# My PKM System Handbook This document is a detailed description of my own [[Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS)]], based on the following template: [[PKM System Handbook Template]] that I have created as bonus material for my [[Knowledge Management for Beginners]] course. This serves both as a reference and as a tool that can be used when considering changes and improvements. Note I've turned a large part of my system into a product called the [[Obsidian Starter Kit]]. If you're wondering if my system works well, then take a look at those: - My Website & newsletter: https://dsebastien.net - My public notes (you're already here): https://notes.dsebastien.net - Stats about my public notes: https://stats.notes.dsebastien.net Last updated on: 2025-01-31 ## Improvement opportunities - I want to eliminate [[Readwise]] from my system. It's not urgent, and will be costly because I have a lot of content to extract/migrate, but I will benefit from centralizing even more things in Obsidian, including my curated content and highlights - I should get rid of quarterly notes. I rarely use those in practice - Find ways to accelerate the transition from analog to digital and update [[How to convert notes from analog to digital]] - Tags are an area that I could clearly improve. But the cost/benefit ratio is not huge, so I don't consider it urgent - I should isolate type tags under a parent `type` parent tag - I should isolate people roles/jobs tags under a "job" parent tag - My system would also benefit from cleaning up all concepts to use concepts tags in a more systematic way - Create my YouTube channel dashboard leveraging the metadata I have in place - I should get rid of fleeting note folder and template, I rarely use those in practice - I should rename some templates for homogeneity. Low value - I should remove aliases from my templates. Most of the time, I don't use those. I should instead find ways to add new ones more easily, only when needed - I should add a copy of my backups on Google Drive for additional redundancy - I should get rid of Typefully, and replace it by n8n workflows - In yearly notes, I should replace navigation links to all the quarterly notes by links to all the monthly notes for that year - Improve periodic notes workflow to automatically file daily notes created for past or future days - Those should be filed automatically just like today's note ## Tools, platforms & hardware This section lists all the tools, platforms and hardware I use for my PKM system, including their costs, and the rationale behind the choices. The summary contains everything, while individual sections focus on different aspects and phases of the [[Personal Knowledge Management Process]]. ### Summary - Audible: €10/month (price often evolves) - Feedly: free - Social media platforms: free - [[Obsidian]]: free - Obsidian Publish: $8/month - Obsidian plugins - [[Auto note mover plugin for Obsidian]]: free - [[Dataview plugin for Obsidian|Dataview]]: free - [[Dataview Serializer plugin for Obsidian]]: free - [[Obsidian Web Viewer]]: free - [[Obsidian Web Viewer]]: free - [[Periodic notes plugin for Obsidian]] - And many more that I have included in the [[Obsidian Starter Kit]] - I write about my favorite ones here: https://www.dsebastien.net/2022-10-19-the-must-have-obsidian-plugins/ - [[Readwise]]: $10 per month, billed annually, stable price - reMarkable e-ink tablet + web, mobile, and desktop apps - eBook reader - Spotify: Family plan (price often evolves) - [[Voicenotes AI]]: paid one-time lifetime fee of $50 (early adopter) - [[Typefully]]: $100 per year - Various other AI tools: ~$50 per month - [[Syncthing]]: free - Google Drive: $100 per year - Home NAS - Backblaze: $40 per month - Backup scripts - Scheduled tasks: free - [[n8n]]: free (self-hosted) ### Tool for Thought - [[Obsidian]] - Rationale - [[Benefits of Obsidian]] - [[Why Obsidian is All You Need - From Simple Notes to Complete Productivity]] ### PKM Process - Explore - RSS feed aggregator: Feedly - Rationale - Could import my OPML file, keeps track of what I looked at - Simple to use - Not bugging me with ads - Loads quickly - Works fine - Don't see the point of paying for it, I don't need the advanced features - Bookmarks I open daily - "Open" folder on my bookmarks bar - Rationale - Simple to open the main set of Websites I want to look at daily (e.g., Hacker News, Reddit, etc) - Social media - X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads.net, TikTok, Reddit, ... - Rationale - Serendipity ### PKM Process - Curate #### Articles, videos and links in general - [[Readwise]] (stable) - Rationale - Cross-platform - Integrates well with Obsidian - Browser extension for quick capture - Did not find anything better - [[Obsidian Web Clipper]] (testing) - Rationale - Integrates powerful AI features - Can save directly to Obsidian - Would reduce my costs - [[Obsidian Web Viewer]] (testing) - Rationale - Core plugin of Obsidian - Can save pages in the vault - Probably won't use it long-term unless the feature set aligns with the Obsidian Web Clipper - Past - Bookmarks - Manually save pages (e.g., to PDF) #### Books - Obsidian - Rationale - I create book notes for every book I want to read and to store my notes, summary, key quotes, etc - I can keep track of the reading status, dates, etc using metadata - It appears on my Books dashboard - I can add references, etc - It's all part of my knowledge base - Past - Goodreads I've described my approach here: [[How I manage books and summaries in Obsidian]] #### Podcasts & audiobooks - Spotify - Rationale - Most of the content I care about is there - Audible - Rationale - Many books I want to listen to are there - Might get rid of it in favor of Spotify as I'm rarely interested in Amazon-specific titles #### On the go - Readwise - Rationale - Easy to keep in one place - Only relevant if I can freely use my phone - Emails to myself - Rationale - Useful for content I want to consume asap - ReMarkable e-ink tablet - Rationale - Better than paper - Dedicated notebook