilizan para crear enlaces entre notas relacionadas y para facilitar la búsqueda y la navegación dentro del sistema. Al aplicar etiquetas relevantes a las notas, se puede encontrar más fácilmente información relacionada y se pueden formar grupos lógicos de ideas que se pueden explorar y estudiar en conjunto.
¿Qué es un 'vault' en el contexto de la aplicación Obsidian y cómo se relaciona con la organización de notas?
-Un 'vault' en Obsidian es la carpeta donde se almacenan todas las notas del usuario. Es el nivel más alto de organización en el sistema, y cada nota creada en Obsidian se convierte en un archivo dentro de esta carpeta. Esto permite el uso de Obsidian sin conexión y la facilidad para copiar y transferir las notas, ya que son simplemente archivos.
¿Cómo se pueden utilizar las plantillas en Obsidian para acelerar el proceso de toma de notas?
-Las plantillas en Obsidian se pueden configurar para proporcionar una estructura básica para una nueva nota con un solo clic. Esto permite al usuario comenzar a escribir sin tener que diseñar la estructura de la nota desde cero, lo que agiliza el proceso de toma de notas y permite al usuario concentrarse en el contenido en lugar de la forma.
¿Por qué es importante enlazar las notas del zettelkasten con el material fuente y con otras notas relevantes?
-Enlazar las notas del zettelkasten con el material fuente y con otras notas relevantes es importante porque brinda contexto y permite una comprensión más profunda de la información. Estos enlaces también facilitan la navegación entre ideas relacionadas y ayudan a construir una red de conocimientos más interconectada y fácilmente accesible.
¿Cómo se puede abordar el desafío de encontrar la estructura perfecta para su zettelkasten sin caer en la parálisis analítica?
-Para abordar el desafío de encontrar la estructura perfecta, el autor sugiere que en lugar de buscar la perfección, uno debe comenzar con un sistema simple y minimalista y luego iterar sobre él con el tiempo. El enfoque debe ser en la funcionalidad y la eficacia en lugar de la apariencia o la complejidad. Debe darse prioridad a la escritura y el aprendizaje sobre la apariencia de la estructura.
¿Cómo se puede mantener la organización y la claridad en un zettelkasten a medida que crece y se vuelve más complejo?
-Se puede mantener la organización y la claridad en un zettelkasten utilizando etiquetas y enlaces para conectar ideas y notas relacionadas. Además, la creación de índices a partir de etiquetas más grandes ayuda a estructurar y dar forma al contenido. Se recomienda mantener las notas centradas en una sola idea y evitar la creación de notas demasiado largas o demasiado detalladas que puedan dificultar la comprensión y la navegación.
Outlines
🤔 Iniciando el viaje de construcción de un segundo cerebro
El primer párrafo aborda el inicio del proceso de construcción de una red personal de conocimientos, también conocida como zettelkasten o segundo cerebro. Se destaca la importancia de este sistema para la lectura, la escritura y el pensamiento. Sin embargo, se advierte sobre los peligros ocultos de la perfeccionismo y la sobrecarga de información al buscar la 'mejor' forma de crear un zettelkasten, lo que puede resultar en frustración y paralización creativa.
📚 Beneficios y poder del zettelkasten como herramienta de aprendizaje
Se discuten tres beneficios principales del zettelkasten: su capacidad para forzar una lectura y toma de notas más lentas y detalladas, proporcionar retroalimentación inmediata en el aprendizaje y permitir la formación de conexiones entre las notas. Se menciona la influencia del libro 'How to Take Smart Notes' de Sonke Ahrens en la comprensión de estos conceptos y se comparte una experiencia personal de aprendizaje frustrante que se transformó con la implementación de este sistema.
📝 Organización y escritura eficaz con el zettelkasten
Se explora cómo el zettelkasten mejora la organización y la escritura al permitir que las notas se conecten entre sí, creando un espacio único para el almacenamiento y la conexión de ideas. Se destaca la ventaja de tener una biblioteca personal en un solo lugar y la flexibilidad que esto proporciona para la escritura y la creación de contenido. También se menciona la importancia de la escritura para el aprendizaje y cómo el zettelkasten puede facilitar el proceso de escritura de libros o artículos.
🖥 Configuración y uso de Obsidian para el zettelkasten
Se proporciona una guía detallada para configurar y usar la aplicación Obsidian para crear un zettelkasten. Se describe cómo crear una 'Vault' para almacenar las notas, la importancia de la organización de las notas en carpetas y cómo utilizar plantillas para escribir notas de manera eficiente. Además, se discuten las opciones de personalización y se ofrecen consejos para evitar la complejidad y mantener la simplicidad del sistema.
📂 Creación y uso de etiquetas y índices en el zettelkasten
Se explica cómo crear y utilizar etiquetas y índices en el zettelkasten para facilitar la navegación y la organización de las notas. Se sugiere el uso de notas vacías para etiquetas y la creación de índices a partir de etiquetas ampliamente conectadas. También se discute la importancia de mantener una estructura lógica y clara en los índices y se proporciona orientación para evitar la sobrecarga de información y la confusión en el sistema.
