Wow, thanks so much for a great demo Aidan. I've learned so much from your Obsidian notetaking process for my current MSc degree study, and I think it would help me incredibly for my research dissertation. Also, such a coincident that you've used the Tantra book as example, given that I've started practising tantra since last year, and became a Tibetan Buddhist a few months ago. Wishing you all the best with your learning and journey!
Zeer cool, Aidan! Het netwerk van al je notities wat je aan het einde laat zien is natuurlijk net een neuraal netwerk wat in je hersenen zit. Prachtig!
Apply the learnings from this video by joining my FREE email course 7 Days To Starting A Zettelkasten In Obsidian As A Student: course.aidanhelfant.com/3daystostartingazettelkasteninobsidianasastudent
John Vervaeke is going to be releasing a video series called After Socrates that I think you'd really like. It's about developing an ecology of practices to cultivate wisdom and equanimity. I see the potential for some cool videos coming from it.
Here's a quote to connect to your three sentences on that book (assuming you haveven't found it laready, which you probably have). Anaïs Nin - 'We see the world not as it is, but as we are.'
Wow I love this! Thank you for sharing your process! By chance, did you read "How to take Smart Notes"? I'm trying to build and rebuild a system as I add more notes. I've been looking at other people's process to build upon mine so this was very helpful!
How to Take Smart Notes was the book that originally got me into PKM a year and a half ago. It's incredibly good. If you are looking for insight into transferring systems I recently made the move from Roam Research to Obsidian. The way I transferered was by, well not transferring. I simply started from scratch and let my knowledge grow in Obsidian. It was a massive weight off my shoulders to make the transition this way.
Thank you for simplifying such a complicated process into simple steps. I look forward to incorporating that into my methodology. Just a small question I would appreciate you emphasising more on. what is the difference between the summaries you create and the atomic notes that you make in the summaries? like what sparks a highlight to become an atomic note?
Great question! If I think an idea is important enough and able to be connected to other notes in my system I create an atomic note out of it. I wouldn’t over intellectualize it. It’s more a feeling than a literal thinking process.
Very helpful to see the process you follow! Thanks! I would like to ask you a couple of things (as I am still "fighting" to apply the zettelkasten method): 1.- once you have finished your book summary, do you delete the note(s) that the ReadWise plug-ing created with your highlighted paragraphs? 2.- As I see (if I got it right) you do not just create atomic notes from the book you read. Instead, you have a big note with the book summary and all the sections you have in your template and, for some specific topics/ideas you create an atomic note. Is that so? I am asking this because I had the idea that, in Zettelkasten, ALL your notes must be atomic notes (until you use them to create your content (video, book, article, essay...) when you then put them together and do the narrative. Can you clarify this for me, please? Thanks once again for this video. Reeeealllly helpful!!!
1. I don't delete the Readwise note. I think it's valuable to have the highlighted paragraphs there in case I ever want to go back through my direct highlights from the text. 2. You are correct, I don't just create atomic notes for the entire book summary. I think trying to create atomic notes out of everything is a recipe for procrastination and perfectionism. Not everything deserves to have its stand-alone note. And having surrounding textual support can help put the atomic notes in context. That's why I like to have a single book summary note with atomic notes and surrounding text support so that I can reintegrate myself with the book's main arguments in one note.
Hi Aidan. I´m wondering how do you use links, tags and folders in obsidian. I´m starting using it for pkm and i´m followings Nick Milo´s advice of not having a predefined organisation system in the begining and letting it grow and be fluid. So far i´m not using folders at all and all my notes are in a 'big pile' folder, but i think i'm missing something by not using them.
Great question! I'm making a video on this at some point with a more comprehensive answer. Generally, I use links to connect notes together where I see relevant and to provide the structure for my Maps of Content (MOCs). I use tags to indicate the status of a note. 🌱 for notes that are barely fleshed out and need more information. 🌿 for notes that have some links but still need more fleshing out. 🌲 for evergreen notes that are quite fleshed out but still might change in the future. And 📩 for highlights that are coming in from Readwise and Zotero that need to be processed. Then I use folders for a little bit of higher order structure. I personally use Nick Milos ACESS folder structure which you can find on CZcams.
