Watch This to Finally Understand The Zettelkasten Method in Obsidian

In this video, you will learn the workflow using Zettelkasten System along with its history, benefits, practicalities, and philosophy in creating Obsidian.

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - A Brief History of the Zettelkasten
04:52 - Super Brief History of Zettelkasten Before Luhman
06:37 - Benefits of the Modern Zettelkasten Notetaking Philosophy
09:14 - Overview of My Zettelkasten System
09:44 - My Zettelkasten Workflow
14:39 - Types of Notes in My System
17:32 - Setting Up the Access Folder Structure
21:11 - Capture
28:24 - Distill
29:38 - Organize
34:27 - Express
35:12 - The Zettelkasten Transformation

[EdwardVarner]

I'm not going to lie, I almost lost out because I "judged a book by its cover". I saw you and thought, what is some kid going to really know about teaching me this topic. My friends he knows a LOT and he conveys it well! I will rewatch for sure. Thank you for your efforts 💪💪

[NewGottland]

I've never seen anyone scroll their script on the video itself. I really like this technique because it allows me to read ahead. Also if the learner needs to pause the review a concept they may not need to scroll back -- it's right there on the page. Along with your well-timed reinforcing graphics, this made it easy and faster to learn from you. Nicely done!

[beauforda.stenberg]

I am a researcher's researcher and writer's writer, but I was not born to privilege and am largely self-taught. I am by nature modest and humble, but I am self-aware and truthful. These skillsets and attributes are hard won and are actively, continuously, cultivated, even though one may have a predisposition and/or a natural propensity for them. Now, all this self-aggrandisement and feigned lack of modesty, is really only mentioned to identify a person cut from the same cloth and to attributively, afford accolade. This is by far, the most succinct, well-structured, comprehensive, engaging and eloquent presentation I have so far encountered on the topic in any medium. You have saved me so much endeavour and time and provided such invaluable information and experiential wisdom that I am somewhat in awe. I am circa two-and-a-half times your age. I am so very appreciative of the distillation. I subscribed to your channel less than halfway through viewing. I note you have many other channels and have written much on the topic, but I truly doubt they will hold a torch to this presentation. This, I will watch again and again as I integrate and design my PKMS' workflow and adapt and apply aspects of this presentation to my system. I too, had resolved on Zotero integration, as I am setting up a RAG/Light-RAG/KAG/Cached-RAG hybrid in my Obsidian vault founded on a corpora of a life's research and writing to assist with academic writing and research, programming and translation work. Wrangling and cleaning the metadata of my corpora prior to RAG proper, is a huge task in itself, with many moving parts. You have helped quicken my process in ways beyond measure. So much of what I was on a quest to discover and unravel is herein. Bless

[nicolasturcotte-legare]

I don't generally thank YouTubers for their "generosity", but this video I think has been very thoroughly researched and the delivery is passionate.

So I'm taking the time to thank you. I've just liked and subscribed, and will come back to this channel and this specific video in the future.

Take care!

[Subx-x]

how funny is this. we study for a hobby. for no apparent reason Ill spend hours building notes in obsidian .. its therapeutic!

[christianschnos]

Before watching i thought: Oh no, one video more of this stuff. Really do not know why i started watching. But i must say: of all introductions to Zettelkasten this is by far the best and most understandable one. This video is a must one and saves you from many hours of watching stuff i mentioned at beginning

[Annibals]

This was a masterclass mate. You should be proud of this beauty you've created and shared

[sharonhillam]

I've watched this twice. I've also read your blog post of 5/21/23. Love your rebranding Permanent Notes to Concept Notes
AT the 16:22 mark you said, "Permanent notes are evolved atomic notes which you have gone back to, fleshed out, and heavily connected to other parts of your system." Got it! You then create MOCs to pull those concept notes together and provide a summary or overview. (Or, you can be developing one or more MOCs while you are also evolving and fleshing out the atomic notes.) Finally, concept notes (atomic notes) are the building blocks of MOCs — the ultimate creations that you then produce content from (or simply store away for future use). Makes total sense to me. Does this summarize your system accurately?

[YasnaKo]

Listening to you now, I caught myself on the subtlest feeling that at this moment my dream became real, or rather, the image of the future, in which I am among people from different parts of the world, and we are working together on something cool, interesting, useful. Thank you, I subscribed, in general). By the way, at first it seemed to me that you have 700 thousand subscribers, I noticed a comma only at the end). Good luck!

[matsamsung]

Totally judged the video before watching and so glad I decided to watch it anyway.

Your video is legit and you did a fantastic job. I am so impressed and thankful you made and published a video like that. Thank you for your work and your excellent teaching!

[directorserge]

Thank you very much for the research and structuring it for us. It's much more clear now. As a film director, I use lots of notes to structure my thoughts and it used to be a mess before. Now it's starting to get shape. Thanks again!

