Is Obsidian note-taking app worth your time?

Obsidian is a feature-rich note-taking tool, but is it worth the time spent getting used to and customizing?

Reflection and long-term learning

On the surface, Obsidian may seem like any other app, but it's only after a few months of use that its fundamental benefits become apparent. Obsidian is a tool that connects your notes together and makes them a whole that's greater than the sum of their parts.

In the past, people used to just write notes. They were just words and numbers, arranged on a line, and easily forgotten. Only after using Obsidian did I realize that my notes were missing a crucial component - connections (how one note relates to another). Instead of having notes as separate, independent entities, Obsidian allows you to turn notes into a series of thoughts.

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This approach to note-taking is exactly what other apps are missing. And the best part is that the more notes you take, the better the system gets.

This is made possible by Obsidian's key features: Note linking, chart view, and note tagging. Note linking allows you to connect one note to another, which you can visually see in the chart view. Meanwhile, note tagging allows you to tag notes with a specific keyword.

Explore deeper connections between ideas

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Obsidian's graph view visually maps the relationships between notes, creating a bird's-eye view of your knowledge network. This not only gives you a logical overview, but also helps you discover ideas and relationships between concepts that may not be obvious at first.

Additionally, the chart view helps you discover more things to research. For example, the word NATO appears in a note about the Korean War but is not related to the existing NATO note. With this, you quickly find a new area to explore: How is NATO related to the Korean War?

A knowledge center that grows with you

One of the major drawbacks of other note-taking tools is that as the number of notes increases, organizing them becomes a problem, as you have to manually open folders and see what's in them, deciding whether to put it in a specific folder or create a new one. However, tagging and linking notes helps you avoid these problems.

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Furthermore, to make things easier, Obsidian's search function can easily find notes for you. You just need to enter a keyword and it will output notes that have that specific keyword or tag.

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Obsidian also allows you to create multiple archives that can help separate different types of notes and clearly differentiate between them. For example, you can keep notes related to work, projects, and research separate from your personal diary, hobbies, and personal information. So even if you move on to new areas and topics, Obsidian won't get in your way and will make things easier to manage.

Realize what you know (and don't know)

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The Obsidian chart view allows you to easily assess your expertise on a particular topic. You create a chain of related ideas when you link one note to another. However, if you cannot find related notes to link to a new idea or if there are no links, it may indicate that you are lacking information on that topic. This helps you see which areas you understand well and which areas you need to explore further.

Additionally, by tagging your notes, you can categorize them by topic and subject (e.g., "Machine Learning", "Philosophy", "Psychology"). If you notice that a tag only has a few notes, that indicates you need to dig deeper into that topic.

Is Obsidian note-taking app worth your time?

One of the downsides to Obsidian is the learning curve, especially the Markdown format, which many people find confusing. There are a lot of things you have to deal with, like learning formatting syntax, linking notes, and how tagging works. However, it only takes a few days to get the hang of these, which is much easier than getting started with Notion.

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Another thing that many people don't like about Obsidian is that its default theme isn't the best. However, you can install Obsidian themes with just one click, and there are plenty of free Obsidian themes to choose from. Obsidian has a diverse theme store, so you'll have to spend a lot of time finding the right theme or even writing custom CSS code to implement the look you want.

So Obsidian is undeniably a powerful and effective tool, but at the end of the day, it's just a tool and may not be right for everyone. If you want to jot down a few things, like grocery items or a to-do list, there are better apps for that. Likewise, taking notes in Notion can be overkill.

But if you're going to be taking a lot of notes and want to build your personal knowledge base, Obsidian is the app for you. It's an app that helps tie notes together and makes the things you learn stick.

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Obsidian's real strength lies in its ability to turn disparate notes into a connected web of knowledge. While the initial learning curve and setup may seem steep, the rewards are huge for those who put in the time.

Based on my experience, Obsidian is an app worth spending time with—but only if you're looking for a tool that grows with you. For casual note-takers, the setup process can feel overwhelming. However, if your goal is to create a growing knowledge base that can handle all your interests and endeavors, Obsidian is well worth the effort. It's not just a note-taking app; it's a tool that helps you understand what you know and discover what you don't.

Samuel Daniel

Update 27 December 2024