Your first 7 days with Operon
If you like structure, this is a paced way to make Operon part of your vault over one realistic week, one focused step per day instead of everything at once. It is the written companion to a project Operon can create for you, so you can read the why here and do the work there.
Get the setup project first
Operon ships a hands-on version of this week. In Settings → Operon → Core → General, find Demo workspace and choose Create demo workspace. It adds a few files under Operon/Demo Workspace/ without overwriting anything, including Set Up Your Obsidian Vault with Operon, a project whose tasks are the daily steps below. Open that project and check tasks off as you go; use this page for the reasoning behind each day.
You do not have to follow seven literal days. Treat each day as a stage and move at your own speed.
Day 1: Configure the foundations
Build a clean base before tasks spread across notes. Review your key mappings so fields use the property names you want, confirm your priority levels and your status pipeline, set where new inline tasks and where new file tasks are created, and decide which fields stay visible on task surfaces. See Essential settings to configure first and Task chips. The goal is a clean base so everything you make later uses the right names and lands in the right place.
Day 2: Build your core filters
Make the views you will open every day before you plan anything. A daily focus filter, a weekly planning filter, an overdue review filter for the last few days, an active projects filter, and a high-priority open filter cover most needs. For a sharper cut, build an Eisenhower-style filter using contexts or tags. See Filter View and Filter conditions and operators. The goal is to know, at a glance, what matters now.
Day 3: Connect projects to work
Pick one real outcome that deserves its own note and make it a file task. Add its child tasks under it so related work stays together, practice finding existing work with Task Finder, and give the project its own saved filter. Then embed that filter in the project note so the note is both context and a live task list. See Parent and sub-tasks and Embed a filter in a note. The goal is work that is findable in context, not scattered.
Day 4: Plan across time
Now place work in time, without filling the Calendar with vague intentions. Check your pinned focus tasks, choose which tasks deserve calendar time this week, and reserve a focus block or two for the highest-value work. Review what stayed unscheduled and adjust the plan to fit real capacity. See Calendar overview and Calendar presets and time grid. The goal is a realistic plan rather than an overcommitted one.
Day 5: Operate from the Kanban
Turn project work into a board you can read. Create a Kanban for active work, review paused and blocked tasks on their own so stalled work is visible, keep statuses honest so filters, Calendar, and Kanban all agree, and decide what should move forward before the week ends. The goal is to see movement and friction at a glance.
Day 6: Add rhythm
Convert one-time setup into habits. Create a recurring weekly review and a recurring inbox cleanup, review tasks that are missing a priority, date, or parent so your views stay useful, and capture any follow-up work this setup surfaced. See Recurring tasks and Missing tasks. The goal is a system that keeps working without depending on memory.
Day 7: Review the system
Close the week by looking back. Note what changed in the vault, move unfinished setup work into next week, archive or cancel setup tasks that no longer matter, and write a short weekly operating rhythm you can repeat. The goal is to turn a first-week setup into a habit that survives a busy week. Then enjoy the fact that your tasks now live in one connected system.
After the week
This is a starting rhythm, not a rulebook. Keep the filters and habits that earned their place, drop the ones that did not, and add features like time tracking when the work asks for them. The full map is in Operon Docs MOC.