I agree that the learning curve can be steep, but it's worth it. The key is to keep things simple for as long as possible. There isn't that much you REALLY NEED

I agree that the learning curve can be steep, but it's worth it. The key is to keep things simple for as long as possible. There isn't that much you REALLY NEED to get started and to grow up until you reach a critical mass of notes (>=500 IMHO). Avoid falling into the trap of focusing too much on the system and too little on get value out of it There are vault templates you can start with and build upon, instead of trying to build your own system. Some are very basic, but others are more elaborate and better documented. I have to mention mine since I've been working quite a lot on it, based on my own usage as an author/blogger. It's called the Obsidian Starter Kit [0]. It includes a clear structure, templates, plugins, automation rules for easily creating and filing notes, and a detailed user guide going from theory to practice. The key parts it includes and that I recommend are: a simple folder structure (I chose to combine Johnny Decimal and the PARA method of Tiago Forte out of habit), tags (to ease search), clear naming conventions (for consistency), templates that define the base structure for the different note types and include the base tags to recognize those. The combination of links/backlinks, tags and Maps of Content (even simple indexes based on tags) is key to finding whatever you need whenever you need it. Regarding the integration between Zotero and Obsidian, having looked into it a while ago, I would recommend importing what you need in Obsidian, and accepting that as duplicate information, but enabling you to centralize as much as you can (reference information) inside of Obsidian. It's all right if you capture highlights in Zotero (I do that with Readwise), but I consider those as "transient" knowledge inboxes. You can find a copy of my Zotero template in [2]. In my own system, described in [1], Obsidian is my single source of truth. The other apps (eg Zotero, Readwise, etc) are just secondary and limited in scope. The important point for me here is the ability to connect everything within a single tool, which is where KM really shines. PS, I've described my system a while ago in this blog post [3]. Hope this helps! [0]: https://obsidianstarterkit.com https://obsidianstarterkit.com [1]: https://www.dsebastien.net/overview-of-my-personal-knowledge-management-system/ https://www.dsebastien.net/overview-of-my-personal-knowledge... [2]: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/dsebastien/30c5d5e85a3dd29f59b23a18089e1aef/raw/1da157c0348dfbc350042b8f44198b90ade79eed/TPL%2520Zotero.md https://gist.githubusercontent.com/dsebastien/30c5d5e85a3dd2... [3]: https://www.dsebastien.net/2021-12-03-personal-knowledge-management-organization/ https://www.dsebastien.net/2021-12-03-personal-knowledge-man...