Creating a powerful zettelkasten setup for learning using Obsidian (Full setup + download)

Odysseas has had a meteoric rise showcasing the power of self-education to become a modern Renaissance man.

His secret weapon has been to learn and write using obsidian, which is the app he's personally crowned as the king of learning tools. But I question:

Is his advice also fit for the throne? This is because of two major criticisms i have:

First is his credibility. Is he really staying true to promoting proper self-education, or is he actually hindering it?

Second, from my 3 years of experience with using Obsidian for the same reason, I feel like his advice is outdated, oversimplified, and doesn't showcase Obsidian's true potential as a learning tool. so instead, I'll also be critiquing and improving his learning setup later in the video.

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⌚️TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Introduction
00:50 - My experience with self-education
02:19 - Crticism 1 - Credibility
07:23 - Criticism 2 - An underwhelming setup
08:21 - My suggestions + free download

SETUP CRITICISMS AND SUGGESTIONS
09:23 - Folders suggestions
11:02 - Fixing templates
17:38 - Improving Log notes
20:53 - Improving Source notes
28:58 - Improving Tag notes
34:50 - Improving Index notes
43:00 - On growing notes

TITLES:
Unleash the power of Obsidian for self-learning with the zettelkasten method (Full setup + download)

🙌 CREDITS:
Websites and creators were mentioned in the slides
Extra resources I mention in the video can be found in my zettelkasten vault or published notes
Critiquing a lack of sources and potential credibility is inspired by Hbomberguy's plaigarism video, Coffeezilla's exploration of critizing online creators, and Danny Hatcher's usual contrarian views on traditional productivity advice/creators

🎶 SONGS USED:
Bunny Girl Senpai ED Fukashigi no Carte [ Lofi Remix ]
BlockBuster 🎥 No Copyright Lofi Hip Hop & Chillhop Mix 2021 \_ Chill lofi beats to study / relax to

🏷 TAGS:

[odysseas__]

Nice video, I like the structure. I owe some explanation for each part:

1. I should have referenced some videos, yep. I forgot where I first learned the evergreen tier system idea. I remember using Artem Kirsanov's guide as the technical backbone to mine. It's similar, which is why I thought to put a spin on the video by explaining why the app works in theory, and showing off my own alterations.

2. I should have mentioned MOCs too. I steer away from using new, unfamiliar terms in favour of something more people will have already encountered, like an index, but yeah I ought to have mentioned it.

3. I didn't compare to other zettelkastens because the video would be too long. The purpose was to show off my own process, not claim it was the best way to do it. There is no best way.

4. I call it the 'king of learning tools' because it's a catchy title, and since Obsidian is so flexible in its function, it has a fair claim. I'm sure there's loads of better apps out there, all similar in some ways. I'd be happy using Roam, Logseq, Kortex or anything else with the same basic features.

5. I'm aware my writing log is not sustainable over the long-term. It's a way for me to stay accountable in the short-term, not for long-term statistics. I plan to delete it all when it takes too long to scroll down and start fresh. Most of my temporary notes are just lists to store interesting topics to look into, so I don't worry about them getting large. My writing log was not part of the setup either -maybe I should have stressed that.

6. I wasn't aware of properties when I started this. They're good. Functionally the same for me, but still good.

7. The title in the note is repeated for visual separation of the note from the properties. It's true you don't need it.

8. I didn't say to avoid using plugins. I clarified how I only use two, and gave a warning against getting bogged down in the search for optimisation, especially early on. I expect people to explore and see what they can add, but only if and when it's not an excuse to avoid the purpose of the whole system. Use plugins, but with care.

9. In my source notes, I said I put page numbers for each idea mentioned. I only started this recently, so not all of them in the video may have had it, but that's how I can get more precise in referencing. Your method is good, but I prefer to rewrite or edit from my source notes to atomic notes. It's time consuming, but lets me improve the writing and understand it better through sheer effort.

10. The hotkey to move tags to the tag folder is fair. The strange new world plugin is also cool for the dropdown.

11. I can see how adding context to the indexes/MOCs is helpful, but I don't find this to be a problem in practice. I'm happy to just look into the note and reread it.

12. The custom view for tags and indexes is neat, but I don't see the point in my own workflow, at least for now.

13. The seedling-sprouts-trees system is not that important to me because I don't write detailed notes for the sake of writing detailed notes, but to help me understand ideas and have them eventually serve me in my writing.
If there's a baby/seedling note I never revisit, that's fine -it probably never warranted a return to it. If I do return to it, I'll be sure to expand on it and upgrade the status. Again, this is purely personal preference.