💡 Escribiendo notas efectivas y la importancia de la conexión de ideas
Se profundiza en el proceso de escritura de notas en el zettelkasten, desde la elaboración de notas de materiales fuente hasta la creación de notas principales independientes. Se enfatiza la importancia de escribir en palabras propias para fomentar el aprendizaje activo y la comprensión profunda de los conceptos. Además, se discuten técnicas para etiquetar de manera efectiva, mantener las notas concisas y enfocar cada nota en una sola idea para optimizar la claridad y la utilidad de las notas.
🔗 Conectando notas y referenciando el material fuente
Se aborda la técnica para conectar notas relevantes y referenciar el material fuente en el zettelkasten. Se sugiere la creación de hipervínculos a notas relacionadas y al material fuente original para facilitar la追溯 ('rastreamiento' o 'seguimiento' en español) de las ideas y la comprensión de su contexto de origen. También se ofrecen consejos para evitar la omisión de etiquetas y la forma de encontrar y conectar notas relevantes de manera eficiente.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Zettelkasten
💡Segundo cerebro
💡Obsidian
💡Perfeccionismo
💡Toma de notas inteligentes
💡Conexión de ideas
💡Estructura de notas
💡Rápido feedback
💡Escritura efectiva
💡Organización de notas
💡Aprendizaje profundo
Highlights
El autor comenzó a construir una red personal de conocimiento, también conocida como zettelkasten o segundo cerebro, que ha sido de gran valor para su aprendizaje, lectura, escritura e incluso pensamiento.
Advierte sobre el peligro oculto de la perfeccionismo al intentar crear un zettelkasten, que puede resultar en frustración al buscar la perfección en lugar de avanzar.
Se destaca la importancia de abandonar los trucos y enfocar en los aspectos fundamentales del sistema para poder avanzar en la escritura y el pensamiento.
El autor comparte su experiencia con Obsidian durante 9 meses, destacando la estabilidad y eficacia de su sistema de notas sin cambios significativos.
Se discuten tres beneficios principales del zettelkasten como herramienta de aprendizaje: la capacidad de ralentizar el proceso de lectura, obtener retroalimentación instantánea en el aprendizaje y formar conexiones entre las notas.
El autor recomienda la lectura del libro 'How to Take Smart Notes' de Sonke Ahrens para comprender mejor el concepto de zettelkasten.
Se destaca cómo el zettelkasten ayuda a almacenar y mezclar ideas de manera eficiente, evitando la fragmentación de conocimientos.
El uso de Obsidian permite tener todas las notas en un mismo lugar, mejorando la organización y evitando la necesidad de llevar múltiples cuadernos.
Se explora cómo el proceso de escritura se vuelve más rápido y fácil al utilizar el zettelkasten, permitiendo reutilizar ideas y evitar la duplicación de esfuerzos en la investigación.
Se ofrece una guía detallada para configurar y usar Obsidian, incluyendo la creación de vaults, la organización de notas y la utilización de plantillas.
Se abordan técnicas para escribir notas efectivas, incluyendo la elaboración de ideas en palabras propias y la conexión de notas relevantes para una mejor comprensión.
El autor sugiere mantener las notas concisas y centradas en una sola idea para mayor claridad y flexibilidad en su uso.
Se recomienda el etiquetado efectivo de notas para facilitar la navegación y la conexión de ideas relacionadas, con consejos sobre cómo hacerlo de manera práctica.
Se destaca la importancia de la organización visual de las notas para una mejor legibilidad y comprensión, incluyendo el uso de espacios y estructuras claras.
Se aconseja enlazar las notas con su material fuente para facilitar la追溯 ('tracing back') y la revisión de la información original.
El autor comparte su enfoque personalizado para el etiquetado y la organización de notas, destacando la importancia de adaptar el sistema a las necesidades individuales.
Se destaca la flexibilidad del sistema para adaptarse a diferentes estilos de aprendizaje y preferencias personales, subrayando la importancia de la personalización.
El autor anima a los espectadores a explorar y personalizar el sistema de notas en Obsidian, recordando que la simplicidad es clave para evitar la sobrecomplicación.