[LucasSteele-vr]

Aidan, this is such an underrated video! Thank you so much for taking the time to put it together. I'm a PhD student in Australia and I've been using Obsidian since the start collate my ideas / annotate bibliographies. But honestly I've struggled with the idea of backlinks and how to synthesise all of my information without feeling like I'm putting in all this unnecessary effort. I've got a bit to process from your video and how I can apply it, but you're a legend, thank you!

[alexandrudancechi]

Great video, Aidan!

After recently switching from Notion to Obsidian as my PKM system, I pretty soon got overwhelmed with all the possible ways to organize it, and in this undertaking of mine your video helped a lot by showing practical and efficient ways to do just that.
Keep it up :)

[DezziexLollygag]

Really interesting approach to organizing not only your thoughts but your work and life! Your system is too robust for me, but I really appreciate seeing how Obsidian and your Zettlekasten fit into your broader productivity system. That workflow chart was exactly what I was curious about! Thanks for sharing!!

[seanmartinflix]

This video is incredible. I kind of known about these concepts but never had them explained as well with such a clear way of explaining.

[josecaldev]

I've been watching and retrieving information from lots of videos to define my Zettelkasten workflow. I can see that exactly that is what you've done over time. Glad to hear you also enjoyed and learned from the Vicky Zhao content (like the Zettelkasten Compass one) from who I've learned a lot. This is a good consolidated workflow and quite close to what I was mapping mine to be. Wanted to thank you for sharing this to all of us.

One question which I have not yet found answer and is: At 31:31 you have on the right sidebar you have the graph view bellow the other sections. How can I achieve that. I've seen others, like Nicole van der Hoeven, have the same setup for the graph view. I'm sure is a simple solution, still here haven't found it.

[Dzoumpakis]

Love the energy and explanation, great video!

[nuclear]

I'll have you know I have linked this video as the best zettlekasten video yet on my daily note. Thanks for the explanation.

[Krmiby]

Thanks for the video. I recently started using Obsidian **seriously** and finished creating my own system. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the available options with plugins.
From what i have learned, it's more important to start simple and try new features when you actually need them.

[ytpah]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 📚 This video provides a comprehensive overview of the Zettelkasten method in Obsidian, covering its history, benefits, and practicalities.
01:09 🗂️ German Note Taker Nicholas Lumen popularized the Zettelkasten method, which involves organizing notes on physical slip cards with unique IDs, content, and references.
02:03 📝 Lumen's organizational method allowed for hierarchical connections between notes, breaking free from rigid folder structures.
03:11 📚 Zettelkasten has a deep historical background, including commonplace books and literary extracts, before Lumen's method.
05:15 🧠 Zettelkasten can help fight confirmation bias, perfectionism, and create a unique knowledge base tailored to the individual.
07:07 🤔 Zettelkasten allows for both top-down and bottom-up research approaches, promoting diverse inquiry.
09:25 🗂️ The speaker outlines a structured workflow for capturing, organizing, distilling, and expressing information within the Zettelkasten method.
15:57 📚 The different types of notes in the Zettelkasten workflow include fleeting notes, literature notes, atomic notes, Zettels, permanent notes, and maps of content.
18:03 🗃️ The speaker uses the "Access" folder structure in Obsidian to organize their notes, including Calendar, Atlas, Cards, Extras, Sources, Spaces, and Home.
20:50 🗺️ The Home note serves as a high-level overview, linking to lower-order mods, while the "Encounter" box helps make sense of recently made notes.
21:18 📄 The workflow encompasses capturing resonating, confusing, and high-quality information from various sources and organizing it in Obsidian.
21:59 📝 Define guiding questions: Create a set of 12 favorite questions to guide your knowledge acquisition and activities throughout the day.
22:42 🗒️ Use a consistent note template: Consider using a specific note template, including sections like "up" (related notes), title, body, code block for navigation, related section for additional notes, and a resource section for sources.
26:10 🏷️ Utilize tags for note states: Implement a tag system to indicate the state of your notes, such as "inbox" for unprocessed notes, "seedlings" for notes that need further development, "ferns" for partially developed notes, and "evergreen" for foundational notes.
28:14 🧭 Use efforts over projects: Prioritize daily efforts rather than fixed schedules for note-making and knowledge development.
30:17 ➡️ Implement associative thinking: Link notes in four directions - North (sources), West (similar ideas), South (ideas it leads to), and East (competing ideas) to create meaningful connections.
33:59 🔄 Link to older notes: When creating new notes, consider linking them both in the new note and an older, relevant note to increase the likelihood of rediscovery over time.
34:43 📣 Express through content: Use your Zettelkasten notes as the foundation for creating content such as YouTube videos, newsletters, podcasts, or even casual conversations.
35:53 🌟 Benefits of long-term Zettelkasten: Implementing the Zettelkasten method for at least two years can lead to a transformed mindset, improved knowledge management, and the ability to draw on a vast body of knowledge effortlessly.

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