Early attempts at building a PKM system

Sebastien Couture -

I read Getting Things Done by David Allen in my late twenties, hoping to gain better control over my personal and professional projects. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stick to the GTD system long-term. I found it too rigid and never found software that made it enjoyable or practical.

That’s why Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte resonated with me. It felt like “GTD for the digital age.” Forte’s PARA Method—Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives—is simple, flexible, and easy to adapt to individual needs.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the PARA method:

  • Projects: Tasks with a clear beginning and end, like planning a trip.
  • Areas: Ongoing responsibilities, like working out.
  • Resources: Reference materials you want to revisit, like manuals and websites.
  • Archives: Completed projects you’ve stored away.

Much like GTD did twenty years ago, the Second Brain method has attracted YouTubers and productivity gurus promising to help you “unlock the secrets” to better productivity. The go-to note-taking app in this world is Obsidian.

Obsidian is a fully customizable, plain-text-based app—basically the VS Code of note-taking. With plugins, themes, and a capable mobile version, it’s a paradise for note-taking nerds. You can even run Markdown JavaScript in your notes.

I’m not going to lie—I completely bought into it.

After using Obsidian off and on for months, a long flight with bad internet finally gave me the time to set it up the way I wanted.

Obsidian and it's powerful linking feature allows graphs of notes to emerge

My folder structure is a mix of the PARA and Zettelkasten methods—a system developed by German sociologist Niklas Luhmann to track notes and build a personal knowledge base.

In Zettelkasten there are three types of notes:

  • Literature: Insights captured from books and articles–anything one didn’t write themselves
  • Fleeting: short notes and ideas captured throughout the day, meant to be processed into more structured notes
  • Permanent: ideas refined into lasting knowledge

The Zettelkasten encourages notes to build on each other, forming the basis for new knowledge. What’s amazing is that Luhmann’s system worked before we had digital note-keeping–the man kept tens of thousands of flashcards organized in a system where they referenced each other.

Niklas Luhmann note cards with referencing system (top left)

After fiddling with different structures, I settled on a combination of the PARA and Zettlekasten methods. I like it because it allows me to save notes and ideas while tracking projects and other areas of my life. Here’s how I’ve organized it:

  • Projects: Personal and work-related projects (PARA)
  • Areas: Ongoing responsibilities like blogging and podcasting (PARA)
  • Resources: Articles and content not written by myself (PARA & ZETTLE)
  • Permanent: Finished works emanating from a combination of fleeing notes and resources (PARA & ZETTLE)
  • Fleeting: Quick notes and ideas (PARA & ZETTLE)
  • Daily: Journaling, to-dos, and habit tracking
  • Archives: Long-term storage (PARA)
  • Meta: Templates, attachments, and support files

YouTuber CyanVoxel inspired this combination PARA and Zettle Obsidian vault. It remains a work in progress and will likely evolve as I add more types of content.

I look forward to writing more on this learning journey.