Transcripts
almost a year ago I started building
this you can call it a personal network
of knowledge but you might know it as a
zetto Casten or a second brain after
years of searching for the perfect
approach to my learning I think this is
it by far it's been the most valuable
asset for reading for writing and even
for my thinking but before I hype it up
to you and show you how to make your own
there's something I should warn you
about a hidden danger it's one that left
me incredibly frustrated when I first
started to make my own it was a pain in
the ass to get started and I mean that
if you look up how to create a zetoc in
obsidian or how to build your second
brain you'll find probably hundreds of
videos with each person showing their
own method and their own way of doing it
and don't get me wrong some of these
were great like I used them to build my
own and I couldn't be here without them
but the problem is as I kept watching
more and more videos I was digging
myself a trap one that would be harder
and harder to eventually climb out of
when I had to every single YouTuber I
watched had their own method of creating
it one that was slightly different to
the next and if you end up watching 10
or 20 of these
you start to pick out points from every
single one and then it fills you with
this almost toxic sense of perfectionism
for example I'd find some nice features
from one video and then watch another
video and they have something different
that stands out to me like a shiny gem I
take that and then that process repeats
and if you combine all their points from
all these videos you end up with this
mess this Frankenstein's monster of a
setup that tries to be everything but
fails I was deluded in doing that I
thought I could steal from everyone
else's workflow and make the perfect one
but that's not how how it works in fact
all it did was bug me down for months I
didn't really do much writing I was just
obsessed with getting the perfect setup
which doesn't exist anyway but
thankfully I eventually realized that
this system was never going to be
perfect in fact every time I added a new
feature I was only adding a pointless
gimmick that was a distraction from the
true work the writing and without
wasting more time I just gripped my
teeth and moved forward with what I had
already I abandoned all the weird
gimmicks the plugins and all the
features that didn't actually
matter and I focused on on the Bare
Bones and suddenly a weight was just
lifted off my shoulders it felt good
because now I can actually do what I
wanted to do which was to write I didn't
have to worry on finding the perfect
system and optimizing every single step
of the way I do realize now I'm just an
extra voice in the conversation but I
just want to reassure you and say that
this setup is free from there
are no pointless features there are no
gimmicks this setup is simple it's
minimalistic it focuses only on the key
features that actually help you get to
where you want to be and I have the
experience to vouch for this system I've
used obsidian for I think 9 months now
almost every day and since the start
after hundreds of notes it hasn't
changed the setup is exactly the same
and to me that's solid evidence that it
works so if you're feeling intimidated
by the idea of starting your own I get
you I was in that same position but I
hope this setup can free you of some of
that stress and really give you the
building blocks you need to just get
started if you want an immediate walkthr
and how to set it up then please do skip
to that but for this next portion of the
video I want to talk about why should
you do this anyway like what's in it for
you it seems like a lot of effort and it
is but I want to cover three main
benefits that make it so powerful as a
learning tool over the years I've tried
many learning techniques cuz I was sick
and tired of walking away from my books
the same person forgetting all the
important things and failing to reflect
on what was inside it was exhausting and
I felt like all the efforts I put into
the learning was just Vanishing Into
Thin Air and it was all for nothing this
all changed when I read a book called
How to take smart notes by sunin now I
think that's how you pronounce it but do
correct me for German this is the book I
chose to bring on a 3-hour flight and I
thought it would just be a casual
laid-back experience on you know maybe
how you can make your notes a little bit
more effective I was so so wrong by the
time the plane landed the course of my
entire reading from that point would
change forever those 3 hours I was just
captivated by what I was reading cuz
this was revolutionary I had never
thought of note taking and learning
quite like this this book tore down lots
of misconceptions I got from traditional
education and it gave me this fresh and
exciting perspective to reading it was
the idea of a Casten a slip box which is
exactly what we're building today now I
do recommend you check his book out cuz
it is really good but to keep it brief
the zetto Casten is a note taking system
that builds your notes from the bottom
up it let you take the ideas you read
and embed it in this network of
knowledge one that serves you in all
your goals from learning to reading to
writing there's three main ways it's so
so effective and almost unlike any other
note taking system the first reason is
that it forces you to slow down now a
lot of people don't like to hear that
all the hustle grinds set Bros they
don't like the idea of abandoning speed
reading and they might hate me for
saying this but it's true in most cases
speed and reading are not a good mix the
best thing I ever did for my reading was
to slow it right down and take thorough
notes in the process the slowness of the
writing forces you to dwell on the
author's ideas of course it's slower you
do lose speed but to me that's a worthy
sacrifice because all the ideas will
have a lasting impact on your mind it's
like when you eat too much at Christmas
and you sit there all stuffed and
Bloated and you have to really wait and
digest to be able to come to life again
this is kind of the same thing but with
your brain the result is not only a way
better attention of what you read but
you also start to understand things more
deeply because you know some of these
books are chunky and it's not like you
can speed through them and just remember
everything the second power of the zal
Casten is that it gives you instant
feedback on your learning I'm not sure
how it works in the USA but in the UK we
have this thing called a levels and
that's 2 years of study before going to
University and you can pick three or
four subjects for that and I did history
and in history there was a lot of essay
writing we did essays almost every week
now normally you hand in your essay and
you get feedback a week later but let's
say there was a Twist this time every
time I handed this essay in I would
never get any feedback if that pattern
continued for a year or two I would get
to the end of my a levels and my essay
writing would be just as as when I
first started because to get better at
any skill you need two things you need
practice and you need feedback now in
that case I had lots of practice I wrote
every week no problem there but I didn't
get any feedback and if there's no one
there to correct you you're going to end
up making the same stupid mistakes again
and again and again writing notes is the
exact opposite of that situation because