Hey Aidan good video I learned a lot. Do you read books on your E-reader device or paper books? The reason I ask is that if you prefer to read a paper book it doesn't seem practicle to make highlights first in Readwise and then work them out in Obsidian. Btw thanks for your template. I am currently also in to Buddism and more in eastern philosophy. Particularly I love listening to Alan Watts.
I read on Audible, e-reader, and paper books. Usually I test a book by reading a summary or listening on audible. Then I'll get the e-book so I can highlight. If I really like a book I will get it physically to add to my library. Sometimes I will read a physical book first if it's a gift. If I read physically I write my summary in Obsidian with the physical book by my side for reference. That's sick you are also into Buddhism and Eastern Philosophy! What got you into it?
This can be cool and fine when studyiung for ourselves or for a thesis, but when it comes to studying for university exams i couldn't make it work. The concepts worth of being atomic notes are too many and it's hard to give a general flow to the topic haviung only atomic notes, which is fundamental for exams
That's perfectly reasonable! If you are focused on optimizing reading for school, this might not be the system for you. This type of system is meant to go beyond school studies. I intend to grow my notes for life. I know a system like this will be invaluable for reading books out of school.
What ebook reader(s) do you like and what’s your process for getting book highlights into Readwise? It seems like the only way to sync them automatically is with Amazon-purchased books & Kindle, and anything else takes a manual sync process :(
I mainly only use Kindle right now. I haven't had a problem where a book can't be gotten through Kindle so sorry I can't answer that problem. But manually syncing is what our caveman ancestors would of had to do so we can do it too! 🤣
That's something I should have added in the video. I keep track of where my ideas come from now using RRR. Remark, relate, and reference. The last step reference, is where I reference where an idea came from.
Love the Buddhist and stoic connection.
Thanks! Making knowledge personal is one of the best ways to make learning more fun.
Wow, thanks so much for a great demo Aidan. I've learned so much from your Obsidian notetaking process for my current MSc degree study, and I think it would help me incredibly for my research dissertation. Also, such a coincident that you've used the Tantra book as example, given that I've started practising tantra since last year, and became a Tibetan Buddhist a few months ago. Wishing you all the best with your learning and journey!
I'm glad it helps with your research dissertation. That's so funny that you got into Tibetan Buddhist thought as well.
Zeer cool, Aidan! Het netwerk van al je notities wat je aan het einde laat zien is natuurlijk net een neuraal netwerk wat in je hersenen zit. Prachtig!
Thanks mom! Glad you enjoyed this more specific workflow type of video. Have a great track meet wednesday!
Apply the learnings from this video by joining my FREE email course 7 Days To Starting A Zettelkasten In Obsidian As A Student: course.aidanhelfant.com/3daystostartingazettelkasteninobsidianasastudent
John Vervaeke is going to be releasing a video series called After Socrates that I think you'd really like. It's about developing an ecology of practices to cultivate wisdom and equanimity. I see the potential for some cool videos coming from it.
I just followed his channel! I wasn't aware it existed. Thanks for pointing me to it.
@@aidanhelfant Enjoy the rabbit hole! He's put a whole bunch of high quality stuff out there for free.
You are holding the book upside down at 0:09 😂😂
Have to add some silliness to the world :)
Here's a quote to connect to your three sentences on that book (assuming you haveven't found it laready, which you probably have).
Anaïs Nin - 'We see the world not as it is, but as we are.'
That quote hits it on the spot.
Wow I love this! Thank you for sharing your process! By chance, did you read "How to take Smart Notes"? I'm trying to build and rebuild a system as I add more notes. I've been looking at other people's process to build upon mine so this was very helpful!
How to Take Smart Notes was the book that originally got me into PKM a year and a half ago. It's incredibly good. If you are looking for insight into transferring systems I recently made the move from Roam Research to Obsidian. The way I transferered was by, well not transferring. I simply started from scratch and let my knowledge grow in Obsidian. It was a massive weight off my shoulders to make the transition this way.
Thank you for simplifying such a complicated process into simple steps. I look forward to incorporating that into my methodology. Just a small question I would appreciate you emphasising more on. what is the difference between the summaries you create and the atomic notes that you make in the summaries? like what sparks a highlight to become an atomic note?
Great question!
If I think an idea is important enough and able to be connected to other notes in my system I create an atomic note out of it. I wouldn’t over intellectualize it. It’s more a feeling than a literal thinking process.
Very helpful to see the process you follow! Thanks!