for content curation - Pen & Paper - Rationale - Last resort - Transfer to Readwise or email asap ### PKM Process - Consume #### Articles, videos and links in general - Readwise (Reader app) - Rationale - Cross-platform - Obsidian Web Viewer - Rationale - Having content and my notes side by side in different tabs or windows - Helps me capture notes in context - Avoids context switching and distractions - Web browser - Rationale - Availability of all my browser extensions - YouTube - Rationale - Laziness #### Books - e-book reader - Rationale - Can store tons of books - Doesn't take much space - Doesn't weight much - Remembers the page I'm on for each book - Paper - Rationale - Last resort - Sometimes better for technical content #### Podcasts & audiobooks - Spotify - Rationale - Easy to use on mobile - Works offline - Can download content in advance - I explore podcasts pseudo-randomly - Audible - Rationale - Easy to use on mobile - Works offline - Can download content in advance - Mainly for fiction books ### PKM Process - Capture #### Notes, book notes and ideas - Daily notes in Obsidian - Rationale - Directly capture within my Tool for Thought - No transition required apart from knowledge ingestion - ReMarkable e-ink tablet - Rationale - Easiest when I'm not in front of the computer - Easy to transition to digital using AI - Ultimately, notes transition to Obsidian - One notebook per context - Support for freeform notes and drawings - Automatically saved to the cloud - Doesn't take much space - Doesn't weight much - Battery lasts a long time compared to a tablet - Pen & paper - Rationale - Last resort when I can't use the other options - Messy and easy to lose - Hurts my hand :p - Ultimately, notes transition to Obsidian - AI Tools - Rationale - Help me in all sorts of way analyze, summarize, etc #### Highlights - Obsidian Web clipper (recent) - Rationale - Easiest when in front of the computer - Can leverage AI while capturing highlights - Directly imported in Obsidian - Easy transition to my daily notes - Readwise (previously) - Rationale - Easiest on mobile - Directly imported in Obsidian - Easy transition to my daily notes - Emails to myself - Rationale - For urgent info I want to add to Obsidian #### Podcasts & audiobooks - Voicenotes AI - Rationale - Same as for on the go #### Documents & images - Obsidian - Rationale - Centralize all resources associated with my notes - Automatically organized - Google Drive - Rationale - For reference material I don't need in my notes - For heavy documents that I don't want in my notes - Home NAS - Rationale - For sensitive documents (eg medical records, loans, etc) #### On the go - Voicenotes AI - Rationale - Easiest when I want to quickly capture something without hassle - Doesn't require much attention - Works in various contexts (driving, running, etc) - Automatically imported into Obsidian - Easy transition from transcribed text to my daily notes in Obsidian - Emails to myself - Rationale - Useful when I want to quickly capture something to look at later - Can include context - Reviewed quickly because of my inbox zero rule - WhatsApp messages to myself - Rationale - Last resort - Easy, but messy - Could automate processing in the future ### PKM Process - Distill/Organize/Connect/Develop/Create - Obsidian - Rationale - All in one place - Can connect all the dots - AI Tools - Rationale - Gain time ### PKM Process - Share - Obsidian - Rationale - All in one place - Prepare drafts and keep a copy of all published content - Obsidian Publish - Rationale - Easy to share/publish right from Obsidian - Good showcase - Reference for my own published content - Easy to reuse to crosspost elsewhere - Ghost (blog) - Rationale - Main entry point for everything I work on and share - Typefully - Rationale - Able to publish content to various social media platforms - Integrated into Obsidian using my plugin ### Backups - Scripts - Rationale - Fully customizable - Fully under my control - Scheduled/CRON tasks - Rationale - Valuable automation - Easy to setup - No need to think about it - Local disk drives - Rationale - Easy to recover - Home NAS - Rationale - Provides additional redundancy - Also backed up with the rest of the NAS content - Backblaze - Rationale - Provides additional redundancy - Remote - Protected from local catastrophe - Git - Rationale - Fine control - Versioned with comments (commit messages) - Easy to synchronize to different locations - Easy to rollback changes (accidental or not) - Google Drive - Rationale - Provides additional redundancy - Remote - Protected from local catastrophe ### Synchronization - Syncthing - Rationale - I use Syncthing to synchronize my Obsidian vault across multiple devices - I use it because it works well and also because I rely on it for other purposes ### Automation - Obsidian plugins - Rationale - I use Obsidian plugins to automate various tasks, such as moving notes to specific folders based on tags - I also use Obsidian plugins to trigger actions and workflows in other systems - [[n8n]] - Rationale - I use n8n to automate various tasks from and within my knowledge base in Obsidian - This enables me to integrate my notes with various platforms and systems, automating actions in those - n8n also enables me to integrate AI in automated workflows ### AI - [[Claude]]: My current AI ghostwriter - Rationale - Leverages my notes in Obsidian through the [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)]] - [[ChatGPT]] / [[GPT4]]: My thinking sidekick - Rationale - Multi-modal - Keeps evolving - [[Deepseek]]: My new best friend - Rationale - Very cheap - Powerful - [[Gemini 2.0 Flash]] - Rationale - Free - Multi-modal - Supports audio and video inputs in addition to text and images - [[NotebookLM]] - Rationale - Free - Can analyze and let me discuss with tons of source material at ease - Can generate podcasts dissecting the content in a notebook - [[ElevenLabs]] - Rationale - Handles Text to Speech for me - Can clone my voice - ... See [[AI Tools I use]] for more. ## Principles This section lists