Obsidian - Why I Love it and How to Get Started

It has officially been a year since I discovered Obsidian and made it a part of my daily life. This little video from a low subscriber channel popped up in my suggestions and completely shifted my focus on how I handle my life. It wasn’t immediate; I had it installed and maybe wrote once a week at best. Being out of college, I didn’t really feel like there was much a point to write a lot of stuff down, but I realized I was thinking about things wrong. Note taking shouldn’t be about just copying down what’s in front of you, but instead it’s about building a second brain based on your needs.

That is what got me into actually using Obsidian. Next thing you know, my notes are getting better and I’m actually bringing them up in conversations so I can better articulate an idea; I start looking through the free, open-source plugins that the community offers and I build an actual work flow; then, I realize just how useful and flexible writing in markdown is. Now here we are. Despite me being incredibly forgetful and almost ADHD with how many projects I pick up and put down, I built my own keyboard, learned how to script and automate my computer, and coded my own website through Hugo.

I keep telling people just how life changing having a Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system is, but, as I alluded to above, I can struggle trying to explains things, especially when it comes to trying to convince someone of something. So that’s what this will be. I want to lay out why I think everybody should use a PKM, Obsidian or not, and just how advantageous something like that can be. Then, assuming you do want to give Obsidian a go, I’ll explain how it works and what you can do with it. Finally, I lay out some of the plugins I use and the rationale behind them, so you can think about how you do each of those things and how you might be able to merge them into one mind.

School Doesn’t Teach You How to Learn

How much from learning in school do you remember? Probably a decent amount of US History; the basics of mathematics and algebra; maybe even some laws of science. How much was actually worth remembering? The first response is rationally none of it. Learning in school was broken down into a process of cram, test, dump, repeat and our notes (if we even took any) were simply whatever was on the board.

But everyone knows that’s not how you learn anything, it’s just how you pass.

Our brains prioritize the collection and processing of conceptual information, or the foundational principles of an idea or reality. As somewhat hinted above, most all the information that you actually remember from school, let’s assume 80%, is the conceptual logic of it. Specifics that you intentionally brought yourself to remember were either out of pure interest of the topic or repetition from the study.

Our minds prioritize an overwhelming majority of our information that we think about based on how often we think about it and how much we can relate those ideas to one another. That’s why trying to just burn things into your mind by cramming it isn’t efficient. Instead getting to the core of how something works and relating it to a similar instance is how you can build a stronger understanding and memory of something. You remember what you specialize in because the information builds off of one another.

Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them

David Allen

The problem that comes from schooling or even trying to learn things on your time is that information is separated into different topics and subjects and, similarly, we learn things in a sequential fashion

The Problem with Subjects

Have you played the Wikipedia Challenge with friends? A judge would name two things, al-Ghazali and Don Bluth for example, and two players would have to go from point A to point B using only Wikipedia links. Not only was this entertaining as hell but it also illustrates that the real world isn’t just segmented by topicality. Things influence one another, cause and effect; hence, why our minds think conceptually in the first place.

You can find what you jive with and understand things easier by breaking ideas into subjects, but that doesn’t change how the real world works. Computers function on arithmetic, science develops throughout history, and government and law are built upon economics and philosophy. So why try and compartmentalize your brain?

Sequential vs Conceptual

The biggest reason why a majority of what we learn in school doesn’t stick is because we’re taught things sequentially. We just write what’s on the board because that’s what we’re taught to do and that material in question is what we’re tested on. After a material has been tested, it’s seldom brought up again, which reinforces the idea of dumping what we learn; however, when we start the next class on the subject, especially transitioning from secondary school to tertiary, there’s a need to relearn all the things taught prior.

Conceptual learning, on the other hand, breaks down every idea into it’s core concept. You only really need to write down things that are actually important, i.e. things that aren’t self-explanatory or easy enough to memorize; then, expound upon it. All of your notes shouldn’t just be written and discarded though. Expect everything that was worth writing about to have more added to it. Not directly, but more atomically- have other ideas and information linked to. Thinking conceptually instead of sequentially helps your brain get out of the different subject mindset and instead understand and compare things on a first principle method¹.