I would like to ask you a couple of things (as I am still "fighting" to apply the zettelkasten method):
1.- once you have finished your book summary, do you delete the note(s) that the ReadWise plug-ing created with your highlighted paragraphs?
2.- As I see (if I got it right) you do not just create atomic notes from the book you read. Instead, you have a big note with the book summary and all the sections you have in your template and, for some specific topics/ideas you create an atomic note. Is that so? I am asking this because I had the idea that, in Zettelkasten, ALL your notes must be atomic notes (until you use them to create your content (video, book, article, essay...) when you then put them together and do the narrative. Can you clarify this for me, please?
Thanks once again for this video. Reeeealllly helpful!!!
1. I don't delete the Readwise note. I think it's valuable to have the highlighted paragraphs there in case I ever want to go back through my direct highlights from the text.
2. You are correct, I don't just create atomic notes for the entire book summary. I think trying to create atomic notes out of everything is a recipe for procrastination and perfectionism. Not everything deserves to have its stand-alone note. And having surrounding textual support can help put the atomic notes in context. That's why I like to have a single book summary note with atomic notes and surrounding text support so that I can reintegrate myself with the book's main arguments in one note.
Thanks for sharing!
No problem! Have a great rest of your day!
Hi Aidan. I´m wondering how do you use links, tags and folders in obsidian. I´m starting using it for pkm and i´m followings Nick Milo´s advice of not having a predefined organisation system in the begining and letting it grow and be fluid. So far i´m not using folders at all and all my notes are in a 'big pile' folder, but i think i'm missing something by not using them.
Great question! I'm making a video on this at some point with a more comprehensive answer. Generally, I use links to connect notes together where I see relevant and to provide the structure for my Maps of Content (MOCs). I use tags to indicate the status of a note. 🌱 for notes that are barely fleshed out and need more information. 🌿 for notes that have some links but still need more fleshing out. 🌲 for evergreen notes that are quite fleshed out but still might change in the future. And 📩 for highlights that are coming in from Readwise and Zotero that need to be processed. Then I use folders for a little bit of higher order structure. I personally use Nick Milos ACESS folder structure which you can find on CZcams.
Hey Aidan good video I learned a lot. Do you read books on your E-reader device or paper books? The reason I ask is that if you prefer to read a paper book it doesn't seem practicle to make highlights first in Readwise and then work them out in Obsidian. Btw thanks for your template. I am currently also in to Buddism and more in eastern philosophy. Particularly I love listening to Alan Watts.
I read on Audible, e-reader, and paper books.
Usually I test a book by reading a summary or listening on audible. Then I'll get the e-book so I can highlight. If I really like a book I will get it physically to add to my library. Sometimes I will read a physical book first if it's a gift. If I read physically I write my summary in Obsidian with the physical book by my side for reference.
That's sick you are also into Buddhism and Eastern Philosophy! What got you into it?
This can be cool and fine when studyiung for ourselves or for a thesis, but when it comes to studying for university exams i couldn't make it work. The concepts worth of being atomic notes are too many and it's hard to give a general flow to the topic haviung only atomic notes, which is fundamental for exams
That's perfectly reasonable!
If you are focused on optimizing reading for school, this might not be the system for you. This type of system is meant to go beyond school studies. I intend to grow my notes for life. I know a system like this will be invaluable for reading books out of school.
Very useful, thanks 👍
No problem!
What ebook reader(s) do you like and what’s your process for getting book highlights into Readwise? It seems like the only way to sync them automatically is with Amazon-purchased books & Kindle, and anything else takes a manual sync process :(
I mainly only use Kindle right now. I haven't had a problem where a book can't be gotten through Kindle so sorry I can't answer that problem. But manually syncing is what our caveman ancestors would of had to do so we can do it too! 🤣
Once you build your main points, you don't link then to the location or page numbers in the book? Just so you know where the idea came from..
That's something I should have added in the video.
I keep track of where my ideas come from now using RRR. Remark, relate, and reference. The last step reference, is where I reference where an idea came from.
@@aidanhelfant Great, thanks
does date in the notes link to a tag?
It does not.
@@aidanhelfant czcams.com/video/YvaN0tG5B8s/video.html what does the "Created:24-09-2022" links to?
do you save your full articles into obsidian?
I usually write my articles in Obsidian so the full articles are there.