Mar 27, 2022 2 min read Mindset & Wellbeing

What is Obsidian?

Hey friends,

Today I'm going to introduce you to a program I have used for 9 months now called Obsidian. I use it for managing and organizing all notes I take. By that, I mean categorizing and tagging my notes in such a way that they are always developing and not being 'left to rot'!

What is Obsidian and why would anyone use it?

Obsidian is a tool for taking and organizing your notes.
I use Obsidian over other tools you may have heard of, such as Notion, Roam Research or Logseq, for the following reasons;

Obsidian uses plain text files which are stored on your computer. As long as there are computers, you will be able to read your notes, even if Obsidian no longer exists.
Obsidian has a highly active/supportive community, who are always developing the app.
The app is highly customisable. You can use a lot of plugins (programs that will enhance the functionality, like reminders or time trackers) which you can download and use for free.
You can publish your notes as a website through Obsidian Publish.
It has a mobile app, so you can use it on the go.
'Obsidian Sync' syncs your notes so you can access them on multiple devices.
Obsidian is free forever

How I use Obsidian to manage my notes

Often when you create a note you never look at it again. These might be notes you've taken about things you've read, programs you've watched, places you've been or thoughts you've had. Obsidian allows you to 'manage' your notes in a way you can always find them at the drop of a hat. This proves very useful when looking for inspiration, research you've done or past ideas. You can also use it as an all-in-one life management tool to track goals, projects, due dates, plan out your day with a custom schedule, and much more.

There are a couple of different ways you can maximize the potential of Obsidian, based on your personal preference, but this is the way I do it.
Each new note I create gets tagged with a status - Seedling, Herb, Incubator or Evergreen. This explains each tag.

Developmental tags example
1. 🌱 Seedlings (Notes in need of fleshing out)	Stage 1
2. 🌿 Herbs (Ideas in need of further elaboration)	Stage 2
3. 🌞 Incubator (Notes not yet ready for, or in need of, 'planting' (connections to other notes ))	Stage 3
4. 🌲 Evergreen (Complete notes with connections)	Stage 4

Along with that, I use tags such as #cubing to further categorize my notes, which then show up in the MOCs (Maps Of Content) I have created. These MOCs are a 'hub' note on a certain subject (such as cubing, programming, quotes etc.), which give general information on the topic and display all notes I have made which are related to that topic.

So there you have it. That's a snapshot of Obsidian. If it all sounds a bit complicated right now, that's ok. It is a bit overwhelming at the start but, once you get set up, it's a great tool. I love Obsidian so much that I am designing a course on how to use Obsidian, which I will put on the learning platform Skillshare. I will be sure to let you know when it's done :)

Thanks for reading!