Two Heads are Better than One

So we understand why a lot of things we learn don’t stick, but how do we expect to shift ourselves from what we’ve been raised to do. The best way to do it (if you couldn’t guess from the beginning) is by using a PKM. Note taking, even on general everyday things, can be completely life changing as a means to better remember things. That’s why devices are preinstalled with a notepad app. The reason a PKM is so much more useful is because it’s more focused on allowing notes to be linked together and support understanding and creativity.

This goes back to the problem mentioned prior. If you do write things down, whether on your computer or in your journal/notebook, they are generally organized by subject and/or utility. As we explained, this discourages linkage. Instead, note taking should focus on summarizing an idea or aspect of the world, in your own words, so that they make sense to you and that they can be used to make sense of other things. This encourages growth in your database as you realize how more things relate to one another and creates a framework from which you learn new concepts.

Think of it more like a fandom, a dataset articulated and centered towards you. What you choose to record should focus on things you need to expand upon or those that you just want to. Your database should be tailored towards taking a wide swath of information, explaining it in your own words for quick and easy consumption, and connecting it so you visually see how concepts interact. You’re brain already does enough, so why not give it a hand where it needs it?

Examples for Examples’ Sake

Are you also into TTRPG adventures, thinking up your own games or stories, or trying to learn something new? What do these things have in common? Each are basically taking your mind out of it’s comfort area and putting it into a brand new environment. Being brand new, you’re likely to jot stuff down, be it the complex stuff or that cool new idea. This is where having that database really shines. You can create a page for that certain thing and just link to it from something it relates to. Before long, you will see your world come before you. But being digital just makes it so much better as you’re not limited by format, materials, or how much you can fit.

When you store information in your head, do you store things in eight-and-a-half by eleven sheets of paper which arbitrarily cut off sentences at the margins? Or do you have a concept of Da Vinci, a concept of shear stress, a concept of supply and demand, and a concept of mitochondria, each of which are linked to lots of other concepts. Stories are fleeting; concepts are what stick.

Chris Pomeroy

How to Take Notes Digitally

Digital note taking isn’t a new idea by any many. Hell, I got a tablet specifically for it in college and was even the only kid in my high school taking notes by computer. I, like 45% of Americans, struggle to read my own handwriting half the time, so my iPad was my best friend; Notepad, my saving grace. But it was moving those docs from my tablet to my computer that I had a real eye opener.

What the hell does the acronym “DBMS” stand for? Aren’t “Database Administrator” and “Data Directory” self explanatory? What on Earth do the rules mean???

So yeah, I didn’t take good notes and just wrote what was on the board like most people, but that doesn’t mean there’s not still substance here, especially if an older note is over something worth preserving. I’m going to show you what it’s like bringing this note into a PKM and adjusting it to actually be useful.

Future-Proofing Notes

Trying to move this from my phone to my computer is the first issue.

The document is restricted to a .txt file format, or in other words, just text. This is fine for moving basic information, but part of good note taking– good writing as a matter of fact– is having stylization. The whole time you’ve been reading, you’ve seen the size of the headings tell you things are separated into segments, key words are bold or italicized, and important ideas are highlighted.

A .txt file doesn’t really support these things and instead rely on the word processor, the system you’re using to write your document, to specify these things, or your text is saved into a special kind of file type like a .doc or .docx. The problem with that is that it’s not just a text file anymore and can only be opened or ran through a program that supports it. Plus, those word processor files take up more storage space than just text.

Thankfully it’s not just one way or the other. Markup files are text files that have elements wrapped in tags for the computer to interpret formatting. Every website is built like that using a markup language we’ve all heard of called HTML.

<b>Hello world!</b> –> Hello world!

