Zettelkasten Tech

The next step after learning about Zettelkasten is starting your own Zettelkasten practice. There are many good tools available to create a digital Zettelkasten...

Obsidian

The tool I use and recommend is Obsidian. Its available on all platforms - Windows, Linux and Mac.

Once installed, create a Vault in Obsidian. A Vault is a folder where all your notes will be stored. You can have multiple Vaults - but I recommend using just one until you are familiar with the system.

Now you are ready to add notes to your Zettelkasten. Here is a small(40 seconds) screen-cast on the basics of Obsidian...

You can use the notes you created in the first part of the Zettelkasten tutorial as a starting point...

Markdown

To use Obsidian to its full extent, you need to know the Markdown language. Its a very simple formatting language. You don't have to learn the entire thing - just the bare minimum will do...

Element	Code	Output
Internal Link	`[[Note Name]]`	Note Name(link will not work outside Obsidian)
External Link	`[Link Text](https://google.com)`	Link Text
Bold	`text`	text
Preformatted Text(for code)	`code goes here`	`code goes here`
Adding image	`![Image Title](IMAGE_URL)`	❤
Headings	`# Heading text`	Heading Text
Sub Headings	`## Heading text`	Heading Text
List(bullet points)	`- One - Two`	One Two
List(numbered)	`1. One 2. Two`	One Two

You can use Obsidian without using Markdown - but if you want to format the notes, you'll need Markdown.

Next Steps

Once you have set up your Zettelkasten system, the next step is to create your first 50 notes. At that point, you'll start seeing the benefits of the system.

With that, my role is done. Now its up to you. Start your Zettelkasten system. Add notes. Watch your knowledge base grow.

Welcome to a better way of learning.

Interested in more in-depth information about Zettelkasten?

I have written a book about Personal Knowledge Management - Zettelkasten and the Art of Knowledge Management.

It goes more in depth about Zettelkasten and other related aspects like...

Publishing your notes
Digital Garden
Learning in public
And much, much more.