What's the most devastating shiny object you've ever fallen for in the world of personal note-taking? Something you were sure was going to make all the difference when you were working towards your goals, but ended up being completely irrelevant. -- For me, it was back at the start, when I was convinced that building Notion databases was going to help me pass my A-levels and get into university. I really didn't need this, when what would have worked best would have been to simply hammer flashcards and practice questions over and over again. Since then, I've fallen for a few others, but they've all been part of the journey that means I can come in front of you today and tell you how not to fall for the same thing. -- Let's hear yours 👇

HONESTY FIRST: Claude code wrote MOST of this post. Okay, lets get into it..... 1. Claude.md - The Instruction Manual A markdown file at the root of my vault that Claude reads automatically every session. It teaches Claude: - My vault's folder structure and type system (movements, recipes, tools, people, etc.) - Frontmatter schema and naming conventions (kebab-case properties, daily note linking pattern, etc.) - How my Obsidian plugins work (Templater, Projects, Periodic Notes) - My rating system, tag format, file naming conventions - Business/client project structure and SOPs This is the foundation. Claude doesn't need to "figure out" my system each time — it already knows it. 2. Skills - Custom Behaviors - /end-session - Saves session state when I'm done. Creates a dated session archive and updates a persistent memory file. Two-tier system: working memory (kept under 100 lines) + append-only daily archives. - Training Coach - An always-loaded knowledge base of my training context: athlete profile, injury history, programming principles, supplement protocols, active progressions, and datestamped coaching insights. Grows over time as we (Claude and I) discuss training. - Obsidian Nexus (the name of my vault) - Knows how to create notes that follow my vault's exact conventions (correct folder, frontmatter, wikilinks, type classification). - Social to Typefully - Drafts and publishes social posts via MCP integration. (this deserves its own post — I practically made my own social media scheduler in Obsidian...) 3. Memory System - Continuity Across Sessions Claude Code doesn't remember past conversations by default. I solved this with a layered memory approach: - Persistent memory (claude-session-memory.md) - Active projects, recent decisions, action items, session context. Loaded every session. Capped at 100 lines to stay focused. - Session archives (claude-sessions/YYYY-MM-DD session.md) - Detailed logs of each session. Multiple sessions per day append to the same file. This is the long-term history. - Auto-memory (Claude Code's built-in) - A separate .claude/ directory that persists key patterns and lessons learned. - Active Context files - Top of Mind.md, Body.md, and the Training Coach file are always loaded, so Claude starts each session knowing my current priorities, physical profile, and training state.

We've hit 100 members in the Community! Thank you so much for coming inside. It's a little less than 1 year since I started this project officially, and right now is the most comfortable I've ever felt about a sustainable future for PARAZETTEL. We've had new courses, new workshops and interaction, all in a centralised location. Nothing spread across Lemon Squeezy or any other locations. It's been one thing to realise this after starting to travel, and having less free time, and another thing to actually implement it. But now, it's the PARAZETTEL.com website and this Skool, and that's the two hubs of my best ideas and education. Remember if you want to upgrade and get a free week to trial all of the courses, then you can sign up on PARAZETTEL.com/upgrade ! Also, we've got a workshop this weekend, which you can see more about on the Calendar page. It's a shorter one, about how I've been using Obsidian to write the Minimal Note-Taking book so far. See you there! Because you're inside this Community, you're automatically invited. Thanks again for 100 members, and here's to the next 100! -- Theo

If you want to unlock everything in the Community Classroom page, there's a free trial for you to see what full access is like. Head to https://parazettel.com/upgrade for more information and to start your trial! I'll unlock the courses for you so you can give everything a proper test drive. You get... - The Premium-exclusive PARAZETTEL Course, to learn how to use the PARAZETTEL template in the most detail. I give examples from my workflows, and talk through some other theories - The new Claude Code x Obsidian Course, where I'm going deep into learning how to best tie AI into note-taking. It's emerging as a very exciting field, and is becoming more powerful very quickly - All other courses, including Minimal Note-Taking, PKM for Students, and Use Your Ideas. Remember, check out https://parazettel.com/upgrade to learn more! -- Theo

Hey again all, Since we've got a few new members in the community, and we've organised things up so that you can get in for free (email about this in the next 24 hours), we're introducing the leaderboards officially! This feature has always been included within the community, but it's been in the background, in one of the tabs at the top of the page. Now I want to make it official. If you finish top of the 30-day leaderboard, you're going to get a whole month of Premium for free. This means access to all courses, workshop recordings and everything else! After this month, you also get an upgrade discount code, which remains valid for the next month. And how do you reach the top of the leaderboards? - Send insightful posts in the forum - when you get likes and comments, you earn points that move you higher on the leaderboard That's it. Interact, and you'll get unlimited access to everything, for a whole month! Looking forward to seeing where everyone stands at the end of March, -- Theo P.S. If you've already got Premium, I'll give you a free 1-hour call with me over the following month to solve your most pressing note-taking request.