1. Zettelkasten for INTERMEDIATE users of Obsidian

Intermediate Obsidian users are urged to build a question-driven system that links specific questions to the notes that help answer them—so ideas don’t dissolve into a chaotic “dumping ground.” The core claim is that starting with writing alone tends to create either elaborate, counterproductive organization or overwhelming clutter. A better path is to begin with a lightweight system from day one, then refine it through real use and trial and error.

The argument starts with a practical tension: waiting to design the “perfect” note-taking structure often delays writing long enough that nothing gets produced. Yet having no structure at all can lead to overwhelm every time the Vault is opened. The recommended middle ground is to treat the system as something learned in practice, not something designed in theory. Photographer and Obsidian user Nick Zeit is cited to emphasize that a PKM system can’t be perfected before it’s used; early attempts will be wrong, but iteration is the point.

At the center of that system is a method for linking questions to notes. Questions are framed as the engine of learning: Harvard Business School professor C. Roland Christensen is quoted on how questions initiate learning and intellectual growth, while philosopher John Dewey is used to argue that a question sets an “end” that channels thought toward a resolution. In this view, questions reduce scattered thinking by giving the mind a defined target—making it less likely that Obsidian becomes a passive archive that encourages the “collector’s fallacy,” the belief that accumulating more information automatically increases knowledge.

To make this concrete, the creator’s Vault uses “claim pages.” Each claim page is a file containing an assertion—often grounded in a source such as a book, article, video, or podcast—and is organized with front matter (YAML) plus reminders and tags. A key workflow feature is automation: clicking a button prompts for a title, then creates the claim page, opens it immediately for writing, and files it automatically into the “claim Pages” folder.

Inside each claim page, the “idea” section captures the claim in the creator’s own words, sometimes including quotations. The approach is influenced by an “old school analog zettelkasten” practice: claim pages can function as digital backups of analog note cards, but quotations may be omitted to preserve the habit of writing in one’s own language and to avoid the time cost of typing long passages. Under “relevance,” the page uses queries to pull in additional supporting passages from elsewhere in the Vault.

The workflow for adding support is also designed to minimize context switching. Instead of opening a claim page every time a relevant quote appears, users can tag a passage on a separate “book page” with a link to the claim page and a relevance level (high/medium/low). Queries then surface those linked passages automatically in the claim page’s relevance section. The result is a system that keeps attention on thinking and writing, while the Vault handles retrieval and organization in the background.

The episode also teases future videos: one on building and using the relevance queries, another on creating the button-based file creation system. Links are provided to instructions on setting up questions and to a Danny Hatcher video for button creation inspiration.