In several recent posts, I have discussed the idea of developing a second brain as a way of storing information and fueling creative productivity. About a year ago, I was introduced to Obsidian, a free note taking application. This simple app has become the central repository for my second brain and a critical component in my personal knowledge management (PKM) system. In this post we will discuss the basics of Obsidian and how you can get yourself started creating your second brain.
Why Obsidian
Obsidian is a note taking application that is designed to be flexible and future-proof. To do this, it stores data in simple text files and utilizes simple markdown formatting for all text formatting and linking. Unlike other applications that rely on a folder structure for organization, Obsidian allows you to organize your notes vault by directly linking notes and tagging notes in addition to folder organization. While this may sound simple, the ability to link notes easily allows you to create a web of ideas and create connections with your ideas in very powerful ways. For more information about this, I highly recommend watching the introductory videos by Nick Milo about linking ideas.
Setting Up Obsidian
Now that you have decided that you are going to start using Obsidian, we need to get it set up and running. This all begins by going to http://obsidian.md and downloading the application. This program is free for personal use. There are paid add-ons like Obsidian Sync and Obsidian Publish, but these are certainly not necessary to get yourself up and running.
When you first open Obsidian, you will be asked to create a vault. In simple terms, the vault is the place where all your notes will be stored. Here you have several options. If you select a location on your hard drive, the vault will be stored locally on your computer. However, this becomes problematic if you want to use the mobile app and sync your vault across your devices. To rectify this problem, Obsidian offers their paid sync plan. But you can also store your vault on a NAS or in a cloud location that is mounted on your computer. Personally, I use my iCloud drive as this is always available in the finder of my Mac. Choose a name for your vault and click create. Your journey of PKM is about to begin.
Getting Oriented
Obsidian uses a basic three-pane format. The left pane is your navigation and tools. Here you can see your folders and your notes. The center pane is where you do the bulk of your note writing. It is your canvas to create notes and interact with your ideas. The right pain is offers opportunities to navigate through the various different links, tags, and outlines. You can see incoming and outgoing links.
Start taking notes
Now that you are oriented, it's time to start creating notes. Click, "New Note." And you're started. The world of ideas is now at your fingertips. Write things down to store in your personal knowledge repository. But in order to harness the power of obsidian we need to briefly discuss the markdown format.
What is markdown? It is using a simple set of characters to tell Obsidian how to format the text. For example, double square brackets around a word or set of words creates a link. [[Link]] A “#” creates a tag (#tag). Multiple “#” separated from a word with a space creates cascading headings.
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
For a full list of markdown formatting, you can refer to Markdown Formatting Guide.
Organize your Vault
The final element to discuss is how to organize your vault. The beauty of Obsidian is that it is flexi
ble. You can create a complex hierarchy of folders, or you can rely on links with no hierarchy at all. I personally like a very simple folder structure to separate notes by their type (general notes, book notes, journal articles, etc.) and then rely on a modified Zettelkasten method using links to create a neural network of ideas. The key... don't get hung up on your organization. Get started and over time, your workflow and personality will shape your organization.
So, there you have it, a basic overview of Obsidian. There are so many settings, themes, and plugins in the Obsidian community that you can use to make your experience your own. But the key is to create an environment and workflow that you enjoy.
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