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.
thank you for taking the time to watch the video and sharing your thoughts and clarifying some of the interpretations i misunderstood. i think my developer and productivity background is what compels me to the more over-engineered setup. even though the system as a whole is too complex for your liking, i hope there was a nugget or two that you might find useful for your own workflow 🫡
I gave up on Obsidian because of the complexity urged by so many on youtube. @Odysseas simplified version has me going back into it head first and loving it again; already making more progress than I did previously. We are trying to build second brains to aid our first brains. Anything beyond that is mental masturbation.
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!"
I agree with John, its like buying a PC instead of the console to then only play games. What you bought is capable of soo much more. Odyseey really missed that point.
after waking up i realized the video packaging went too far and have adjusted the thumbnail and title, you are right that i should have focused more on the message than the character.
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.
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.
@02thore This could’ve been a bts email creator to creator. As I stated, I find value in O’s content just as JM. This reads as being a show off for literally no reason. He could’ve (and still can) just uploaded these tutorials as intermediate or advanced pkm in obsidian. There is a thing called BEGINNER before you become advanced. Although he may not have unlocked obsidians full capabilities yet doesn’t mean he shouldn’t make content especially if people find it helpful. It’s catty for no reason. We should not make this a thing in pkm and there are creators for every audience. Just because one may be more advanced than another is not a valid reason to publicly accuse them of being a fraud simply because they are less experienced or learn differently. Sometime people just like the creator and that’s fine too. Requiring all obsidian creators to be at the same level or even capability is unreasonable and unnecessary. My suggestion would be to remove this, cut out personal opinions about what’s wrong with another creator’s methods, skills, and content, and reupload the parts giving great information on how to take Obsidian even further.
@@Promentalist I agree when it comes to the thumbnail, but Odysseas argument is unnuanced. He talks about the toxicity of ultra perfectionism and reacts with it by not using anything. He insists that all plugins and whatever are bullshit and unnecessary, this is the problem John is arguing against.
@@Promentalist thank you for your advice. there is different audiences that need both styles of information, and i should have created this video with a stronger emphasis on the extension of his introductions. it was a mistake of me to include my previous thumbnail
@@itsjohnmavrick I appreciate this acknowledgment, John. We all make mistakes and your ability to accept fair criticism after dishing it is highly respectable. I am using your obsidian template right now and it’s amazing 😻 however I’m still working my way around and building my skills. I follow all you guys, newbs and experts alike. Keep up the good work. We all deserve grace.
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.
i agree that both setups are viable depending on the person, and am glad you are still critiquing me despite preferring my setup :) i just wanted to bring light to how his initial setup video seemed to be replicable on most writing apps which fails to show why obsidian would be preferred over any of the other apps i mentioned in the video. and so, my extension of his setup being the extension. hope some of the plugins and points i made in the video was helpful food for thought for your own 🫡
@@itsjohnmavrick Your insight is very helpful to me as per usual haha and i'm loving the professionalism and ability to evaluate feedback, it reflects your content, approach and mindset really well :)
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.
fair point, technically his does work and gets the job done but i wanted to share my interpretation on what a "full" setup could look like considering obsidian's uniqueness. i hope your obsidian development is manageable and slowly grows as your needs also do :)
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 :)
hi thank you for the kind comment, glad you find the things i learn about relevant to your own journey as well :) i do have an older video on readwise (the video with a thumbnail of the app logo) but i might also have more detailed notes on it in my published notes. on my published notes i do also share all my highlights and have a list on the sources i actually make notes from notes.johnmavrick.com/Hidden/My+Obsidian+Publish+Queries/My+Processed+Inputs+With+1%2B+Link and yeah i've been more conscious on how to have a healthier balance between helping and making a living off of yt so its nice to hear that the transparency and effort has been worth it ! hope to see you around :)
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?
@@DenisDenner-s5t i would suggest you try out the free resources like the downloadable template in this description that i built in the video, or my beginner 4-day course :)
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?
frontmatter links are when you want to link it to a direct parent note for consistent navigation across notes, putting it in text is if you need elaborate explanation imo
woah neat to see you here ! appreciate the kind words, im sure the zettelkasten setup is already what you're familiar with but i hope the commentary resonated :)
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.
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.
also yeah I tried to follow as best as I could but as someone who's trying to learn to take notes digitally it's overwhelming. We need more beginner friendly obsidian guides that are not 5 years old
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
yes but i find the plugin to make it more accessible with the hotkey and command as i showed in the video since otherwise from what i know you need to manually type it?