by doing that we get instant feedback by
writing we get an instant reflection of
our own understanding because if we
struggle to put something into words
then that's a sign that we haven't
understood it it's a sign for you to go
back to the book and check your
understanding this is a prime example of
the fame and technique in action which
says that if you teach something in this
case writing you actually learn it
better yourself the third benefit of
this system is that you allow your notes
to form connections most people store
their notes by subject in these clear
subdivided folders now this makes sense
in our head we've been taught to do it
in school but there's actually hidden
danger to it because it has the tendency
to isolate your ideas and that stops you
from seeing the bigger picture you'll
see what I mean with the example and
it's going to sound really weird at
first but bear with me why are reptiles
mostly in hotter areas of the world it's
because they're ectotherms which you
probably know as cold blooded now this
means to effectively hunt and Escape
Predators they have to warm up using the
environment like when a lizard sits on a
rock to absorb the energy of the Sun but
because we're mammals we can produce our
own heat from within but this is
expensive because unlike lizards we have
to eat a lot more to keep ourselves warm
well the hidden strength that we have as
mammals is that we can stay active even
in the cold if you travel North to the
Arctic as a lizard it's going to be so
cold that you can't properly move and
you end up either starving or dying to a
predator but since we produce our own
heat we can stay active and that means
we can avoid predators and also hunt
effectively we can out compete the
reptiles even in the coldest
temperatures our okay that's that but
let's slow down a second why am I giving
you a biology lesson I gave you a simple
explanation of that topic but if you
want to understand it in depth you have
to know things from chemistry from
physics from biology from ecology to
understand the bigger picture you have
to pull ideas from all four of these
subjects and if you fail to understand
something in that chain of reasoning you
might not get the whole thing in that
same example if you have no idea why
muscles slow down when they're cold then
you won't be able to explain that
properly to me but there is hope because
if you understand the physics and the
chemistry and the biology you can
somehow piece everything together into
this clear picture and you can
understand it and you can explain it to
me this is true wisdom this is the end
result of learning the most valuable
thing you can achieve and this system
this zetto Casten is exactly how you'll
get there the second major benefit of
the zto Casten is how it helps you store
and mix ideas before I started taking
notes like this I would write all of the
things I learned in separate notebooks I
love the feeling of pen on paper because
you can be free with it and you can draw
all the diagrams you want it's
satisfying now this was all well and
good but as I was a few notebooks in I
started to realize a problem that was
creeping up on me how the hell am I
going to manage this later am I going to
end up with 100 notebooks like what do I
do then so I made the painful decision
to overhaul everything and prevent This
Disaster it may have hurt in the moment
but I knew that this physical method of
notetaking was going to hurt me in the
future and it had its limits with
obsidian the app we're using today all
of your notes are in the same place
whenever and wherever you need them
instead of of carrying 100 notebooks or
flash cards you have your whole personal
library on your phone or computer and if
you store your note files on the cloud
you can literally travel across half the
world and you'll still be able to find
them even though I love taking notes on
paper this is the obvious best choice
nowadays so the storage of notes is
already perfect but there's an extra
benefit of having everything in one
place it's the power of connecting ideas
to make new ones in this system like we
said before your notes are free from the
restrictions of folders this means you
don't have to go through the annoying
process of open opening 10 different
subfolders to find that exact note you
were looking for in this system they're
all in one Arena they're all free to
mingle and to connect insights from
Socrates Dante and the Bible can connect
with those from maybe Virginia wolf or n
or any other modern author you can think
of every new book video and article you
read can add something valuable to the
conversation something that can form
these exciting connections that you
never saw coming your network of notes
only get stronger with time and you
can't say the same for a system of
folders because the more you add the
more messy and confus it gets this is
the exact opposite and I know what you
might be thinking this looks chaotic it
looks messy it's ugly and I will admit
mine is uglier than most people's online
without a system of tags and hyperlinks
it is a mess and it is hard to navigate
but if you follow some basic rules in
how you construct the notes and organize
it it's actually really easy to then
navigate this Maze and find exactly what
you're looking for and I'm not giving it
enough credit here because sometimes you
write a note and then months down the
line you completely forget it exists but
because of your system of links
you end up rediscovering it by accident
and it's the nicest surprise and here's
the nice part if you're more of an
organized type of person which you know
I am too I like folders this system
still caters to you if you use tags you
can add this extra layer of organization
to your notes and if you want to find
something related to a specific topic
it's still easy and if it sounds
confusing no worries because we're going
to walk through these steps in detail a
bit later on the third major benefit is
easier and faster writing and this is by
far my favorite one it's so exciting to
talk about when I first read about this
idea in how to take smart notes I swear
I almost got goosebumps because at the
time I knew this was big this would
change how I WR forever the best way to
show you this is to compare two
different writers our first writer has
an idea for a book and you know he's got
a rough idea of the structure so all he
has to do now is set out to research
whenever he finds a useful idea he just
takes it and puts it in his planning
draft he then uses subheadings to sort
it out and see what will go where after
many long hours lots of caffeine and
maybe an existential crisis or two he's
finished fin the book that sounds all
good right well yeah maybe for now but
you'll see he's screwing himself over in
the future our second writer also wants
to write a book but he starts without an
idea for the title he doesn't know what
the end product might be instead he just
reads about whatever he's interested in
and on the way he picks up the ideas
that resonate the most with some simple
organization of his notes he begins to
see these areas of Interest form around
certain Topics in the case of obsidian
this can be literal clusters that begin
to form for example the more he reads
about human behavior the bigger the area
of disc discussion gets and before he
knows it he's got the building blocks
for a book with a quick look through the
notes the writer sees how he can order
them in a linear way now all it takes is
some rearranging some editing and of