the core principles of my system. Those provide overarching "rules" that guide my design, implementation and evolutionary choices. - Everything that matters ends up in Obsidian, my Tool for Thought - I consider all the other tools, platforms and hardware that I use as temporary/transient, apart from a few exceptions and specific needs (e.g. big files that I prefer storing on Google Drive, home NAS, etc) - When curating content, I want to avoid relying on platform-specific features (e.g., X or Bluesky bookmarks, YouTube save for later, etc) - Those are not realiable (change or disappear over time) - Those just create additional information silos - All my notes must be connected to time through my journal entries and roll from daily notes to yearly notes so that I can quickly see everything that I've explored in a specific time frame - My journal MUST be easy to navigate - I MUST easily be able to go from one day to the previous/next, to the previous/next week, month, etc - I MUST easily be able to create new periodic notes - Every content type I use should have specific rules, naming conventions, tags, metadata, etc - I prefer automating content organization using tools and plugins, rather than wasting time doing it manually - My most important content types should have pre-defined templates and automation rules to reduce friction and increase consistency - I prefer regrouping notes in very few generic and content-agnostic folders, unless for specific needs (e.g., quotes, book notes, meeting notes, etc - I prefer using tags than folders to associate content with topics (tags > folders) - This enables me to associate notes with multiple topics/domains - This enables me to query notes in more interesting ways - My Tool for Thought SHOULD - Be and remain highly performant and responsive, at scale (>= 10K notes) - Handle notes, tasks and different types of resources (documents, images, audio and video files, etc) - Store data locally, under my control - Use an open and portable data format - Work offline - Work across platforms and devices - Support synchronizing the data across platforms and devices - Directly or indirectly support - Links and backlinks - Tags and tag hierarchies - Custom metadata - Full-text search - Search and replace (local and global) - Creating and persisting advanced queries and their results within notes (ala Dataview + Dataview Serializer) - Editing multiple documents at once - Transclusion - Visualizations (i.e., infinite canvas) - AI - Publishing content to a static site - Installing and creating extensions, ideally with a full-blown SDK - I SHALL NOT consider migrating to a different tool or platform (including my Tool for Thought) unless if it's dead-obvious that I'm missing out on extraordinary features or if I'm stuck on a dead end road because of what I'm currently using - I SHALL AVOID all forms of vendor lock-in for my Tool for Thought, either through the tool itself or through its extensions - If my Tool for Thought disappears and I need to switch, most of my data (95+%) should be fine and "functional" - The information in my Tool for Thought MUST be highly redundant. I need multiple copies/backups - Those backups MUST provide a low recovery time (low MTTR) and the ability to recover very recent data (RTO). At worst, I can accept to lose half a day of work, not any more - i MUST be able to recover any version of any individual note or file in the system ## Content types This section lists all the types of content that exist at some point or another in my PKM system. Some transform over time or simply disappear, while others remain. These also include content types that exist outside of my [[Tools for Thought (TfTs)|Tool for Thought (TfT)]]. - Notes - Fleeting notes: Temporary by nature, rarely used (I prefer using daily notes) - Private: will never be shared - Permanent notes: My own knowledge, ideas and creations - Generic - AI Prompts - Articles (drafts & published) - Newsletters - Books (drafts & published) - Expressions - Letters - Poems - Quotes - Short stories - Literature notes: Third-party content and inspiration - Generic - Book notes - Also include the status (To Read, Reading, etc) - Expressions - Poems - Quotes - Highlights - Considered transient (they SHOULD turn into literature/permanent notes) - Maps of Content (MoCs) - Meeting notes - Contact notes: information about people I know personally (friends, family, customers, etc) - People notes: information about people that inspire me or relate to work I'm doing - Help me connect quotes, highlights, book notes, meeting notes etc with people - Voice notes (transcriptions & audio) - Considered transient (they SHOULD turn into literature/permanent notes and/or tasks) - YouTube video notes - Specific for my YouTube channel - Periodic notes (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) - Projects - Project notes, plans and tasks - Project files and presentations - Processes - Process descriptions & steps (SOPs) - Resources - Documents, images, audio files, videos, research papers, etc - Tasks and lists - Current priorities and focus - Task lists for different time horizons and long-running activities - Generic lists (e.g., movies/TV shows to watch, groceries lists, etc) ## Special notes This section lists all the special notes in your system. Those may be meta notes, personal notes, utility notes, etc. Right now, I use the following special notes in Obsidian: - Dashboard: homepage for my system - Core values and personal principles - Gift ideas - Goals: History of my past goals - Kanban and/or project boards (generic + per project) - Me: Stuff about myself, my physical and mental health, progress, etc - Non-goals: What I want to avoid in the future - Routines - System maintenance: Help me notice problems with my knowledge base - Top of mind - Waiting for: Things I'm waiting for (e.g., someone owes me something, someone must take an action, etc) - Wishlists - Yearly plans (e.g., 2025 Plan) ## Conventions This section lists all specific conventions for the system and its different