My vault has changed a lot since I started using Obsidian.

Nowadays, things run very smoothly allowing me to capture, generate and share ideas.

But it wasn’t always like this — the process is something I’ve worked on for over two and a half years — it took over a year before I even started feeling comfortable with the system I was working in.

In this piece, I want to share the main changes in my vault since I started using Obsidian. We’ll go over vault organisation, capture methods and more.

Let’s get started…

Overall vault system

One reason I switched to Obsidian was for the linked note-taking feature that lets you connect notes with similar context and content to each other.

I had been reading the books Digital Zettelkasten and How to Take Smart Notes and was convinced that building a Zettelkasten was the only thing I needed to do. After that, I thought, all my knowledge would organize itself and magically make me productive and happy.

Unfortunately, as anyone who’s tried building a system for PKM and productivity knows, it’s not as easy as just copying somebody else’s system and starting to fly through your work (there are exceptions).

Instead, you have to build from near to scratch, and a system that’s effective for the work that you do will emerge through making small changes over time. It takes a little optimising here and iterating there, but it’s entirely worth it.

I learned this lesson eventually and transitioned away from a strict Zettelkasten system. Since then, I’ve been developing my own way of working inside of Obsidian.

I’ve written countless times about this system and therefore won’t go into detail here. But if you want to learn more about it, check out PARAZETTEL.

On to the next thing that’s changed significantly in my vault since the beginning…

Capture methods

Perhaps the most crucial part of knowledge management is the capture of ideas and thoughts that might inspire future actions or work in your life.

It’s where all the initial sparks for projects and goals come from, and it’s how you keep track of inspiration for creation as well.

For a long time, as within the system in general, I was uncertain about my systems for idea capture.

I used Todoist, other task managers and Drafts amongst other apps, before finally settling on a method within Obsidian that did the job.

The switch came when I invested in Obsidian Sync, and I discovered a method of connecting Apple Shortcuts to the file system on my respective devices.

Through sync and native capture, I could record anything I wanted into an Obsidian folder called 5-Inbox that I could process at my leisure and move to the next stages of the creative process.

Now that I have a method that encompasses every step of my creative process, I’m more productive and calm than ever. That’s just one of the advantages of having a system you can rely on…

The benefit of a developed system

Before developing my system, I was a little overwhelmed. Zettelkasten wasn’t working the way I’d hoped, and I still wasn’t productive.

Now I’m benefitting hugely from having a system that remains consistent, that I feel confident in and that helps me create work that helps others. Here’s how…

Reduced friction — the thing that’s going to exhaust you the most when you’re working is making unnecessary decisions, which you only have scope to do a finite number of times every day.

If you’re wasting energy wondering about how your system should be set up, then you’re not going to be able to put as much effort into your work projects and creative output.

Solve this by building a sustainable system over time that’s tailored to the way you work.

Thanks for reading!