This kind of writing means you don’t have to lug around bloated files or stick to one program to write things. In fact, being just text it’s easier for other programs, especially online, to interpret and utilize these file types. Every article on this page and virtually any other static site or WordPress uses these types of text files to populate the websites.

There is one, big problem: it is not natural to write like that and especially not easy to read it either. But that’s why Markdown has continued to gain popularity as an easy to read and write markup language. Instead of having weird brackets like HTML or unnatural sentences, just write normal with a few * or _ for good measure.

If we were to write the earlier example:

<b>Hello world!</b> = Hello world! = **Hello world!**

There are plenty of videos that layout how to use markdown and most programs that write in it have shortcuts like Word like CTRL + B to bold and CTRL + I to italicize. Writing like this means everything you need is at your keyboard and you don’t have to click around to get certain things like bullet points, number lists, code blocks, tables, pretty much anything. Seriously, when I got in the hang of using markdown, I didn’t need Word or Google Docs anymore.

So let’s convert this file and apply the ideas from earlier!

## Chapter 4 Relational Database

Every **Database Management System** (DBMS) must provide a means of performing three functions
1. [[Data Definition Language|Create]]
2. [[Data Manipulation Language|Change]]
3. [[Data Query Language|Query]]

[[Entity Integrity Rule]]: $PK \neq \phi$ 
[[Referential Integrity Rule]]: $FK=PK$

Now this file is just text with the syntactic backing and sytlization we need for us (or the program we’re working with) to read it while it stays a nice, small size. Now that we aren’t restricted by programs we can be fairly confident that our work will be future-proof, or still usable by other programs, protocols, or storage in the future.

Obsidian Syntax

While the above note may be smaller and readable, you may be asking what the hell is all the stuff I added? Obsidian specializes in linking notes together but using the [[*]]. All you have to do as plug in the name of the document and you’re on the races. As for the $, Obsidian also supports LaTex, another markup language specifically for writing professional, scientific documents. Wrapping text with the $ converts it to the formula look you might be needing, but that’s not supported by everything: if you’re writing documents to send to other people, make sure the program they’re reading with can interpret it.

For a full breakdown of how you stylize your notes, you can check out the Obsidian formatting page or check out videos from other productivity channels like this one from FromSergio.

Now that you have an idea how you can write whatever you want and use it where ever you please, go forth and give it shot! Try Obsidian, Trello, Evernote, or whatever program you want. The world is open and you can find the one that works for you. Look for something you want to tackle, be it that story, that game, that skill, or just your life, and give it a shot. Aim for something and watch how much easier life gets when your brain is in the palm of your hands.

Adding Features

Obsidian was the first one I tried and what’s kept me here so long is just how customizable everything is. Any time I have I want to try something new and need a way to communicate a certain idea, there’s likely a plugin for it. Currently, there’s almost 900 available. Go on YouTube, Google it, chances are you’ll find exactly what you need. If you want to check out any of the things I use, help yourself.

• Advanced Tables - Move around tables like you would in Excel (i.e. tab and enter)
• Calendar - Track and make notes by day, week, month, so on
• Convert URL to Preview - Right click on a Youtube or video link to embed it
• Dataview - Filter through your database. Amazing for relaying data
• Dialogue - Orient chat boxes to the left or right of the page to better distinguish characters
• Excalidraw - Draw inside of Obsidian and link to it or other notes
• Habitic Sync - Since your tasks in Habitica with your Tasks in Obsidian
• Hover Editor - Have editable preview buttons pop up while hovering over a link
• HTML Tags Autocomplete - Generates a closing bracket when writing HTML
• Kanban - Create an interactive Kanban board for managing tasks and projects
• Obsidian Enhancing Export - Export your work to Hugo, Word .docx, HTML, and so forth
• Obsidian Trello - Create and edit Trello notes through Obsidian
• Periodic Notes - Create daily, weekly, monthly, note templates
• Tasks - A task manager and database filter
• Timeline - Similar to Dialogue, creates an easy to read timeline view
• Tracker - Create charts and metrics by collecting data from notes