@@itsjohnmavrick Yes, you do have to manually type it. I find that beneficial because I am more intentional about what I am referencing and think about it more
@@DanteMishima so you would want to manually type the block like ^sf90xi every time you want to make a quote? i do see how it increases friction which promotes intentionality though, but i personally am able to do that thinking and can just save time doing the copy paste with the plugin
No RUclipsr has the final say on anything. Even when everybody use the same tool the systems are personal and unique. Why fall into criticism against other’s systems? Next time show your face 🤷🏻♂️
i agree, thats why i built off his system to share my perspective in constructive criticism fashion, where you can pick out the plugins and suggestions you want :) and i would like to understand why showing my face is significant, but I do show it in other videos and it might LinkedIn and podcasts so you can see there if you are interested ;-)
thank you, i'm glad my opinions in the video didn't take away from the exposure of new plugins to have in your vault :) fingers crossed i can have a full vault tour soon
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?
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.
thank you for taking the time to watch the video and sharing your thoughts and clarifying some of the interpretations i misunderstood. i think my developer and productivity background is what compels me to the more over-engineered setup. even though the system as a whole is too complex for your liking, i hope there was a nugget or two that you might find useful for your own workflow 🫡
@@itsjohnmavrick That makes sense, and indeed there was
I gave up on Obsidian because of the complexity urged by so many on youtube. @Odysseas simplified version has me going back into it head first and loving it again; already making more progress than I did previously. We are trying to build second brains to aid our first brains.
Anything beyond that is mental masturbation.
@@SeanThomasCross glad to hear you were able to come back to find a setup that works for you :)
@@SeanThomasCross same here I’ve always tried to get into it but it was overwhelming until odysseas made that video
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!"
I agree with John, its like buying a PC instead of the console to then only play games. What you bought is capable of soo much more. Odyseey really missed that point.
after waking up i realized the video packaging went too far and have adjusted the thumbnail and title, you are right that i should have focused more on the message than the character.
Agreed.
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.
Big respect for changing it :) I've deleted my previous comment
@@tar-yy3ub respect to you as well for calling me out :) hope you find the video valuable !
Wow, can a community and a creator both work together in positive ways? You guys are blowing my mind here. Keep up the good work!
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.
But if his vault is suboptimal and not even using obsidian, why shouldn't he criticise them?
@02thore This could’ve been a bts email creator to creator. As I stated, I find value in O’s content just as JM. This reads as being a show off for literally no reason. He could’ve (and still can) just uploaded these tutorials as intermediate or advanced pkm in obsidian. There is a thing called BEGINNER before you become advanced. Although he may not have unlocked obsidians full capabilities yet doesn’t mean he shouldn’t make content especially if people find it helpful. It’s catty for no reason. We should not make this a thing in pkm and there are creators for every audience. Just because one may be more advanced than another is not a valid reason to publicly accuse them of being a fraud simply because they are less experienced or learn differently. Sometime people just like the creator and that’s fine too. Requiring all obsidian creators to be at the same level or even capability is unreasonable and unnecessary. My suggestion would be to remove this, cut out personal opinions about what’s wrong with another creator’s methods, skills, and content, and reupload the parts giving great information on how to take Obsidian even further.
@@Promentalist I agree when it comes to the thumbnail, but Odysseas argument is unnuanced. He talks about the toxicity of ultra perfectionism and reacts with it by not using anything. He insists that all plugins and whatever are bullshit and unnecessary, this is the problem John is arguing against.
@@Promentalist thank you for your advice. there is different audiences that need both styles of information, and i should have created this video with a stronger emphasis on the extension of his introductions. it was a mistake of me to include my previous thumbnail
@@itsjohnmavrick I appreciate this acknowledgment, John. We all make mistakes and your ability to accept fair criticism after dishing it is highly respectable. I am using your obsidian template right now and it’s amazing 😻 however I’m still working my way around and building my skills. I follow all you guys, newbs and experts alike. Keep up the good work. We all deserve grace.
