Why ‘Obsidian’ is Your Ultimate Second Brain Tool

My second brain is Obsidian.

Before digging deeper into how to set up your second brain in Obsidian, let’s see the four reasons why Obsidian is a wise choice.

First of all, Obsidian is free.

Yes, you could buy a catalyst or a commercial license, but you can get started without paying anything upfront, making it a no-brainer.

The second reason is that Obsidian is future-proof.

So, when you pick a note-taking app, you want peace of mind that the app will still be around next year.

Obsidian allows you to avoid all these dilemmas because it works with plain text files.

So, even if Obsidian were about to disappear by next Tuesday, you’d still be able to access and open notes.

The third reason is that Obsidian allows you to build your second brain across all major platforms.

This means that on mobile, they have an Android and an iOS app; on desktop, you’ll find native apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The fourth reason is that Obsidian is a very versatile platform.

It fits almost all note-taking and second-brain styles, meaning you can use folders, tags, or links to classify your notes.

So, now that you know that you can’t go wrong starting and setting up your second brain in Obsidian let’s dig deeper into how to set everything up.

Setting up your second brain in Obsidian does not have to be complicated. You can boil it down to four simple steps.

1. Download and install Obsidian.
2. Set up your second brain in Obsidian.
3. Create your first note.
4. Classify your notes.

Download and install Obsidian.

First, head to Obsidian’s official website and download the app.

By default, it will automatically recognize the device you’re using. If not, you can choose the correct operating system and download the app on your computer.

Next, install it on your computer. Then, it’s time to launch the beast.

Creating Your Vault.

When you first open Obsidian, you’ll see a window asking you to create a new Vault. So, click on “create.”

Now comes the question: What is a vault?

A vault is nothing more than the folder where you will create your second brain.

So, if you don’t know how to name your vault, simply critical in “second brain.”

Don’t freak out because you can change this name later.

Creating Your First Note.

The next step is to click on “browse,” choose your second brain's location on your local drive, click open, and then create.

Okay, great. So, right now, let’s take a closer look at the interface.

As you can see here on the left-hand side, I have the name of my vault, which we call “second brain.” And right now, it’s time to create our first note in Obsidian.

So, there are several ways to create your first note.

One of them is to click on “create new file” or click on the icon here, “new note,” or simply go to “file” > “new note.”

By default, it’s called “Untitled,” but let’s give it a catchy title. “This is my first note.” And now, I can key in the content of my note right here.

So, let’s do it with the second note to familiarize you with the process. “Second note here.” And now, here comes the content.

As you can see, the more notes I add, the more they appear here on the left-hand side.

Classifying Your Notes

Now comes the next part of building your second brain creation process, and it’s how you will classify your notes.

As I mentioned, you can use all three types of classification inside Obsidian, which makes it stand out above all other note-taking apps.

So, let’s see how you can use a folder structure.

Head over to the left side, click on the icon with the folder and the little plus sign, and here is your first folder.

You can create unlimited folders and then add dra,g, and drop your notes into the different folders.

So, this is the first step.

The second step is you can also use tags.

So, let’s assume you want to tag this one with “productivity.”

Key in a hashtag and then the name of the tag. Obsidian will automatically recognize it as a tag, and if you click on it, it will simply open up the search results and list all the notes tagged with this specific tag.

But let’s assume you also want to add links.

So, let’s go back to the files here and add a link.

So, let me link this first note to my second node. I have to type square brackets twice, and then, as you can see, I have automatic suggestions about what notes I could link this node to.

For a visual explanation, visit this Obsidian tutorial.

Closing words

Congratulations! You now know how to set up your second brain in Obsidian.

But I have way more to share with you regarding setting up your second brain the right way.

I will share the exact tips, strategies, and actionable tactics via more blogs.

So make sure you subscribe to my email list.