course a little bit of extra writing but
then suddenly you have a book it was a
relatively quick process because most of
the writing was already done in the form
of the notes way before the idea of the
book even existed the first writer
didn't have this opportunity and he's
also missing out on a second benefit
because the second writer collected his
ideas outside of the book draft he can
reuse these notes as many times as he
wants in all sorts of different projects
in other words none of his research is
stuck within the book draft or his
article or blog or whatever else he
wrote If our first writer wants to do
the same thing and maybe write a second
book well we has to start from scratch
he has to go through a long and painful
process of finding all this research
again it's kind of like how we're taught
to do it in school we start with the
essay title and then do all the research
and once the essay is done we just throw
the research away and this system is
crazy if you think about it it's
inefficient it's slow and if forces you
to repeat all the research you want to
spend your time writing not finding the
same old notes from before with this
system you make your notes work for you
and not the other way around I'm writing
a book now and because it's on a topic I
care about a lot of the research already
exists in my notetaking software and as
I'm writing it up notes I made from
months ago will resurface to help me and
most of these notes I totally forgot
about but because of the links and the
tags it allows me to find them when I
need them if you invest in this system
You're Building yourself a personal
writing assistant one that only gets
stronger with time I hope I've sold the
zetting system well but if you want more
details then do check out the book
because I've only scratched the surface
to be honest so we finally reach the
setup stage and I want to show you how
you can get the ball running without
that usual frustration at the start CU
believe me when I was building this for
the first time I was pissed off at every
corner there was so many things I didn't
understand and it was just frustrating I
want to also show you how I'd write a
note from start to finish using all the
different features there's no gimmicks
there's no pointless complexity and
there's no just simple and
effective note taking the first thing to
do is install obsidian from their
website this is super easy and of course
it's totally free you're then given the
option to name your Vault but what the
hell is a vault anyway this is where all
of your notes are stored and it's the
highest level of organization in this
system when you first make a vault you
have to first name it but also choose
the location of the Vault this is
because a vault is just a folder on your
computer and you can choose exactly
where that folder goes every note you
make an obsidian will become a file in
this folder this is great because not
only does it let you use obsidian
offline but you can also easily copy and
transfer your notes because they're just
files I would recommend storing your
Vault on the cloud somewhere like Google
drive or one drive so obviously it's
backed up and you can access it from any
device mine is in my Google Drive in a
folder called obsidian and you might
notice that when you do this it creates
an extra folder called obsidian this
folder holds all of the system files and
you don't need to worry about it but
it's just good to know where they are
and what I love about this system is
once you choose the location you you
don't really have to worry about it ever
again all of the notetaking happens
within the app itself now before we dive
into the setup with all the folders and
stuff I want to let you know that this
is going to be a step-by-step approach I
may be wrong but I think this is the
easiest way for you to understand things
instead of you know dumping everything
onto you at once this means some things
might be confusing in the moment but
will'll begin to make sense as we
progress through the steps now let's get
into the folders I use six in my system
but you know to reassure you only three
of them are really active in your note
taking the other three kind of sit in
the background most of the time the
folders we're focusing on are the
numbered ones so the two at the bottom
you can ignore them completely they're
just some extra things I use on the side
so let's get into the setup and I'll
explain each as we go this is what you
see when you create a vault I first like
to delete all this crap all the tabs and
that gives us a clean slate to work from
much better next I use this icon on the
top left to create six new folders but
you know to keep things straightforward
let's start with one the first folder I
call rough notes Here I jot down
anything temporary things like ideas I
had maybe reminders
or of course rough notes it's like a
notepad where you write down things you
don't want to forget and anything else
you might need for example here I keep
up a list of ideas that I might want to
research further I also keep a track of
my daily word count for my writing habit
and to be honest I don't use this folder
that much because I prefer to keep all
my rough ideas on paper so whether you
want to use this folder or not is
entirely up to you and your preferences
the second folder is called Source
material here I store the insights from
anything I consume not just books but
also videos articles podcasts even
Twitter threads anything I like to make
different subfolders to store different
types of source material but of course
this is totally optional and you'll
notice that some at the bottom are
unsorted and this is on purpose these
notes are active meaning I'm still
working on them and I haven't finished
the writing but of course once I do
finish I can then neatly tuck them away
where they belong now that's just a
setup but don't worry I will dive into
these notes a bit later on the third
folder stores my tags tags are your best
friend in navigating your network
especially when it gets large you'll
need these if you want to avoid drowning
in your notes later on in this folder I
store all of the tags and this sounds
weird like since when do you store Tags
now you can make tags a traditional way
using a hashtag and that does work but I
prefer a different approach one that I
think is more powerful instead each of
my tags is just an empty note let's say
I'm writing a note about humility and
Leadership now of course one of the tags
is going to be humility which is a topic
I'm interested in to apply the tag to
the note I have to make a link to it to
do this I type the square bracket button
twice and then this brings up a search
function from here I type humility and
then I close it off with two more square
brackets here I've created a link to a
note but the reason it's grayed out is
because it doesn't exist yet once I
click on the link it automatically
creates the note and this is the
humility tag this is simply a note
called humility but we're going to use
it as a tag in this case and I don't
want it to appear in the same folder as
my notes so if you click on the top
right it pulls up a drop- down menu and
you get the option to take this note and
move it to the tags folder so now
whenever you write a new note and you
want to add the humility tag tag to it
all you have to do is use the double
square brackets to then link to this
note you can create as many tags as you
like now I have quite a large list cuz I