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.
i agree that both setups are viable depending on the person, and am glad you are still critiquing me despite preferring my setup :) i just wanted to bring light to how his initial setup video seemed to be replicable on most writing apps which fails to show why obsidian would be preferred over any of the other apps i mentioned in the video. and so, my extension of his setup being the extension.
hope some of the plugins and points i made in the video was helpful food for thought for your own 🫡
@@itsjohnmavrick Your insight is very helpful to me as per usual haha and i'm loving the professionalism and ability to evaluate feedback, it reflects your content, approach and mindset really well :)
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.
fair point, technically his does work and gets the job done but i wanted to share my interpretation on what a "full" setup could look like considering obsidian's uniqueness. i hope your obsidian development is manageable and slowly grows as your needs also do :)
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 :)
hi thank you for the kind comment, glad you find the things i learn about relevant to your own journey as well :) i do have an older video on readwise (the video with a thumbnail of the app logo) but i might also have more detailed notes on it in my published notes. on my published notes i do also share all my highlights and have a list on the sources i actually make notes from notes.johnmavrick.com/Hidden/My+Obsidian+Publish+Queries/My+Processed+Inputs+With+1%2B+Link
and yeah i've been more conscious on how to have a healthier balance between helping and making a living off of yt so its nice to hear that the transparency and effort has been worth it ! hope to see you around :)
Gracias bro, me salvas la vida con esto.
great video man.. & I'm sorry if this is a repetitive question but what theme are u using?
i use minimal theme with dracula option :)
You really missed the whole point of his video, congrat👏👏!
hey, i am always open to feedback to learn from my mistakes. if you can share your thoughts I'll take them into consideration :)
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?
@@DenisDenner-s5t i would suggest you try out the free resources like the downloadable template in this description that i built in the video, or my beginner 4-day course :)
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?
frontmatter links are when you want to link it to a direct parent note for consistent navigation across notes, putting it in text is if you need elaborate explanation imo
You are awesome! You motivate me a lot.
aww ty hope all is well for you :)
never thought a vtuber would make a productivity video!!
hehe expect the unexpected, this is only the beginning ;)
@@itsjohnmavrick you'll be great :D
Great watch :)
woah neat to see you here ! appreciate the kind words, im sure the zettelkasten setup is already what you're familiar with but i hope the commentary resonated :)
@@itsjohnmavrick been subbed for a while my friend, your thumbnail game also inspires envy 🤣
@@BryanJenks my previous experience with creating gaming montages takes all the credit for my photoshop skills haha 😅
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.
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.
@@_officialmigs hey thanks for leaving this, you have a good point.
100% Agreed John
can you make a 2024 version of how you would set up your vault if you were to start over?
also yeah I tried to follow as best as I could but as someone who's trying to learn to take notes digitally it's overwhelming. We need more beginner friendly obsidian guides that are not 5 years old
I'm sorry to hear, what problems are you facing with existing newer videos?
im doing a vault tour but i don't know if i would show the steps from scratch since it is complex
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
im glad to hear he's shared a setup that works for your needs :)
needlessly inflammatory thumbnail 👍
you're right, I've removed it immediately after waking up and will work on a new one that focuses on the message not the character.
How can i get the templates?? I already signed up, but I couldn't find where to download it...
correct me if I'm wrong but I think I already responded to your message earlier on email
Did you just install a plugin to something we've always been able to in Obsidian? Block link
yes but i find the plugin to make it more accessible with the hotkey and command as i showed in the video since otherwise from what i know you need to manually type it?
@@itsjohnmavrick Yes, you do have to manually type it. I find that beneficial because I am more intentional about what I am referencing and think about it more
@@DanteMishima so you would want to manually type the block like ^sf90xi every time you want to make a quote? i do see how it increases friction which promotes intentionality though, but i personally am able to do that thinking and can just save time doing the copy paste with the plugin
Wait... is this a note taking app or a cult? Im not mad if its actually a cult Im just not dressed for it and would really appreciate a heads up.
@@josephmatthews7698 yes it is a cult, i can send the official purple robe and obsidian necklace your way 🫡
No RUclipsr has the final say on anything. Even when everybody use the same tool the systems are personal and unique. Why fall into criticism against other’s systems?
Next time show your face 🤷🏻♂️
i agree, thats why i built off his system to share my perspective in constructive criticism fashion, where you can pick out the plugins and suggestions you want :) and i would like to understand why showing my face is significant, but I do show it in other videos and it might LinkedIn and podcasts so you can see there if you are interested ;-)
Cool vid, gave me some ideas. Love your content. Thanks for uploading a longer one.
thank you, i'm glad my opinions in the video didn't take away from the exposure of new plugins to have in your vault :) fingers crossed i can have a full vault tour soon
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?
hihi, in the notion page where you downloaded the vault there should be a video to show how to set it up, do you not see it?