parts. - Whenever possible, I SHOULD use the same base/core folder structure across tools and platforms in the system - I follow my own advice regarding - Tags - [[Why and how to tag notes in your PKM]] - Note names - https://www.dsebastien.net/the-art-of-note-naming-keys-to-effective-knowledge-management/ - #todo link to final note[[2024-02-01-the-art-of-note-naming-keys-to-effective-knowledge-management]] - - All notes - SHOULD be tagged S a specific type tag to be able to easily recognize those - Generic notes - SHOULD all have a unique name (at least unique within their specific "category") - Tutorials and step-by-step: SHOULD names should start with "How to " - Articles - Name SHOULD end with " (Article)" - Book notes - Name SHOULD end with " (Book)" - Quotes SHOULD all be linked to a person note - Enables listing all quotes by X in the corresponding person's note - Maps of Content (MoCs) - Name SHOULD end with " (MoC)" - SHOULD use queries to list corresponding content (i.e., maintained automatically) - MAY include multiple queries - MAY include manual links - Meeting notes - SHOULD start with "YYYY-mm-dd - " - Contact notes - Name should be "Given name Family name" - People notes - Name should be "Given name Family name" - Periodic notes - Daily - Name MUST be "YYYY-mm-dd" - Should be organized by Year > Week number - Periodic notes - Weekly - Name MUST be "YYYY-Wxy" where xy is the week number (two digits) - SHOULD be organized by Year - Periodic notes - Monthly - Name MUST be "YYYY-xy" where xy is the month number (two digits) - SHOULD be organized by Year - Periodic notes - Quarterly - Name MUST be "YYYY-Qx" where x is the quarter number (one digit) - SHOULD be organized by Year - Periodic notes - Yearly - Name MUST be "YYYY" - Projects - Name MUST include both the full name and the acronym in parenthesis - Example: "Obsidian Starter Kit (OSK)" - MUST have a dedicated folder in the structure - SHOULD regroup project goals, notes, plans, tasks, etc - MAY be split across different tools and platforms (eg resources) - Resources - Name MUST be unique across the entire system - SHOULD be regrouped in a single folder - SHOULD be filed automatically - Special notes - MUST all stay grouped together for ease of use - SHOULD be reviewed at least once per year - Kanban board names SHOULD end with " Tasks" - Yearly plans SHOULD be archived when a new one is created - Tasks - SHOULD be centralized in as few locations as possible - Current approach - ONE main Kanban board covering time frames and projects - Secondary Kanban boards for specific needs - Project-specific projects ([[Projects plugin for Obsidian]]) leveraging custom metadata and notes location - Done items listed in periodic notes (rolled up during periodic reviews) - YouTube videos - Those MUST all be regrouped in the corresponding project ## Folder structures This section describes the core (i.e., reusable) and tool/platform specific folder structures I use in my system. ### Core structure This structure is present in all my tools and platforms. It combines the [[PARA method]] of [[Tiago Forte]], and the [[Johnny Decimal system]] of [[Johnny Noble]]. ``` - 10 Meta: information about the system/tool/myself/... - 20 Projects - 30 Areas - 50 Resources - 60 Archives ``` There are some variations, but I use something as close to this as possible everywhere I can to maximize findability, and ease of use. ### Tool for Thought Within Obsidian, I use a more complex version of the core structure, simply because I want to specifically isolate certain notes/note types. This helps me reduce name clashes, but also lets me navigate some things more easily. In addition to PARA and Johnny Decimal, this structure leverages the [[Zettelkasten method]] to separate "inspiration" and my own creations. This structure is VERY stable by now. I rarely need to modify it. Although, some improvements I have in mind, I often refrain from wasting time doing that. I only consider making changes when I feel too much friction on a daily basis. ``` ## 10 Meta - 10.01 Personal - 10.02 Routines - 10.04 Maintenance - 10.05 Tasks - 10.06 Private Notes - 10.07 Processes ## 20 Projects - One folder per project ## 30 Areas - 31 Fleeting notes - 32 Literature notes - 32.02 Content - 32.03 Book notes - 32.04 Expressions - 32.05 Quotes - 32.06 Poems - 33 Permanent notes - 33.01 Knowledge Inbox - 33.02 Content - 33.03 Articles - 33.04 Books - 33.05 Quotes - 33.06 Poems - 33.07 Short stories - 33.08 Letters - 34 MOCs - 35 Contacts - 36 People - 37 Meeting notes - 38 Voice notes - 39 Readwise highlights ## 40 Journal - 41 Daily Notes - YYYY - WW - 42 Weekly Notes - YYYY - 43 Monthly Notes - YYYY - 44 Quarterly Notes - YYYY - 45 Yearly Notes ## 50 Resources - 51 Attachments - 52 Excalidraw - 53 Scripts - 54 Templates - 55 Canvas - 56 Obsidian Publish ## 60 Archives ``` No more details here, since all of this is part of the [[Obsidian Starter Kit]]. ### NAS I use a more complex variant of my base structure on my home NAS because that's where I store all my family documents, pictures, video, software, and a ton of other things. I discussed this in a previous article: [[Personal Knowledge Management organization]] ## Tags This section lists the main tags and sub-tags I use in my system. I combine parent and nested tags (aka tag hierarchies). Parent tags include a mix of note types, topics, statuses, etc. My note type tags are leveraged for automation. Changing those requires adapting my automation rules (automated note filing), as well as my [[Map of Content (MoC)|Maps of Content (MoCs)]]. Note that I have not felt a need to add type tags for each and every note type. I only do it once I have an actual use case. Given that note types are most often associated with a specific folder, it's not something difficult to add later on if and when needed. My current note type tags include: - Fleeting notes - Tag: `#fleeting_notes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/31 Fleeting notes - Private notes - Tag: `#private` - Associated folder: 10 Meta/10.06 Private