love to read about lots of different
subjects the point of this folder is to
keep your system tidy and free from all
this clutter if tagging still sounds
confusing to you then don't worry cuz
we're actually going to revisit it later
the fourth folder stores indexes once
your knowledge Network grows it can
reach a point where it's a bit tricky to
navigate and this is what repels most
people from starting one they see this
horrible ugly spider web looking thing
and think how in the hell am I going to
navigate this it's just too much and
that may be true but luckily we have
indexes they come in and solve this
problem do you remember the tags from
last step well because the tags are just
empty notes we can use them as indexes
too when a tag gets big enough as in
you've connected a lot of notes to it
you can actually turn this tag into an
index an index is almost like the
contents page of a book you take all of
the notes within the tag and give them
some sort of logical structure and this
is super easy because our tags are empty
notes and we can just go inside the note
and start filling out the index let's
take the cility tag again you can see
here I have a few notes linking back to
this tag now because there's only a few
I don't bother making an index there's
no point of it cuz I can see everything
in one place easily but let's say I
choose my learning tag now this is a
much bigger one because it has 51
relevant notes linking back to it so to
turn this tag into an index I add some
subheadings and then under these
subheadings I link all of the notes that
fit that category the idea of the index
is to add a basic level of structure to
your notes so that if you want to visit
the learning topic you have some sort of
entry point for the discussion now I
have a confession I got a bit lazy and I
didn't actually put all of the learning
notes in this index but once yours gets
big enough do have a go at keeping
things neat don't be like me of course
if you're just setting up things now you
don't have to worry about this stage
it's just good to keep in mind for later
on when you do have this problem the
fifth folder is called the template
folder this has one simple job and it
stores the template for your main notes
once we set this up later you can
totally forget about it so don't worry
folder number six is the Workhorse of
this entire system this is where your
main notes go some people call this
folder the zetto Casten or Atomic notes
the name is up to you the point is this
is where every single main note goes in
one folder now it sounds weird to put
every note in one place but remember
from before the lack of folders is what
keeps this system flexible and open to
connection plus as you add to this
folder you will naturally begin to see
different areas of Interest form because
of the links chaos will slowly turn into
a and you'll begin to see patterns in
what you're reading I know it's unlike
most other systems but if you trust the
process it's going to serve you well so
there's each folder covered once you set
them up with or without the optional
ones there's a few important settings we
have to jig around with to make the
process seamless like butter
what butter is not seamless first off we
go to files and links in the settings
here we'll change the default location
for new notes you want to select the one
that says in the folder specified below
then in the drop- down menu select your
main notes folder or whatever else you
called it now my notes are kind of ugly
but if you want some more aesthetically
pleasing ones go to the appearance
section in the settings and you know
have a play around with the themes next
we're going to set up some hotkeys to
make your reading as rapid as possible
we want to save all of our mental energy
for writing not for creating the notes
to do this you want to go to the hotkey
section of the settings search for
template and where it says insert
template add any hotkey convenient for
you mine is control T which works a
charm on Mac this would be command t
next go to the core plugin section in
the settings these are like extra quirks
you can add to obsidian some of these
are built into the app but others are
made by members of the community in the
call plugins you want to turn on the
templates now there are a few others you
can play around with but for now
templates is all we need if you go to
the community plug-in section you'll be
greeted with this huge list of plugins
to try all made by obsidian users you
can Overlook all of these for now you
don't need any of them but in case
you're interested I use two I use one
called better word count to upgrade the
word count feature but also one called
smart random note because sometimes I
like to be able to generate a random
notes but to clarify this is just my
personal preference you don't need them
and maybe after you've got into the flow
of using this system do have an explore
and see if you can upgrade your process
somehow but be careful because the power
of the system is in its Simplicity if
you add endless plugins you might just
over complicate the process and distract
yourself from the real work so just be
wise in what you choose there's a reason
that after 9 months mons of use I only
have two installed do you remember the
templates we messed around with earlier
now you'll see how useful they are in
action in the settings go to the
template section and in the top part
select the folder that you created for
your templates if you now exit the
settings and press contrl t or whichever
hotkey you set up for the template it's
going to bring up this menu it's empty
because we haven't yet created a
template this is called a template
because with the click of a button you
can paste the contents onto empty note
and this gives you some basic structure
to work with it lives in the templates
folder and because of the setting we
changed earlier obsidian knows that this
is the template you can copy my template
for now at the top you can see date and
time in between the squiggly brackets
now I don't actually know the name of
those but the point of them is that once
you create a new note the date and time
will automatically go there below this
is status and tag this is where you add
some important information for
categorizing the note you'll see this in
a bit it's super simple next you have
the title of the note and once you type
in the title again it's automatically
going to be pasted here to make it big
and bold like you see here you simply
put a hashtag followed by space you can
add multiple hashtags to make
subheadings and the more hashtags you
add the smaller the subheading will be
under this you want to leave some blank
space so you can actually have room to
write your notes then at the bottom make
a heading called reference here you're
going to link to the source material but
also any other similar notes from here
the setup is complete so well done I
haven't touched these settings since I
began this system so thankfully from
here it's a low maintenance process now
let me walk you through the fun part how
you can actually write these notes to
create a new note you press crl o now
this will bring up a menu and in the
search bar you can type in the title of
your note and then press shift plus
enter to create it the good thing about
this menu is that it works as a search
bar so if you type in something and you
have a similar note already created it's
going to pop up for example I might want
