Obsidian Templates And How I Use Them // EP 8 Mastering Obsidian

Introduction to Templates in Obsidian

In this video, the speaker introduces templates and explains how they work in Obsidian. The speaker also provides examples of how templates can be used to improve workflow efficiency.

What are Templates?

• Templates are pre-formatted sets of parameters that can be applied to notes.

• They save time and improve efficiency by preventing users from forgetting important details.

• Examples of templates include new note templates with parameters such as date created, tags, and related notes.

• Journaling prompts can also be included in a template.

How Does Obsidian Handle Templates?

• Obsidian has a dedicated core plugin called "Template" that pulls and applies a template based on user input.

• Users need to enable the Template plugin and specify where their templates live.

• Once enabled, users can apply a template by telling Obsidian which one they want for the note they're creating.

Creating an Article Template

• To create an article template, users can create a new note with basic formatting such as space for title and header information.

• Header information could include date of publish, tags, related notes, and journaling prompts such as main takeaways or questions for the author.

• Users should replace "date of note" with "date" using double parentheses and add "time" if desired.

• Users should then enable the Template plugin inside the core plugin settings and specify where their templates live.

Conclusion

Templates are useful tools that help improve workflow efficiency by saving time and preventing users from forgetting important details. With Obsidian's dedicated Template plugin, users can easily apply pre-formatted sets of parameters to their notes.

Using Templates in Obsidian

In this section, the speaker explains how to use templates in Obsidian and provides examples of their use cases.

Creating a Template

• To create a template, press Command + P and type in "templates".

• If you only have one template, it will be inserted automatically.

• The template will show the exact date and time it was created.

• Type in the title and fill in the blanks with tags, related topics, and prompts.

• Drag the note into the templates folder.

Book Notes Template

• Create a new note for each book read.

• Add the book notes template with header information such as publishing date.

• Include Kindle highlights to link where exactly are the highlights for this specific book.

• Add related topics that might be related to the topic of this book.

• Prompts include main takeaways of the book, something they didn't agree with and why, and what can be applied to one's own life from this book.

Journaling Templates

Manual Way

• Type out your daily or weekly journaling template.

• Store it in your templates folder.

Automatic Way

• Use calendar plugin to apply daily or weekly journaling templates automatically by telling it where they live.

• Click on day or week number to write for that day/week.

• Calendar will automatically apply right templates to notes.

Conclusion

Templates are useful tools for creating consistent notes across different topics. They can save time by providing structure and prompts for note-taking.

Setting up Daily and Weekly Journal Templates

In this section, the speaker explains how to set up daily and weekly journal templates. They discuss the importance of having a title that is descriptive and helpful for memory recall, as well as the prompts they use in their own journals.

Daily Notes Template

• The format for the daily notes template is the same as for the templates config file.

• The user needs to specify where they are storing their daily note template.

• It's important to decide where to store all new notes, such as in a separate folder.

• The speaker recommends keeping prompts simple and not methodical, with a focus on writing freely.

• Prompts include date/time headers and a "what's on my mind" section.

Weekly Notes Template

• The weekly notes template is stored inside the templates folder and named "weekly notes."

• The user needs to specify where they want to save new weekly notes.

• The speaker recommends adding tags or related sections for complex entries.

• Prompts are more methodical than those for daily notes, with a focus on not skipping any entries.

Differences Between Daily and Weekly Journals

In this section, the speaker discusses the differences between their daily and weekly journals. They explain why they keep them separate and how each serves a different purpose.

Daily Journal

• Acts more like a meditation session than anything else.

• Focuses on getting the user writing as much as possible without structure or constraints.

• Title should be descriptive enough to trigger memory recall later on.

• Prompts include date/time headers and a "what's on my mind" section.

Weekly Journal

• More methodical than daily journaling; done every Sunday without skipping entries.

• Includes tags or related sections for complex entries.

• Prompts are more structured than those for daily notes.

Weekly Journal Template

In this section, the speaker discusses their weekly journal template and how they use it to reflect on their week's accomplishments and areas for improvement.

Setting Up the Template

• The speaker types in every task they did on their to-do list and calendar.

• This helps them see what they accomplished during the week and if it was successful or not.

• They reflect on what they could have done better.

Reflecting on Achievements

• The speaker copies and pastes what they set out to achieve from their previous weekly journal.

• They reflect on whether or not they achieved those goals.

• They consider what they could have done better.

Planning for the Future

• The speaker writes down what they want to achieve in the upcoming week.

• This will be copied into next week's template.

Gratitude

• The speaker ends with a reflection of gratitude for things that went well during the week.

YouTube Video Template

In this section, the speaker discusses their YouTube video template, which includes a title, checklist, prompts for thumbnails, and bullet points for scripts.

Checklist Items

• Add video to playlist

• Insert relevant videos

Thumbnail Prompts

Bullet Points Script

Other Use Cases

In this section, the speaker briefly mentions other templates they use for notes on different YouTube videos, programming notes (especially Docker Compose files), and yearly reviews covering health, finances, relationships etc.

Overall, the speaker recommends creating templates for any type of note that will be written more than once.