Notes - Permanent notes - Tag: `#permanent_notes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.03 Articles/Drafts - AI Prompts: none so far - Own books (drafts): none so far - Own books (published): none so far - Own articles (drafts) - Tag: `#articles/drafts` - Associated folder: - Own articles (published) - Tag: `#articles/published` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.03 Articles/Published - Own newsletters - Tag: `#newsletters` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.03 Articles/Published - Own expressions: none so far - Own quotes - Tag: `#my_quotes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.05 Quotes - Own letters: none so far - Own poems - Tag: `#my_poems` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.06 Poems - Own short stories - Tag: `#short_stories` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/33 Permanent notes/33.07 Short stories - Literature notes - Tag: `#literature_notes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/32 Literature notes/32.02 Content - Book notes - Tag: `#book_notes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/32 Literature notes/32.03 Book notes - Expressions - Tag: `#expressions` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/32 Literature notes/32.04 Expressions - Poems - Tag: `#poems` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/32 Literature notes/32.06 Poems - Quotes - Tag: `#quotes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/32 Literature notes/32.05 Quotes - Maps of Content (MoCs) - Tag: `#mocs` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/34 MOCs - Contacts - Tag: `#contacts` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/35 Contacts - People - Tag: `#people` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/36 People - Meetings - Tag: `#meeting_notes` - Associated folder: 30 Areas/37 Meeting notes - Voice: none so far - Highlights: none so far - Periodic notes - Daily - Tags: `#daily_notes #daily_notes_YYYY` - Associated folder: 40 Journal/41 Daily Notes - Weekly - Tags: `#weekly_notes #weekly_notes_YYYY` - Associated folder: 40 Journal/42 Weekly Notes - Monthly - Tags: `#monthly_notes #monthly_notes_YYYY` - Associated folder: 40 Journal/43 Monthly Notes - Quarterly - Tags: `#quarterly_notes #quarterly_notes_YYYY` - Associated folder: 40 Journal/44 Quarterly Notes - Yearly - Tag: `#yearly_notes` - Associated folder: 40 Journal/45 Yearly Notes - Projects - Tag: `#projects` - Associated folder: 20 Projects - Processes - Tag: `#process` - Associated folder: 10 Meta/10.07 Processes - Resources: none so far - Tasks and lists: none so far - YouTube videos - Tags: `youtube_video videos videos_YYYY` - Associated folder: 20 Projects/YouTube The list might feel long and complex, but it's actually quite natural. Moreover, as I mentioned, all of this is automated. I don't file anything manually (apart from a few exceptions). In addition to type tags, I also heavily use taxonomy tags in various ways. I consider multiple sub-types for those: - Pure ones such as `psychology`, `personal_development`, `pkm`, `knowledge_management`, `knowledge_work`, ... - Concept ones such as `concept/<domain>/<sub_domain>/<concept name>` - As well as the generic `concepts` one I rarely use status tags because I generally prefer to consider my notes as [[Evergreen notes]]. I actually use type tags to recognize certain states of my note types (e.g., draft and published articles). I don't specifically use action tags, but instead rely on metadata to capture the current stage in my workflows. More on this in the next section. ## Metadata This section describes the most important metadata I use and rely on ### Daily notes For daily notes, I use metadata to record: - energy_level_morning (1-10) - energy_level_evening (1-10) - walked (boolean) - push_ups: (int) - abs: (int) - ... I rely on those to create visual progress dashboards, year by year. I store those in my main dashboard, and capture snapshots once in a while during my periodic reviews. ### Books For books, I use metadata for two purposes: - Store metadata about the book - Track the books I want to read, have read, when, etc Raw book metadata: - title - subtitle - description - categories (array) - authors (array) - published_on (date) - publisher - pages (int) - isbn - cover (url to cover image) - local_cover (path to cover image) - link - tags Personal book metadata: - status (To Read, Reading, Read, To Read Again, References) - date_finished (date) ### People & contacts For people and contacts, I capture as many "publicly" visible elements as I can: Websites, social media accounts, etc. I go further with contacts (i.e., people I know), with personal stories, emails, etc. Note that I never share contact notes; only people notes. Common metadata for people and contacts: - bluesky - buy_me_a_coffee - company - facebook - github - goodreads - gumroad - instagram - kofi - languages (array) - lemon_squeezy - linkedin - mastodon - medium - newsletter - patreon - pinterest - podcast - threads_dot_net - tiktok - twitter - website - wikipedia - youtube Additional metadata for contacts: - date_last_spoken - date_of_birth - email - location - phone - ... ### YouTube channel videos This is the metadata I capture and rely on for YouTube videos I create. I leverage those through projects in Obsidian. - type: video - date (date) - status (Ideas, Backlog, This Month, This Week, To Research, To Record, To Edit, To Publish, Done) - category - cover_image (local path to cover image) - url - published (boolean) ## Templates This section lists the template I'm currently using. All my templates include the required metadata. My templates also automatically add aliases (title case, uppercase, lowercase) to make it easier to integrate links without breaking the flow of the sentences they're integrated in. ### TPL Article - Used for: articles Structure: - Cover image - Meme - Podcast - Promotion ### TPL Book Note - Used for: book notes Structure: - Author(s) - Link - Brief description - Quotes - Query to automatically list