obsidian-vault-template

Overview

A template used to create a new vault. An attempt to move away from Notion to Obsidian.

The setup/organisation is loosely based off PARA, and some templates for logging tasks, and a daily planner

Setup

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone git@github.com:m-dwyer/obsidian-vault-template.git
    rm -rf obsidian-vault-template/.git
    
  2. Then open the above cloned repository as a vault in Obsidian

  3. Go to Settings > Community Plugins and disable 'Safe Mode'

  4. Click Browse next to Community Plugins, search for and install the following:

    • Calendar
    • Dataview
    • Day Planner
    • Templater
  5. You'll need to configure plugins as per below:

    Calendar

    Set weekly note template to _templates/week Set weekly not folder to weeks

    Templater

    Set template folder location to _templates

    Day Planner

    Set to Command Mode

    Daily Notes

    Set new file location to days Set template file location to _templates/daily

    Templates

    Set template folder location to _templates

Usage

Projects

A project is a great way of encapsulating a set of tasks in order to meet some objective, goal or other outcome.

You can create projects in the 001_projects folder using the project template. The project contains metadata (such as a completed field) in the front matter that can be set, as well as a due date.

Tasks

A task is an individual action item. A task can be a one-off item you need to complete by a due date, or it can be an action item as part of a larger project.

A 'task' template is available for individual tasks not associated with a project, while a 'project task' can be used to create a task associated with a larger project.

If you create a project task, be sure to link it to the project in the frontmatter metadata!

Assigning work

Once you have planned out any projects & tasks you wish to undertake, you can create a weekly agenda by selecting the week number via the calendar side pane. This will create a new week note under the weeks folder.

When opening up the week, the Available Tasks heading will show any incomplete task not yet assigned a date. From here, I will pick and choose tasks and set an assignedDate accordingly for each, at which point they will be visible for the week under the Assigned Tasks heading.

If I do not wish to undertake a particularly task for this week, I just leave it unassigned, so the task will be visible in future weekly agendas.

Daily Workflow

Click today's date in the calendar. Any tasks assigned to today should show in the table. Select 'Day Planner: Link today's Day Planner to the current note' within the command palette.

From here, I will list each task shown under Assigned Today under the Daily Planner heading with a time. This will allow me to use the Day Planner to track my progress throughout the day. As the day progresses, I will mark off a task if completed. Also remember to update the completed flag in the task so it no longer appears!

The Inbox is basically a scratch pad of sorts, and taken from Getting Things Done. I will quickly capture items here throughout the day. At regular intervals, I will look at each item and decide if it should be logged as a task, filed as a note under Resources, or whether some other action needs to be taken.

Recurring todo items / tasks

There are templates in _templates/recurring for setting todo items that are recurring on a daily or weekly basis. Whether you have chores, routines or other items, add them to the applicable list and it will be included in each day or week note.