How I Use Tags & Topic Notes For Structured & Emergent Organization

Tags vs Topics: A Battle Of Structure & Emergence

Obsidian enables Non-Linear Thinking due to the links between notes being the primary organizational structure, compared to the folder & chronologic structure of traditional systems.

Tags are denoted by the "#" symbol and are a built-in property of Obsidian. Topic Notes are blank notes that are created to generate a Bi-Directional Link between a note and its respective topic.

You can think of tags as an alternative to folders because Obsidian has the option to filter by tag in a similar manner to a traditional folder, though I personally use both tags & folders.

It is important to note that each person will have their own system. I recommend reading my system below and then adapting it to your own needs. Remember, less is often more with structure. You want to make it as simple as possible, adding complexity as you need it, not immediately.

I suggest creating some basic tags for your note types and a few topic notes for the topics you are most interested in. Then, let the emergence begin ✨

Characteristics of Tags & Topic Notes

Hybrid Theory

The best model? Both tags AND topics.

As with many things, a hybrid system is the best way I have found to enable enough structure that I can find my notes easily, tagging them to naturally inbox & index, with emergent patterns arising due to the organic nature of topic notes.

By having a top-down approach with pre-determined structure for tags, I am able to create a consistent system for my note-taking in Obsidian. By having a bottom-up approach with emergent topics, I am able to allow for naturally evolving patterns in the connections between notes. As the Topic Notes evolve over time, I can create sub-topics and a Map of Content within each Topic Note.

How I Use Tags

I have three main uses of Tags:

1. indicating the note type
2. indicating the status of a note
3. indicating that a note contains a sub-note type (in-line tag)

Note Type
As an example, I would use a tag for each of my Topic, Source, Atom, Molecule, and Alloy notes. Each tag is used to create a folder structure in my Obsidian vault whereby each of these types of notes automatically move to the proper folder. See also Smart & Automatic Folders (inboxing & indexing).

Note Status

I use tags to help organize the growth level of my notes, indicating whether a note is a "seed" "tree" or "fruit" in the digital garden analogy. This type of tag could also be used to indicate completion level, confidence level, or some other form of status.

By using tags for status, the tag can be easily changed as the status progresses, without impacting the connections of the note.

Sub-Note Type or "In-Line Tags"

In-line tags like #idea or #task can be used to indicate that a sub-section of a note belongs to a particular category. I can then use this in-line tag to draw my attention to a particular section in a long note, or use the tag in searching to find notes that contain ideas or to-do's.

How I Use Topic Notes

While it is possible to use tags to indicate topics (e.g., # neuroscience), tags help more with searching and are somewhat rigid. Neuroscience itself has many sub-topics, so how could I indicate which level of neuroscience a note was dealing with? There is no way to "contain" information within a tag, it is effectively a folder.

Topic Notes on the other hand are far more flexible than tags. By using an actual note as a topic, I can use the topic for search, but I can also use the note to indicate connection to other notes via Bi-Directional Links.

Furthermore, I can use the topic note to contain information in and of itself. E.g., with Neuroscience, I can include a list of sub-topics as a note within the major topic note.

This type of hierarchical topic note-taking allows me to create entry points into the topic, which is why they are sometimes called a Map of Content, which I'll get into more in a moment.

Topic Notes are emergent, which means that I can create as many new topic notes as I want to as I come across new information and add it to my vault. If I start reading a psychology textbook, I can create a new note for Psychology. If I get into flow states, I can create a sub-topic within the psychology note as Flow. The Flow note is its own topic, but it can also be linked to Psychology. In this way, patterns between topics and notes connected to topics begin to emerge over time. That is why it is "bottom up", the organization emerges as you add more to it.

As more notes and sub-topics are linked to Topic Notes, clusters of notes begin to appear over time in the graph view of Obsidian. I can then use this visualization system to identify patterns or locations of high insight in my notes.

In contrast, a tag would just indicate that notes contain the tag, without giving more context to the broader connection to the rest of my Second Brain.

Maps of Content (MoC)

While tags remain relatively constant in my Second Brain (my note types, status types, and in-line tags mostly stay the same), my topics are constantly evolving.

The more information I add to Obsidian, the more knowledge I forge as I connect the information, the more topics and sub-topics I add to my vault.

Rather than leaving a mess of Topic Notes inside the Topic folder in my vault, I can begin to introduce hierarchy to topics that I am coming across more regularly.

Since a Topic Note originally begins as a blank note (a ghost note), I have the opportunity to convert any topic note into a Map of Content.

For example, there is the broad category of Epistemology, the study of knowledge. Within that category, I would include Personal Knowledge Management, Education, and perhaps Philosophy.

Under personal knowledge management, I would include the topic of a Second Brain.

So, if I went into the Epistemology note, I could introduce a map of the related topics & sub-topics. That way, if I know I want to pursue an article on Epistemology, I could, at a glance, see all of the related topics & sub-topics that I might want to continue exploring in my research:

You can think of Maps of Content as a place to store entry points, or jumping off points, for research & exploration. With the Epistomology example, I have taken a Topic Note and created a map of the major categories I find interesting about that topic. When I come across new information related to the pursuit of knowledge, I can go to my MoC and see which topic or sub-topic or concept the new piece of information relates to.

In other words, I can take the attention I have invested into my previous research and add the new information, starting where I left off last time. This allows me to compound my attention & efforts by adding to it over time, rather than starting from scratch each time I take a new note.

It's important to note that you should not try to create maps of content immediately. The point of an Emergent structure is that the important topics will reveal themselves to the more attention you invest into your system.

You have to create the content before you can map it 👀

Next

Smart & Automatic Folders (inboxing & indexing) (video walkthrough included)