all the corresponding quotes - Key ideas - Chapter 1: ... - References ### TPL Contact - Used for: contact notes Structure: - Free text - Meetings - Quotes - Query to automatically list all the corresponding quotes - Books - Query to automatically list all the corresponding books ### TPL Person - Used for: people notes Structure: - Freeform text - Meetings - Quotes - Query to automatically list all the corresponding quotes - Books - Query to automatically list all the corresponding books ### TPL Daily Note - Used for: daily notes Structure: - Navigation links - Current - Year note - Quarter note - Month note - Week note - Past/Future - Previous daily note - Next daily note - Notes of the day - Done today - Discovered today: entry point for knowledge - Knowledge extracted during weekly reviews - Interesting links - PKM / Thinking / Learning - Bootstrapping - Tech - AI - Cool - Books - Gratitude - On this day - Query automatically listing same day notes from previous years - Notes created today - Query automatically listing all notes created on that day ### TPL Weekly Note - Used for: weekly notes Structure: - Navigation links - Current - Year note - Quarter note - Month note - Past/Future - Previous weekly note - Next weekly note - Daily notes for that week (Mon - Sun) - Goals - Achievements - Bullet points for each major project/activity - Discoveries: regroup all the discoveries of the week - Subsection for each day of the week with a link to the corresponding daily note as title - Interesting links - Challenges - Gratitude - Notes created this week - Query automatically listing all notes created during that week ### TPL Monthly Note - Used for: monthly notes Structure: - Navigation links - Current - Year note - Quarter note - Past/Future - Previous monthly note - Next monthly note - Weekly notes for that month - Goals - Achievements - Bullet points for each major project/activity - Challenges - Discoveries: regroup all the discoveries of the month - Subsection for each day of the month with a link to the corresponding daily note as title - Gratitude - Finished reading - Query automatically listing all books that I finished reading during that month (based on date_finished metadata property) ### TPL Quarterly Note - Used for: quarterly notes Structure: - Navigation links - Current - Year note - Past/Future - Previous quarterly note - Next quarterly note - Monthly notes for that quarter - Goals - Achievements - Bullet points for each major project/activity - Challenges - Discoveries: regroup all the discoveries of the quarter - Subsection for each day of the quarter with a link to the corresponding daily note as title - Gratitude ### TPL Yearly Note - Used for: yearly notes Structure: - Navigation links - Past/Future - Previous yearly note - Next yearly note - Quarterly notes for that year - Key questions - Highlights - Challenges - Goals for next year - Achievements - Learning - Family - Health - + points for each major project/activity - Discoveries: regroup all the discoveries of the year - Subsection for each day of the year with a link to the corresponding daily note as title - Gratitude - Organized per month then by week (e.g., W01, ...) - Finished reading - Query automatically listing all books that I finished reading during that year (based on date_finished metadata property) - Notes created this year - Query automatically listing all notes created during that year ## TPL Meeting Note - Used for: meeting notes Structure: - Participants - Agenda - Minutes - Decisions - Actions - Personal notes ## TPL MoC - Used for: maps of content Structure: - Freeform - Query to automatically list all notes having a tag matching the MoC note's title, ignoring the "(MoC)" part if present (e.g., productivity) After using this template, I sometimes modify the query manually to cover all the tags I want the MoC to include. ### TPL Fleeting Note - Used for: fleeting notes Nothing particular ### TPL Literature Note - Used for: literature notes Nothing particular ### TPL Permanent Note - Used for: permanent notes Nothing particular ### TPL Expression - Used for: expression notes Nothing particular ### TPL Poem - Used for: poem notes Nothing particular ### TPL Quote - Used for: quote notes Nothing particular ### TPL Own Quote - Used for: own quote notes Nothing particular ### TPL Newsletter - Used for: newsletters Default structure and content for my newsletters ### TPL Private Note - Used for: private notes Nothing particular ### TPL Project Note - Used for: project notes Nothing particular ### TPL YouTube - Used for: youtube videos Structure: - Metadata - Thumbnail - Text - Image - Title - Description - Pinned comment - Music - Script - Hook - Structure - Outro - Related videos and resources - Cards - Timestamps - Pre-production checklist - Post-production checklist ### TPL Zotero - Used for: zotero references Not used anymore. ### TPL Stats - Used for: generating stats This is a meta template that I use to gather statistics about my notes. The template includes a templater code block that gets executed when the template is invoked. It analyses the whole vault and generates two files: - `Stats.md` under 50 Resources/56 Obsidian Publish - `stats.json` at the root of the vault The `Stats.md` file is published on my notes website: https://notes.dsebastien.net/50+Resources/56+Obsidian+Publish/Stats The `stats.json` is used by a separate script that generates a HTML version of the stats, which I publish on GitHub, and which is accessible via https://stats.notes.dsebastien.net/ The process is manual, and I only plan to use this from time to time, for instance during yearly reviews, in order to notice trends and have cool stats to share. ### TPL Publish - Used for: publishing my notes This is a meta template that I use to publish my notes and pre/post process those. The template includes a templater code block that gets executed when the template is invoked. It uses the Obsidian publish API to know which files are already published. Then, it ensures that all of those notes include `public_note: true`. That property/value is used by many Dataview Serializer queries across my entire vault, to know what should be listed or not. This is important to avoid 404s on my notes Website. In addition, this template updates my [[Recently added]] and [[Recently modified]] notes. This template also forces a refresh of all the Dataview Serializer queries present in my published notes, to make sure that they contain all the links they should. This is especially important for folder notes and Maps of Content. Last but not least, it opens Obsidian's publish window, where I can select the files to publish. I always use this template when I want to publish my notes. I need to run it 2-3 times in a row before it stabilizes. ## Data and information flows This section describes how information flows through all the parts my system (tools, platforms, hardware, etc). My Tool for Thought (Obsidian) is the final destination. Most of what I discover, either through Web browsing, RSS feeds, or social media currently ends up in Readwise, where I consume and capture highlights. I sometimes consume directly through my Web browser or Obsidian and capture raw information directly in Obsidian daily notes. Readwise highlights are automatically imported into Obsidian. I review those during weekly reviews, and add relevant pieces to my daily notes and/or add to Kanban boards. I then delete those. Paper notes and notes taken on my ReMarkable e-ink tablet are converted to digital using AI (cfr [[How to convert notes from analog to digital]]) and added to my daily notes. I then get rid of those. Voice notes that I take using [[Voicenotes AI]] are automatically transcribed and imported into Obsidian. I review those during weekly reviews, and add relevant pieces to my daily notes and/or add to Kanban boards. I then delete those. I rarely used fleeting notes nowadays and prefer to write raw notes directly in my daily notes. I review and process those once a week, similar to the way I do it for highlights and voice notes. I create new maps of content whenever I feel the need to find notes for specific topics or combinations of topics. I create meeting notes for important meetings for which I want to capture information. I review those during my weekly reviews, integrate whatever I need into my daily note and tasks, but I never delete the meeting notes themselves. Once created, they're considered read-only. I capture valuable prompts in my daily notes. Same for quotes, expressions, poems, etc. So, basically, everything enters my knowledge base through daily notes. Then, during my weekly reviews, I go through all the daily notes of the week and use my knowledge ingestion process to extract and connect new notes (literature, permanent, etc). As part of that process, I replace notes in daily notes with links to the newly created notes. Major elements of my daily notes are copied to weekly notes, then to monthly notes, etc as part of the corresponding periodic reviews. I generally do this once a week, once a month, and once a year. I rarely do formal quarterly reviews. My articles and newsletters are directly written in dedicated notes. Once created, I add a link to my daily note. Then those follow the same path as other notes through periodic reviews, which summarize everything. My book notes are also directly added to dedicated notes. Once created, I also add a link to my daily note. Then those follow the same path as other notes through periodic reviews. During weekly reviews, I also created contact and people notes so that I can link quotes, book notes, etc to the corresponding persons. I also directly create YouTube video notes when I prepare a video. Same for projects, etc. Resources are always added to my dedicated attachments folder, and directly named correctly (clear name instead of timestamps void of meaning). Tasks enter my system at various points. I generally add those directly to the relevant Kanban boards. Personal and special notes are long-standing, and I review/update those mostly at random, but also during periodic reviews. More details about all this here: - [[Overview of my PKM System]] - Visualization: [[Personal Knowledge Management System.canvas|Personal Knowledge Management System]] ## Workflows This section lists the main workflows I rely on. ### Journaling - Importance: High - Frequency: Daily Journaling is at the very core of my PKM practice. I always have my daily note opened somewhere. Whenever I open Obsidian, my daily note is created (if not there already) and opened. I use it all day long to capture ideas, new knowledge, interesting links, keep track of what I've done, etc. As described before, everything enters my knowledge base through daily notes. I avoid creating new notes in the moment, to minimize context switching and go back to whatever I'm busy doing. My workflow around journaling consists in using the [[Periodic notes plugin for Obsidian]] to create today's note, which applies the right template, then to write in it whenever I need. The plugin names the note correctly, and automatically places it in the right folder. One shortcoming is that if I missed some days and manually create their note after the fact, they're not automatically filed and remain at the root of my vault. I need to manually file those. ### Periodic reviews - Importance: High - Frequency: Weekly/Monthly/Yearly I perform weekly, monthly and yearly reviews. Those have multiple goals: - Feel grateful about my journey - Look back objectively - Plan ahead - Review notes - Ingest new knowledge So there are multiple dimensions to those: - Personal development and health - Productivity - Planning - PKM system maintenance I also review/update my task lists. Last but not least, during my weekly reviews, I execute my knowledge ingestion process (see below). Additional details: [[Weekly review process]] ### Knowledge ingestion/extraction - Importance: High - Frequency: Weekly My knowledge ingestion/extraction process is simple: - Go through all daily notes - Extract relevant ideas to new notes - Apply the relevant template - Move the content from the daily note to the new note - Add a link to the new note in the daily note - Add metadata, tags and links - If time allows, improve the content In addition, I also look at recent voice notes, highlights, etc that might also need to be processed. I then remove those. ### Knowledge capture - Importance: Medium - Frequency: Ad-hoc Whenever I stumble on interesting/valuable ideas, I capture those in some way. The means don't matter. Ultimately, everything goes into my daily notes. ### Analog to digital - Importance: Medium - Frequency: Ad-hoc Once in a while (no fixed planning), I convert analog notes to digital. For voice notes, it's fully automated. For paper and e-ink tablet notes, I use the approach I've documented here: [[How to convert notes from analog to digital]]. Once converted, I add the content to my daily note. ### Publishing notes - Importance: Medium - Frequency: ~3 times a week Every few days, I publish new or updated notes to my notes website over at https://notes.dsebastien.net To do this, I use my publish template. The full lists are here: - Recently added: https://notes.dsebastien.net/50+Resources/56+Obsidian+Publish/Recently+added - Recently modified: https://notes.dsebastien.net/50+Resources/56+Obsidian+Publish/Recently+modified ### Publishing articles and newsletters - Importance: High - Frequency: ad-hoc When I prepare an article or newsletter, I write it in Obsidian, publish it on my notes website, then crosspost it from there to different platforms. That process is documented in detail in my business processes list. ### Publishing stats - Importance: Low - Frequency: ad-hoc I sometimes update the stats about my knowledge base. When I decide to do so, I: - Run my stats template - Publish the updated stats note - Execute the script that generates the html version - Upload the html version on Github, which is then reflected on https://stats.notes.dsebastien.net ### Serendipity - Importance: Low - Frequency: ad-hoc When I feel uninspired, I open notes at random using the Random note built-in plugin and/or the "Open Random Note from Search" to find some inspiration. When I do so, I often update/fix the notes I stumble upon, and scribble down ideas and links in my daily note, that I then use as input for creating new things. ## Habits and routines In this section, I summarize the habits and routines associated with my PKM system. Most are actually realized by the workflows that I've described before. Here are the core ones: - Journaling: capture everything meaningful relevant - Periodic reviews: look back, plan ahead, ingest new knowledge - Creation: leverage my knowledge base - Review and maintenance: take opportunities to improve over time (continuous improvement) ## Automation This section describes the automation I've put in place and rely on in your system. First of all, I use the [[Auto note mover plugin for Obsidian]] to automatically file all my notes where they belong based on type tags that my templates add automatically. I never want to file something manually. I also rely on configuration to automatically add new attachments to the dedicated folder. I also have automation in place (through Obsidian plugins) to automatically import voice notes and highlights. My backups are also fully automated. In the future, I plan to automate more tasks using [[n8n]]. ## Synchronization I've documented how I synchronize and backup my notes here: [[How I synchronize and backup my Obsidian notes]]. I'll update this section if anything major changes. ## Maintenance I evaluate the state of my PKM system once in a while, often when I feel too much friction or realize some parts are becoming messy or when I feel too much friction. At this point though, the most important parts are very stable (cfr [[Obsidian Starter Kit]]), and I don't need to make major changes. When I do this, I take a look at different things: - My maintenance note listing duplicate notes - My maintenance note listing orphaned notes - My maintenance note listing unpublished notes I also look at the list of installed Obsidian plugins, to see if there are some I could disable or remove. I also use that opportunity to install/test new plugins to see if they could help me automate more tedious tasks or improve some aspects of my system. Last but not least, I also take a look at my ideas list for improvements and see if some are worth investing time into. I also take a step back and think about ways to further simplify, automate or eliminate parts of the system. I have a few recurring tasks in my calendar to remind me about performing system maintenance. ## Backups I've documented how I synchronize and backup my notes here: [[How I synchronize and backup my Obsidian notes]]. I'll update this section if anything major changes. Since I wrote that article, I've added one more backup script (PowerShell) to backup all of my notes locally. I've created a scheduled task to execute that script once a day, and every time my desktop computer is locked. I've also increased the frequency at which I archive backups to my home NAS. ## Related - Template: [[PKM System Handbook Template]] - [[Overview of my PKM System]] - Visualization: [[Personal Knowledge Management System.canvas|Personal Knowledge Management System]] - [[Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS)]] - [[Personal Knowledge Management Process]] - [[Benefits of Obsidian]] - [[Why Obsidian is All You Need - From Simple Notes to Complete Productivity]] - [[Weekly review process]] - [[How to convert notes from analog to digital]] - [[How I manage books and summaries in Obsidian]] - [[PARA method]] - [[Johnny Decimal system]] - [[Zettelkasten method]] - [[Obsidian Starter Kit]] - [[Personal Knowledge Management organization]] - [[Map of Content (MoC)]] - [[Evergreen notes]] - [[How I synchronize and backup my Obsidian notes]] - https://www.dsebastien.net/the-art-of-note-naming-keys-to-effective-knowledge-management/ - #todo link to final note[[2024-02-01-the-art-of-note-naming-keys-to-effective-knowledge-management]]