Obsidian Magic - Patrick Rush

There are many reasons why people can, should, and do take notes during the development process. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, notes play a crucial role in knowledge retention, problem-solving, documentation, project management, and gaining a historical perspective on your growth.

What is Obsidian, you may ask? Obsidian is a versatile, free to use, Markdown driven, knowledge management application, designed for creating, organizing, and connecting notes. Some of the core features of Obsidian are bi-directional linking, a customizable interface, plugin support, and local data storage. Let's explore how Obsidian, a versatile knowledge management application, can be a game-changer in achieving your goals.

1. Knowledge Retention: Teaching Yourself with Obsidian

As an education enthusiast, I've always believed in the power of teaching to solidify knowledge. Converting knowledge from thought to writing is a kind of self-teaching, forcing you to reify that new knowledge. Obsidian takes this concept to the next level with features like bidirectional links and unlinked mentions. By converting your notes into a searchable and queryable format, Obsidian enhances knowledge recall. It's not just about writing down information; it's about creating a self-teaching tool that keeps your learning journey at your fingertips and opening your eyes to how the things you learn are connected.

2. Problem Solving: Leave a Trail for Future Success

Solving complex problems is not just about finding answers; it's about how you found them. Obsidian allows you to keep a detailed record of your problem-solving journey, creating a valuable breadcrumb trail for future challenges. Whether you're in app support or feature development, documenting your steps ensures a quicker resolution next time and could even lay the foundation for some process automation.

3. Documentation: Markdown Magic with Obsidian

Documentation may not be everyone's favorite task, but it's undeniably essential. I often say that some documentation is infinitely better than no documentation. Obsidian's compatibility with Markdown makes note-taking a breeze. Copying and pasting notes directly into documentation, with consistent formatting, saves time and ensures that your valuable insights are easily transferable to others. Get good at this, and you will become a hero to your peers.

4. Project Management: Revolutionizing Workflows with Obsidian

For many, personal project management is a daily struggle of juggling multiple tasks. Obsidian has been a game-changer in my workflow, automating the process of organizing daily tasks. By creating a daily note template that compiles all ongoing tasks and provides a checklist of relavant to-dos, Obsidian streamlines project management, saving precious time that would be otherwise spent on manual organization. In the days before I began using Obsidian, organizing the day's work sometimes took up the first 30 minutes of the day. Now, I've been able to automate that entire process down to a single click of the mouse.

5. Historical Perspective: Reflecting on Growth with Obsidian

Looking back on your journey is essential for personal and professional growth. Obsidian acts as a time capsule, allowing you to revisit past challenges and see how far you've come. Whether it's boosting your confidence or providing insights for performance reviews, having a documented record of your work is invaluable.

Unlocking the Full Potential with Obsidian Plugins

So, you were convinced and you just ran to download the app. Now what? Now that we've explored the core benefits of using Obsidian, let's delve into some plugins and features that can elevate your note-taking experience:

Calendar/Periodic Notes: Streamlining Daily Note Creation

Using a combination of Calendar and Periodic Notes, I create a daily note template that ensures I start each day with an organized plan.

Templates/Templater: Enhancing Note Creation with Templates

Obsidian's core template feature combined with the Templater plugin allows for programmatically creating notes with dynamic content, making note creation efficient and standardized. Templater defines a templating language that gives you the power of variables and functions using the syntax shown in the Templater logo below. It also harnesses the full potential of JavaScript, truly supercharging your notes.

Metadata: Maximizing Plugin Compatibility

While Obsidian's metadata (recently renamed to 'properties') is a core feature, using it strategically enhances plugin functionality. By incorporating metadata into note templates, you can create a structured and searchable knowledge repository.

A screnshot of the metadata or properties portion of an Obsidian note with areas for types, tags, and aliases.

Dataview: SQL-Like Queries for Notes

Dataview, a community plugin, empowers you to run queries against your notes, providing insights into your work. From tracking current projects to aggregating checklists, Dataview opens up a world of possibilities. Here is a look at a Dataview query that I use to create a table of all of the open work ahead of me for the day. In this example, 'link', 'start', 'finish', 'board', and 'state' are all metadata on the notes that are returned, and they become column headers for a table.

TABLE link, start, finish, board, state
FROM "tickets"
WHERE start <= date(<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD", 0, tp.file.title, "YYYY-MM-DD") %>) AND finish >= date(<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD", 0, tp.file.title, "YYYY-MM-DD") %>) OR !finish
WHERE assigned-to = [[Patrick Rush]]
SORT start ASC

The above query would result in something like this:

A table showing several ongoing and completed tasks.

DevTools: Chrome DevTools in a Desktop Application

Obsidian comes with a developer console out of the box that is identical to Chrome's DevTools. The very same keyboard shortcut that you use in Chrome can be used in Obsidian to open the DevTools console where you can start debugging. I find this especially comes in handy when learning your way around Templater and Dataview.

Linter: Ensuring Consistent and Clean Formatting

Maintaining consistent note formatting is made easy with the Linter plugin. By setting up linting configurations, you can ensure your notes are not only beautiful but also optimized for future searches and queries.

In conclusion, Obsidian is more than just a note-taking application; it's a productivity powerhouse that can transform the way you work. By incorporating Obsidian into your workflow and exploring these plugins, you can enhance your note-taking experience and unlock a new level of efficiency and organization in your development journey. Happy note-taking!