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100% agree. The barrier to using Obsidian can seem intimidatingly high before jumping in. I tried and failed a few different systems before I just started using

100% agree. The barrier to using Obsidian can seem intimidatingly high before jumping in. I tried and failed a few different systems before I just started using the daily notes as scratch pads. From there, I figured out more and more slowly over time. I’m now at a kind of system that works for me, but probably won’t work for anyone else. This is the way.

theshrike79 3y ago
Obsidian has the sama problem as Bullet Journaling does. It's really simple and not complicated unless you want it to be, but then you watch a video about one Mega User who is really into the System and get demoralised by the amount of crap and whizbangs you see.
- al_borland 3y ago
  One thing I appreciate about Ryder Carroll‘s original explanation about bullet journals, was that it was pretty simple. It seems it was the Pinterest and other such social media folks who complicated it. I use a semi-bullet journal method in my Obsidian notebook for work, but it’s even more basic than what Ryder Carroll outlined and I don’t care that much. Not caring is extremely helpful.
  - theshrike79 3y ago
    I have a similar thing, I was a semi-regular BuJoer some years ago but then I noticed that even though I did enjoy the physical action of writing stuff down - I forgot to write things down eventually. The time from idea to finding my notebook and the correct place to write something down was too long. Now my system is geared towards minimal friction from "crap, I need to remember this" to actually storing it in Obsidian. Currently I have a Keyboard Maestro macro that activates when I double tap the key on the left side of 1 on my keyboard, which then will activate Obsidian (or start it if needed) and brings it to the front with a QuickAdd dialog where I can write down whatever I was thinking about. QuickAdd will then append it to an Inbox file with a timestamp. I might take a look at it later or maybe not, but at least it's written down _somewhere_ =)
    - al_borland 3y ago
      I was doing something similar for a particular work function where I had to log things constantly throughout the day. However, since Obsidian simply uses text files, I used a keyboard shortcut to bring up a text prompt, which then appended the text to the correct file (which was based on the current date. This way it didn't matter if Obsidian was open or not, it would all get logged. In theory, I could have switched to a different text editor to manage the notes and kept by automation in place, I like that flexibility. On the Mac I was using Hammerspoon for this. On Windows it would have been something like AutoHotKey.
- ssgodderidge 3y ago
  yeah exactly. The problem is that the Mega Users are the ones who are most likely to share their system. People who say "I just use X as a notepad" aren't as likely to share.
  - viraptor 3y ago
    In case it helps anyone: I use Obsidian as a notepad. I put in text in notes and sometimes put those notes in some folder if it seems to make sense. It works great and the only plugin I added for editing is a latex helper. You don't need a system or many modifications to be a happy Obsidian user.
- rchaud 3y ago
  Why would anybody get demoralized? Does the tool get the job done or not? Your goals are not the same as the person making a Youtube video. Nobody's going to put down "Highly Proficient with Obsidian" on their resume in hopes of it giving them an edge in the job search.
  - npunt 3y ago
    The problem is that in niche tools / gear / whatever, the message 'you must do it this way' plays to the curiosity and concerns of new users looking to get into something. A cottage industry of people have thus sprung up around providing this content, and recommendation algorithms and search results wind up being dominated by this content. For a new user who's just heard about something, the path is often straight to this content, which then leads some to bouncing off of it because it seems too daunting.

theshrike79 3y ago

Obsidian has the sama problem as Bullet Journaling does. It's really simple and not complicated unless you want it to be, but then you watch a video about one Mega User who is really into the System and get demoralised by the amount of crap and whizbangs you see.

al_borland 3y ago
One thing I appreciate about Ryder Carroll‘s original explanation about bullet journals, was that it was pretty simple. It seems it was the Pinterest and other such social media folks who complicated it. I use a semi-bullet journal method in my Obsidian notebook for work, but it’s even more basic than what Ryder Carroll outlined and I don’t care that much. Not caring is extremely helpful.
- theshrike79 3y ago
  I have a similar thing, I was a semi-regular BuJoer some years ago but then I noticed that even though I did enjoy the physical action of writing stuff down - I forgot to write things down eventually. The time from idea to finding my notebook and the correct place to write something down was too long. Now my system is geared towards minimal friction from "crap, I need to remember this" to actually storing it in Obsidian. Currently I have a Keyboard Maestro macro that activates when I double tap the key on the left side of 1 on my keyboard, which then will activate Obsidian (or start it if needed) and brings it to the front with a QuickAdd dialog where I can write down whatever I was thinking about. QuickAdd will then append it to an Inbox file with a timestamp. I might take a look at it later or maybe not, but at least it's written down _somewhere_ =)
  - al_borland 3y ago
    I was doing something similar for a particular work function where I had to log things constantly throughout the day. However, since Obsidian simply uses text files, I used a keyboard shortcut to bring up a text prompt, which then appended the text to the correct file (which was based on the current date. This way it didn't matter if Obsidian was open or not, it would all get logged. In theory, I could have switched to a different text editor to manage the notes and kept by automation in place, I like that flexibility. On the Mac I was using Hammerspoon for this. On Windows it would have been something like AutoHotKey.
ssgodderidge 3y ago
yeah exactly. The problem is that the Mega Users are the ones who are most likely to share their system. People who say "I just use X as a notepad" aren't as likely to share.
- viraptor 3y ago
  In case it helps anyone: I use Obsidian as a notepad. I put in text in notes and sometimes put those notes in some folder if it seems to make sense. It works great and the only plugin I added for editing is a latex helper. You don't need a system or many modifications to be a happy Obsidian user.
rchaud 3y ago
Why would anybody get demoralized? Does the tool get the job done or not? Your goals are not the same as the person making a Youtube video. Nobody's going to put down "Highly Proficient with Obsidian" on their resume in hopes of it giving them an edge in the job search.
- npunt 3y ago
  The problem is that in niche tools / gear / whatever, the message 'you must do it this way' plays to the curiosity and concerns of new users looking to get into something. A cottage industry of people have thus sprung up around providing this content, and recommendation algorithms and search results wind up being dominated by this content. For a new user who's just heard about something, the path is often straight to this content, which then leads some to bouncing off of it because it seems too daunting.