I don't like your system. It's too complicated, there's too many features and It feels like micromanaging every detail to me.

But it's yours, not mine. If it works for you, it works. That's the core of PKM, and if this setup suits someone's mind more than mine does, they should use it without a scrap of hesitation.

I hope that all makes sense. Bit of a long read, but I tried to be brief.

[itsjohnmavrick]

hey, just wanted to include a disclaimer and mention that my initial thumbnail and title for the video was extreme and uncalled for. i hope you can forgive my sensationalism and view the video as an extension of Odysseas's setup/video for people looking to have a more complex Obsidian zettelkasten setup.

[stromzufuhr]

Wow, now we're starting to criticize each other people's folder structures and plugin usage? Why not just say: "Look, Oddysseas came up with a nice starting point for starters - good stuff! Here are some next step ideas!"

[ProductBae]

Listen… I actually like and appreciate his content just like yours. The beauty of the learning space is that there is someone for every level. I don’t think we want to make the learning space competitive in this way. He does his thing and you do yours which I’m sure we ALL find helpful. More people will enter this space and we will welcome them.

[tigsik]

hmmm I think the POV of Odysseas is to keep it simple and focus on what works for you with the current feature. Your video is helpful for someone who already has experience with using Obsidian as for me who is new it helped me a lot. And I think once im more experience with obsidian ill follow your approach like the properties etc.

[lauraduran-ujlg]

You are brilliant, John. Im just fascinated with the amount of content you have on your digital galaxy. All of the topics you explored there is really impressing and also helpful. I also have ADHD and a lot of what im reading there is new to me
I saw that you use Readwise to organize your readings and it would be great if you made a video about it... Really curious to know more about the articles and readings you have there (Your sources, i mean).
Its rare to find someone like you around here because most channels I come across are usually trying to promote some brand or attract people to their paid courses. There's nothing wrong with that, but watching someone who genuinely wants to share everything they learned for the sake of others learning is truly beautiful.
Thank you for sharing your Journey with us. Keep going John, you inspire a lot of people and I include myself on that :)

[kevy_.]

I personally value both yours and Odysseas' setup as they both cover different personalities of self learning. In my opinion i don't feel its very fair to criticise his setup as others have pointed out it was built with the intent of being simplistic for those who needed it, in my position i much prefer your setup that fully utilises the flexibility of Obsidian. In short i believe its just two sides of a coin and in the end people will pick one or the other.

[_officialmigs]

Ok so I just watched Odysseas video and of course YT populated yours... I am in shock that we are in a world where literally everything can be so divisive. Down to notes, plug-ins, and structure. Shots are fired over people offering suggestions on a free note taking application.

[kudn]

You really missed the whole point of his video, congrat👏👏!

[torajuro]

I think it would be nice if both of your could do a collab video where both of you exchange your ideas & thoughts on obsidian.

I think watching a video like that would benefit alot people.

Gracias bro, me salvas la vida con esto.

[AlpineSunshine_]

never thought a vtuber would make a productivity video!!

[Adam.]

You are awesome! You motivate me a lot.

[DanteMishima]

Now this is where I disagree with you. Odyssey is the only person who has a system that makes sense to me. and the simplicity of it makes you focus on the note making

[cruishank]

The first ever Obsidian video i had watched was the vid by Odysseas, i was gripped by his video because he mentioned beforehand that he had also watched alot of Obsidian videos and wanted newcomers to not waste time doing what he did.Thanks John for this video, i downloaded the enhanced obsidian setup that YOU made, but im still confused.How do i import it or actually use this file?

[maxd]

Cool vid, gave me some ideas. Love your content. Thanks for uploading a longer one.

[evaander]

can you make a 2024 version of how you would set up your vault if you were to start over?

[hamzahd]

great video man.. & I'm sorry if this is a repetitive question but what theme are u using?

[MrVirtuezzz]

When creating indexes/tags, when do you put links in the properties vs in the body of the note while explaining why they're linked? Is it okay to do both? What's the point in having the link section in properties if you're going to add links to the body and explain them there?

[DenisDenner-st]

Hey man i like the video but im super new to this topic i would love to start using Obsidian on daily bases but i dont know how exactly right now its one big mess im lost in information i saw some of your products and i like them but what exactly would you recomend to me to beggin with how to start is Obsidian world?