Free Obsidian Starter Kit: How to Use It (Part 01)
The Pain Point (Opening)
You’ve been there—staring at a chaotic mess of notes, folders, and files that just don’t work. Maybe you’ve tried organizing your life in Obsidian only to watch it collapse after a few months. The frustration of messy folders, notes you can’t find later, and a “Second Brain” that stops scaling is real. You’ve probably spent hours copying and pasting the same note format again and again, only to end up where you started. It’s exhausting, and it feels like you’re stuck in a loop of constant reorganization.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. As a researcher, content creator, and professional, I spent over three years struggling to build a folder structure that could handle everything—personal life, work, study, health, finance, and content. I tried dozens of systems, but they all broke down. The struggle was so real that the first year was a “really struggling period” trying to come up with something sustainable and future-proof.
But here’s the good news: you don’t have to go through that pain. I’ve distilled all my lessons into a free Obsidian Starter Kit that works. This kit is completely free, ready to download and use today.
What You’ll Get From This
After watching this video and using the starter kit, you’ll walk away with:
- A clear, sustainable folder structure based on the Johnny Decimal method that scales as your life grows
- A system that separates personal life, work, study, health, finance, and content so you never mix things up
- Automatic task collection—tasks you write in your notes appear in your daily dashboard
- Ready-to-use templates that save time and remove friction
- A real Second Brain that actually lasts and helps you manage everything in one place
The Solution (Main Content)
How to Download and Install the Obsidian Starter Kit
First, go to the Obsidian Starter Kit website (linked in the video description). You’ll see a download link for a .zip file. Download it, unzip it, and you’ll find a directory called “obsidian starter kit” with several files inside—including documentation and the actual starter kit vault.
How to Open It Correctly as an Obsidian Vault
Open Obsidian and go to “Manage Vaults.” Select “Open Folder as Vault” and navigate to the “obsidian starter kit” directory you just unzipped. Make sure you’re opening the folder that contains the .obsidian configuration folder. Once opened, you’ll see the starter kit vault with a dashboard.
A Sustainable Folder System Based on Johnny Decimal
The starter kit uses a Johnny Decimal-style folder structure—10 top-level directories, each with 10 subdirectories. This creates a future-proof system that grows with you. Here’s the high-level structure:
- 00 Home → Personal life (health, finance, legal, family)
- 10 Study → Learning, courses, research
- 20 Work → Professional work
- 30 Hobby → Personal interests
- 40 Content → YouTube, blogs, social media
- Templates → Ready-to-use note templates
- MOCs (Maps of Content) → Index notes that hold everything together
Organize Personal Life, Work, Study, Health, Finance, and Content
Each top-level directory contains 10 subdirectories. For example, inside “00 Home” you’ll find “01 About Me” (for bios), “02 Health” (for medical notes), “03 Finance” (for credit cards, bills), “04 Legal” (for visa status, legal documents), and so on. The system is flexible—you can rename or adapt the directories to fit your needs.
How Tasks Automatically Get Collected from Your Notes
The starter kit includes a “task” tag system. When you create a task in any note (e.g., “Visit doctor”), tag it with #task and assign a due date. The kit automatically curates all tasks into your daily dashboard. This means you never need a separate task management app—everything lives inside Obsidian.
How to Use Maps of Content (MOCs) to Manage Different Areas of Life
Maps of Content (MOCs) are index notes that list other notes. For example, “MOC Health” lists all health-related notes; “MOC Finance” lists financial notes. There’s also a top-level “MOC Home” that indexes all other MOCs, giving you quick navigation to any area of your life.
How Templates Save Time and Remove Friction
The starter kit includes pre-configured templates for common note types. Instead of formatting notes from scratch, you can insert a template with one click. This saves time and ensures consistency across your vault.
How This System Helps You Build a Real Second Brain
By combining folder structure, task management, MOCs, and templates, the starter kit becomes a “life operating system.” You can manage personal life, work, study, health, finance, content, hobbies—all in one place. The system is designed to grow with you, and you can customize it without breaking it.
Watch the Full Video
For the complete step-by-step walkthrough, watch the full video below:
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👋 About Me
Hi, I’m Shuvangkar Das — a power systems researcher with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, currently working as a Research Scientist. I work at the intersection of power electronics, inverter-based DERs (IBRs), and AI to help build smarter, greener, and more stable electric grids.
My work spans large-scale EMT simulations, firmware development, reinforcement learning, and hardware prototyping. Beyond engineering, I’m also a YouTuber and content creator — sharing hands-on insights on productivity, research, and knowledge management. My goal is simple: to make complex ideas more accessible and actionable for everyone.
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