to create a new note about purpose and
when I type in purpose similar notes
will come up anything with purpose in
the title this helps me avoid writing
the same note twice which does happen
because you might write a note months in
the past and completely forget about it
if I have already written the note I can
simply jump back into it and maybe
elaborate and add something but of
course if the note doesn't exist then
congratulations you made a new one once
you create your new note it's going to
be blank and you want your template to
be pasted on top of it to do that press
contrl T which is the hotkey for your
template and then you'll see the one you
created pop up press that one and within
a second this slaps some structure into
your note and it sets you up for right
writing without hesitation now for the
writing itself you want your notes to be
written in a way that serves you the
easiest way to show you this is to make
a note myself from start to finish
recently I read a book called
Confessions of a cartel Hitman and yeah
it's not the most deep or insightful
book but you know I wanted to change the
pace I also love to study crime from an
anthropology perspective and of course
this guy is a cartel member he had
firsthand experience which I found
interesting I have read this book but
now I'm in the notetaking stage where I
run through the book again from start to
finish and I look for anywhere I took
notes I then give these notes a formal
write up to solidify them to start off
with I make a new note in the source
materials folder I give it the title of
the book and of course if it was an
online Source I would add the link here
too this is a book so there's no need
for that whenever I encounter a note in
the paperback or maybe something I
underlined that was interesting I make
sure to write the page number down and
maybe a relevant quote below this note I
then expand on the topic in my own words
I talk about my thoughts on it maybe
what it reminded me of or even just
explain it to myself your in a way that
I understand now it's so so important to
use your own words here otherwise you
risk falling into passive learning of
course it's easy to just copy the quote
and move on but because this is a quick
process you're not really forced to
think about it so if you want to
remember more and actually understand
what you read it's best to take the time
to flesh it out as you see it this
forces your mind to reflect to think and
to truly dwell on the ideas my first
note here is about how Martin corono the
author felt extreme loyalty to his
fellow gang members even early on when
he was on the streets I have a page
number I have a quote and below it I
expanded on the idea I explained how
loyalty was the backbone of gang life
probably because it feels fulfilling to
be part of this close-knit group I carry
on through the book repeating this
process page number quote elaboration
because I write a lot for each one this
is a timec consuming process but you
know I'm okay with that if it helps the
ideas stick I'm willing to make that
sacrifice of course you don't have to do
the same you can write as little as you
want or as much as you want once I
finish writing all the source material
notes I then create the full notes again
I start at the top and I put a new tab
to the side by pressing CR o I bring up
the search menu I can then type in a new
note and create it I then press contrl T
which shows me the template and of
course I insert that and there you go
there's the full note the notes from The
Source material were in context but
these ones the main notes are not this
means they're independent from The
Source material and they're
self-explanatory because of that one
simple change it almost standardizes
them and it lets them connect to other
notes freely it also gives you a chance
to talk about the bigger picture once
you write the notes in the source
material you can then ask yourself so
what why does this matter what does this
mean so throughout the source note I
might see the same idea pop up again and
again and to me that's something worth
talking about the main note gives me a
chance to take all of that and wrap it
up as a key idea or a key takeaway I
explained this process a little bit more
in a past video so I'll try and remember
to link that here for example this note
I've created says that criminal gangs
are united by a deep sense of loyalty
and belonging now this makes no mention
of Martin Corona the cartel member but
what it does mention is the bigger
picture the thing I want to walk away
with of course you can reference people
or events directly from the book But be
sure to explain it you want to be able
to return to these notes and actually
understand what's going on immediately
let's now go through the notes from top
to bottom the status tag is not that
important and honestly you can do
without it I will use it for two things
first I'll will either write # bab #
child or # adult this sounds weird but
all it means is how develop the note is
if the note is new it's badly written
and maybe unconnected or write # bab
which tells me it's kind of in its young
stage once I write more edit the notes
and connect it to other things I can
upgrade that status to a child and then
adult all this does is help me know
which notes maybe need more attention
and more work again this is a less
important feature so please feel free to
remove it from your template if the note
contains a quote I also like to put #t
quote in this section I love to use
quotes in my writing because I feel like
it's a a Punchy way to get your message
forward so by putting #t quote it just
lets me find them more easily next comes
the tag section now we've already talked
about how to make tags but I must
confess this part can be tricky for
months I looked for advice on how to tag
my notes properly how specific should I
be how many tags should I add should I
do it according to my interests or the
subject I had all these unanswered
questions and I was lost for Direction I
want you to avoid the same Rabbit Hole
so here are some pointers for Effective
tagging ones that I learned the hard way
first try to avoid tags that are too
vague now for example I'm technically
into self-improvement but what does that
even mean it's such a vague idea that
could mean Fitness it could mean Health
it could mean business it could mean
religion it could mean all sorts of
different things if I showed you a note
that said self-improvement you can't
really guess what's inside of course you
don't want it to be too precise either
otherwise you'll end up never using it
again you want it to be somewhere in the
middle when I feel the need to create a
new tag I ask myself a simple question
will I ever use this tag again is there
anything I might come across that will
also have this tag another tip that
saved me so much irritation in tagging
is to keep tag tags related to your
interests rather than what other people
think is a common category the most
obvious tags will be things like Fitness
sociology maths things like that now
those make sense in The Wider world but
this is your system so the tag should
serve you above all for example I have a
tag called dangers to male female
relationships now this sounds quite
weird it's not a category of content you
hear about every day it may be a bit
Niche and precise but it works for me
because it's something I'm interested in
I know for a fact that I'm going to
encounter more ideas that's going to be
