How I Use Maps Of Content (MOCs) // EP 5 Mastering Obsidian

Maps of Content (MOCs) are a practical way to organize an Obsidian vault around topics using bidirectional links—so notes stay easy to connect as interests evolve, instead of getting trapped in rigid folder trees. The core idea is that a MOC acts like a hub for a theme (programming, philosophy, filmmaking), pulling together related notes through links. That matters because folder hierarchies only model simple parent/child relationships, while real research often spans “siblings,” “cousins,” and cross-cutting connections—like linking an insight from a book to a YouTube script even when the book lives in a completely different folder.

In Obsidian, direct linking removes that friction: a note can point to another note regardless of where it sits in the vault. As the vault grows, MOCs are meant to change with it—new thoughts create new hubs, and existing hubs can be revised without breaking the system. The approach also shifts the workflow from “decide where everything goes first” to “create first, organize later,” leveraging Obsidian’s strength: linking notes freely so structure emerges over time.

The transcript outlines two common triggers for building MOCs. One is migration—moving hundreds of notes from tools like Evernote or Notion into Obsidian and needing a topic-based map to replace the old structure. The other is organic growth—when many notes start linking to the same theme, graph view often reveals that a dedicated MOC is overdue.

A concrete example is a “YouTube channel” MOC. It includes a home directory at the top that acts as a root for the vault’s MOCs, giving a bird’s-eye view of what exists and what needs attention. Within that hub, the creator adds a rotating quote for inspiration, a simple to-do list for immediate tasks, and a Kanban board to track video production stages (idea generation, scripting, editing, publishing). Notes are also prefixed with short identifiers like “yt” for YouTube-related MOCs, enabling fast search across large vaults by typing the prefix.

The transcript then expands the concept into a “home note,” treated as a macro version of a MOC. This home page is organized into work, interests, and side projects, further divided into MOCs actively in use versus those moved into a less prominent “non-active” area—an approach meant to reduce clutter while preserving older work. Numbering in titles helps file explorer sorting, and graph view can display the network of attached MOCs.

Finally, the transcript recommends customizing search by tagging different media types in note titles: a colon for articles, a dollar sign for tweets, and other symbols for books and other sources. The takeaway is a workflow philosophy: resist the urge to over-organize every note upfront, because Obsidian’s linking makes later organization both feasible and less stressful—letting creativity lead while structure catches up.