StarterVault

Setup (5 minutes)

1. Install Obsidian

Download from obsidian.md

2. Open this vault

1. Open Obsidian
2. Click "Open folder as vault"
3. Select the StarterVault folder
4. Click "Trust author and enable plugins"

3. Install community plugins

Settings (Command + ,) → Community Plugins → Turn on community plugins → Browse and install:

• Tasks - Task management with filtering

Already configured, just click Install → Enable for each.

4. Set up important hotkeys

Settings (Command + ,) then to hotkeys and search for:

• Go to Next Tab and Go to Previous Tab - set them to whatever feels right to you, most likely what you use for switching between tabs in your browser.

• Templates: Insert template - whatever is the first keystroke that you feel like pressing when thinking about inserting a template note content

• Cycle bullet/checkbox - this is for creating task items

  • Here you might want to go to Tasks plugin and disable Auto-suggest content at the end of the setting + restart Obsidian. Depends how much of the Tasks plugin you want to use. I like to keep it minimal but you do you.

What's in the Vault

StarterVault/
├── Projects/active/    # Dev logs for active projects
├── Journal/            # Daily notes (auto-created)
├── Knowledge/          # Reference notes and concepts
├── Meetings/           # Meeting notes linked to projects
├── Inbox/              # Quick captures (default location)
└── Templates/          # Project, Daily, Meeting templates

Templates Available:

• Project kick-off - Structured project planning with task queries
• Daily Template - Morning reflection prompts (How are you feeling? What are you grateful for? Daily goal?)
• Meeting Note - Meeting capture with project links

Example Notes Included:

• Projects/active/Example Project - Learning Obsidian.md - Full project workflow example
• Journal/2025-01-15.md - Sample daily note
• Knowledge/Wiki-style links.md - How linking works
• Knowledge/Hamingway bridge.md - End-of-day technique

Crash Course

The best way to understand this system is to explore the example notes. Open each one and see how they work.

Example Project

1. Press Command + O to open a prompt asking you which file to open
2. Write Examp... and press Command + Enter to open it in a new Tab

What to notice:

• The Kick-off section with questions that force clear thinking (Why? What's success? What's out of scope?)
• The Task queries that automatically show tasks tagged with #someday or #cleanup
• The Progress Log at the bottom - date headings with daily updates
• Links to concepts like [[wiki-style links]] and [[Hamingway bridge]] (click them!)

Key technique: The Hemingway Bridge Scroll to the bottom of the progress log. See how it ends with specific next steps? This is the end-of-day technique that lets you pick up exactly where you left off.

[!NOTE] Scrolling to bottom of notes You can scroll to the bottom or top of a page by pressing Command + Arrow Up or Command + Arrow Down

Daily Note

Action: Press Ctrl/Cmd + P → Type "daily note" → Hit Enter

This creates today's note in the Journal folder using the Daily Template. Three simple prompts:

• How are you feeling today?
• What are you grateful for?
• What's the goal for today?

You can open [[Daily Template]] to modify these questions for what is important to YOU.

How Links Work

Click on the link below, or move cursor on the link and press Command + Enter to follow the link (hotkey called Follow link under cursor in Settings)

[[Wiki-style links]]

What to notice:

• Links are created with [[double brackets]]
• Many links point to notes that don't exist yet (that's fine!)
• At the bottom, there's a "Related concepts" section with more links
• In the right sidebar, you can see backlinks - other notes that link here

Try it: Type [[My First Concept]] anywhere. It creates a link. Click it → Create the note. You just built your first connection.

Understanding Search

Try these:

• Ctrl/Cmd + O - Quick switcher (find by filename)
• Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + F - Search all content
• Type "Hemingway" and you'll find every mention across all files

This is why organization can be minimal. Search is your friend.

Resources

• [[Plugins for Obsidian]]
• Obsidian Help
• Obsidian Forum
• r/ObsidianMD

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"Just writing things down is 80% of the benefit."