relevant to this topic and this means
that the tags are serving my interests
and not necessarily what the rest of the
world is thinking remember this system
is your second brain it doesn't belong
to anyone else and that means the tag
should serve you and you alone in the
early stage of the system you're going
to find yourself creating loads of new
tags but remember after creating one and
moving it to your tag section you can
infinitely reuse it as you progress and
you've covered most of your interests
things will calm down a little for this
note I know I don't have to create many
new tags I've already talked about ideas
similar to this and the tags will
already exist so I apply the Loyalty tag
I apply the meaning tag and this is a
good start but I see something's missing
I haven't accounted for the criminal
side of this tag now I love to read
about cartel history and maybe
criminology in general I know I'm going
to encounter this idea again so it makes
sense to create a new tag for it so
maybe I'll create a new tag called
cartels or criminal life something not
too vague but not too specific another
common problem I have is that sometimes
I forget tags exist and I forget to use
them where they should be used now it's
a real pain in the ass but I found a
work around what I do is I search for
similar notes using the hyperlink
function and then I go into those notes
and see what they have tagged and
sometimes this reminds me of tag that I
forgot about and I can just reuse it in
my new notes the final nugget of tag
advice is to not put too many down you
can add 6 Seven 8 but at that point it
starts to get confusing and messy I aim
to keep it below four and five most of
the time and you can't even go wrong
with just one tag Now we move to the
bulk of the note itself there's not much
to say here it's as simple as discussing
idea in order to better understand it
yourself it's an outlook for reflection
almost because I've already written a
lot in the source material note I tend
to just copy paste it sometimes I then
maybe expand upon it edit the structure
improve upon it and do all these things
to make it as useful as possible for me
or I can start from scratch and use the
source material notes as inspiration
most people write Less in the source
materials and then use this step for the
full write up so really it depends on
what you prefer I just like to write a
lot because as I said it helps slow down
the flow and helps you remember it
better the format of these notes is also
your call I love to write these notes as
mini essays which I talk about in an
earlier video so do check that out but
of course if you feel like a single
sentence is enough to capture the idea
go for it you can use blunt informative
sentences you can use a story to tell
something you can use a personal
experience to make light of what you
read literally anything goes because
remember these are your notes and you
can do whatever you please I'm not going
to be assessing them like a teacher and
neither will anyone else and speaking of
mini essays you're going to see some in
my newsletter so do be sure to subscribe
with the link in the description it's
totally free of course with that said I
do have two small tips that help me keep
my notes focused and free from clutter
first I recommend that you keep these
notes quite short so that you avoid
turning them into this full-blown
article or essay you want to use these
notes as tools for learning or maybe to
write up something you don't really want
the note to be the large writing project
itself this defeats the whole purpose of
the note because it's no longer
versatile I recommend keeping them below
500 Words And as a rule of thumb I try
and write so that everything fits on the
page without having to scroll down it
just keeps things focused and concise
the second tip is so important and it's
to keep each mini essay focused on a
single idea again you want your notes to
be as clear and as flexible as possible
you want to be able to use them in all
sorts of situations whether that's
writing something or maybe just to
refresh your memory if you create a
complicated note that pulls together
many different ideas you end up with
this messy jumble and because it's short
you don't really have the time to flesh
them out it may feel insightful but you
may just be diluting the message and
making it hard to understand what the
note is about now connections are great
don't get me wrong it's great to mix and
match ideas but you should save this
probably for a larger piece of writing
maybe a full-blown essay there you have
the room to expand upon these ideas and
to really flesh them out and give them
the attention they deserve if you want
to expand on a note in obsidian simply
make a new one and then write about the
next idea there and maybe connect it
back using a link it's the same end
result but by doing so you've kept your
notes clear and flexible also here's an
underrated piece of advice format your
notes so that they're easier to read
trust me your future self doesn't want
to revisit these notes and be met with
this big fat ugly block of text text so
try and include spaces between the lines
at natural break points this keeps it
easy to read and it takes less mental
energy and that leads us to the final
stage at last referencing at the bottom
of the notes in the references section I
create hyperlinks to any notes that
discuss similar ideas I also like to
link to the source material that the
idea came from in this case it would be
Confessions of a cartel Hitman the book
in The Source materials folder again
this is easy to do it's the same
function as tagging you press the square
bracket button twice and then search for
any notes that connect and then you just
press enter the same problem happens
with tagging though you might forget
about notes and forget to tag them the
easiest way to get around this is to
look up keywords and because those
keywords probably exist in the title of
the notes you might end up stumbling
upon ones that are relevant to be extra
sure I'm not missing anything I might
even go to the tags of the note and at
the bottom of the tag you see all of the
linked notes and chances are something
in there might be relevant enough to
connect and finally at the bottom I link
to the source material this is just a
handy way to know exactly where the idea
came from and if you ever want to
revisit the source you know where to
find it without tagging The Source note
you might have to end up scaring the
internet to find where it came from and
of course you don't want to be in that
situation I think that's everything
that's a long video so thank you for
watching and the thing is with these
setups is you can't mention everything I
I know for a fact that I've missed some
points here and I've missed some details
and there will be questions so of course
the comments are open my email is open
feel free to shoot me anything that you
don't understand and I'm I'll gladly
explain it because this is hard and it
might take a a few days few weeks few
months to get into the flow of things
but trust me if you persevere through
that you will understand you'll get a
feel for how the app works and overall
it will start to work for you so I
really hope that I've covered everything
well enough to get going but again feel
free to ask questions feel free to check
the comments for any answers you might
have and of course thank you so much for
watching
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