When I first started using Obsidian, I fell into the same trap many people do: I spent more time building the system than using it. My vault was a mess of half-baked ideas and an overwhelming number of plugins. I was constantly tweaking things and hoped that the ‘perfect’ setup was just one more change away, but I was wrong.

If I could go back and start over, I would skip all of that and focus on the fundamentals. This is my guide for a fresh start — what to embrace, what to ignore, and how to build a PKM system that actually works for you from day one.

Use templates

Blueprint for your Markdown pages

When I first started using Obsidian, I completely missed the point of templates. I thought of them as a nice-to-have feature for power users, not as a fundamental part of my workflow.

Because of this, I wasted so much time creating repetitive notes from scratch. Every time I wanted to log a new recipe, a meeting, or a TV recommendation, I would manually type out headings and sections.

What I should have done from day one was set up a few simple templates for my most common, repetitive notes. For my recipe notes, a template with placeholders for Ingredients and Instructions would have been a massive time-saver.

Also, when you design a template from scratch, don’t go overboard with too many bullet points, headings, and sections.

Don’t go overboard with plugins

Install only the essential ones

One of the biggest mistakes I made with Obsidian was regarding plugins. I went ahead and downloaded all the coolest-looking add-ons. I spent hours browsing the community plugins and installed anything that looked even remotely useful.

Before I knew it, I had a dozen plugins for task management, a handful of different ones for data views, and a bunch of others for everything from mind maps to advanced tables. I thought I was supercharging my vault, but in reality, I was just bogging it down.

After a while, my vault became sluggish. The startup time started to drag, and opening a new note felt slower. What I should have done is start with only the built-in core plugins.

Obsidian already comes with an incredible set of tools right out of the box (including Bases, which offers advanced databases).

Now my approach is different. I keep the core plugins enabled and disable every community plugin. I only enable a third-party plugin when a very specific problem arises that a core plugin can’t solve (like using the Kanban plugin for managing small projects).

Too much tinkering with Obsidian looks

The default theme library is sufficient

In my early days, I spent more time making my vault look pretty than I did actually using it. I tried custom CSS snippets to tweak fonts, colors, and line spacing. I even tried to create my own custom theme from scratch.

I would spend a couple of hours getting the colors just right, only to find that my new setup was difficult to read on a different device. Or, a new Obsidian update would break my CSS, forcing me to spend more time debugging the visual style.

Instead, I should have headed straight to the built-in theme library. Obsidian has a fantastic collection of community-contributed themes that are professionally designed and maintained. With a single click, I could have changed the look of my vault to something clean and beautiful.

My vault may not be a masterpiece, but it’s a fast, reliable, and distraction-free workspace.

Relying solely on Obsidian for everything

Don’t ditch your existing productivity toolkit

Early on, I made the mistake of trying to force Obsidian to be a ‘do-it-all’ solution. I would open Obsidian on my phone just to jot down a grocery list or a random idea that popped into my head.

The truth is, no tool is perfect for everything. I now use a few specialized tools for their specific strengths. For instance, I use OneDrive to sync my Obsidian notes across devices.

As for my quick notes, I rely on Google Keep to get the job done. And when I want to get insights from my Markdown files, I upload them to NotebookLM and start asking questions. Obsidian is still the heart of my system, but its role has changed.

Also, be prepared to have messy notes in Obsidian. You don't necessarily need to have a perfect title, heading, tags, and other details for each note.

Your smarter first step into Obsidian

Ultimately, my first run with Obsidian was a necessary failure. I started with the wrong mindset. It was only by stripping away the unnecessary complexity that I finally began to see its true potential. So, if you are standing at the starting line, don’t make the same mistake. After all, a simple, intentional system will always outperform a complex one.

So, what are you waiting for? Apply my learning and create an effective PKM system in Obsidian.