StretchLearn Course

Turn scattered notes into a connected second brain with Obsidian

Go from a messy folder of files to a living knowledge base: atomic notes, bidirectional links, a graph you can read, automated daily notes, and a workflow you will actually keep up.

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Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This beginner course teaches knowledge workers, students, and researchers to run a personal knowledge base in Obsidian, a free local-first app that stores every note as a plain Markdown file you own. You will create and structure a vault, write and link atomic notes with wikilinks and backlinks, navigate with Quick Switcher and the graph view, automate repetitive notes using core plugins (Daily Notes, Templates) and Templater, and apply lightweight organizing systems (PARA, Maps of Content, and Zettelkasten ID notes). Every lesson ends with a concrete build step and a worked example you copy straight into your own vault.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Set up an Obsidian vault and explain why local Markdown files give you ownership, portability, and longevity

Write atomic, linkable notes using Markdown syntax, wikilinks, aliases, and block references

Connect ideas with bidirectional links and use the backlinks and outgoing-links panes to surface related notes

Read and filter the graph view, and build Maps of Content so structure emerges instead of being forced

Automate daily notes, periodic notes, and reusable note types with the Templates core plugin and Templater

Adopt a sustainable capture-process-connect-retrieve workflow grounded in PARA and Zettelkasten principles

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Getting Started with Obsidian and Your First Vault

Install Obsidian, understand why local Markdown files matter, and create a vault you can navigate confidently. You leave able to write, save, and move around notes without touching a menu.

3 lessons

What Obsidian Is and Why Local Markdown WinsContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Installing Obsidian and Creating Your VaultContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Markdown Essentials and Moving Around FastContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Linking Ideas: Wikilinks, Backlinks, and the Graph

Master the feature that makes Obsidian special: connecting notes so ideas find each other. You leave able to link, follow, and visualize the relationships in your knowledge.

3 lessons

Wikilinks and the Atomic NoteContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Backlinks, Outgoing Links, and Unlinked MentionsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Reading and Taming the Graph ViewContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Automating with Daily Notes and Templates

Stop retyping the same scaffolding. Automate date-stamped notes and reusable note types so capture is friction-free. You leave with a daily note and a template set wired to a hotkey.

3 lessons

Daily Notes and Periodic LoggingContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Templates Core PluginContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Templater for Smarter AutomationContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Organizing for Retrieval: PARA, MOCs, and Zettelkasten

Adopt a lightweight system so your growing vault stays findable. You leave with a folder model, a Map of Content, and a repeatable workflow from capture to reuse.

3 lessons

PARA and Maps of ContentContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Zettelkasten Principles in ObsidianContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Your Sustainable Knowledge WorkflowContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

Obsidianknowledge managementnote-takingZettelkastenPARA methodMarkdownpersonal knowledge basesecond brain