Introduction #

I’m the type of person that forget things easily (not that easily, but you know what’s like) and sometimes I thought I need something to write down what I need to remember later. What I really need to remember I generally create an event in Google Calendar, so I don’t miss it. But what about the new ideas I have? And the things I want to do? All these things I eventually forget and don’t remember anymore. That’s bad.

But what I need to get started? Well, I really wanted the most frictionless way possible to create my notes and store it somewhere. I already tried Notion (as everyone else tried, I think) and saw some productivity videos. Way too complicated. I needed something simpler. And that’s where I found Obsidian.

What I like about Obsidian? Well, there’s some advantages of using Obsidian over another note-taking app:

• Markdown format: this is a big win for me, as Markdown is the most simple format to write text. In which format the READMEs are written in? You guessed it: Markdown. Also, I’m able to write in any Markdown-compatible editor. In fact, I’m writing this post in Vim :)
• Ease of editing: It’s really easy and simple to write notes in Obsidian. It formats the Markdown files the way I want.
• Local files: Everything I write is stored as local files, not in the cloud. This way, who owns the knowledgement (i.e., the files) is me, not some company.
• Portability: Obsidian also offers a mobile app. This way I cant write down what I need and see it later on my mobile phone. You can sync your computer with your phone using the paid service Obsidian offers. But you can sync your notes using something else. I’m using Syncthing to sync my notes between my laptop and my smartphone.

I will write a post about syncing notes using Syncthing soon, so stay tuned.

PARA method #

The PARA method is a way of organizing your life and not just notes. It’s a method created by Tiago Forte in his book Building a Second Brain.

PARA is an acronym for:

• Projects
• Areas
• Resources
• Archive

Projects #

You can think of a project as an order of tasks that need to be done to achieve a certain goal. A project also has a clearly end state and a period of some months. For example, planning a vacation could be a project, as well as creating a blog.

In the PARA method, there would be a “Projects” folder and you would collect information towards completing a certain goal (i.e., a project). To do so, you would write notes for your small tasks, could be a single note for a certain task or a lot of notes for another certain task, depending on the complexity of the task.

Areas #

An area is a project that never ends. Think of an area as an area of your life, i.e., it envolves an ongoing engagement and will play a important role in your life. It can be: family, work, friends, your health.

So, you can take notes on how you are doing or how you can do better. Actually, you can take a note of anything related to some of your areas.

Realize that these folders can be moved into another folders. Maybe you want to buy a new house. It’s just a plan with certain tasks. So, it fits better in the Projects folder. As time goes, you accomplish the tasks, and you bought the house. Now, you have to take care of it, and you don’t know how much time you’ll have the house. It’s a project and has no end time. So, you can move this folder you named “House” to your Areas folder.

Resources #

Resources are collections of information can be useful in the future, i.e., they are references. Well, to give you an example, I used to gather this kind of information in my browser bookmarks. I have various collections of folders in my bookmarks, like Linux, Programming, Animes/Manga, etc. In the folder of Linux there are another folders related to Linux. These are all link I found useful and/or interesting. Don’t know, maybe I will use it in the future or it’ll be useful for someone else asking me for help.

Archive #

This is where you place notes that are not useful currently or in the near future but you either don’t want to throw them away.

Imagine you have made a 3 years old note. You don’t find it so useful anymore but, who knows, it can be useful in the future. So, it’s an note you put in the Archive folder.

Sometimes you will make an unexpected link between a note you are writing right now with this vary note you’ve made 3 years ago, and this will be magical. It’s also good to see how we evolved over time, what we used to thought back then, and how we think now.

Also, you can move a project or even an area to the Archive folder, as it’s something you don’t really need anymore.

Extra: Inbox #

Remember when I said that I wish something frictionless to write notes? Imagine you wrote a note. Where to put this note? Well, don’t waste your time thinking this. If the folder it’s not obvious, put it in the Inbox folder.

The Inbox folder is the place you put a note you just made and know where it should be.

Of course, later on, you have to take some time to think on where the notes on Inbox folder should be, so you don’t accumulate a lot of notes in there. This way, you can take a note whenever you want and place it in the right place when you will have time to do so. Remember: it’s your note-taking system, the importance of it is to take notes and not organize it the best way possible right away.

Structure of folders #

In my Obsidian Vault (the root of your folders and files), I organize the folders like so:

+ Obsidian Vault
  |
  +-- 0 Inbox
  +-- 1 Projects
  +-- 2 Areas
  +-- 3 Resources
  +-- 4 Archive

As you can see, everything is under my Obsidian Vault and there are five folders bellow it. I’ve numbered my folders so when I ls on the folders, they are on the order I want.

Pitfalls and principles #

• Make decisions quickly: don’t overthink, write a note and put it in the Inbox folder. If you know where the note should be, it shouldn’t take more than 3 seconds to decide where it should be.
• Avoid moving files around all the time: you will sometimes think: well, this note would be better here and there, and this one in there, and so on. It feels like productivity, but generally it’s a waste of time. It’s okay to do this rarely.
• Your note-taking should be efficient to you: If you always overthink where a certain note should be, maybe you have to stop and reflect on what you want, and even maybe the PARA method is not for you. And that’s ok. But give it a few months.

Conclusion #

The PARA method really help us organizing our notes as it grows. Obsidian, on the other hand, is by far the best Markdown editor available. Markdown is a dead simple format to learn, so take notes should not be a problem. The important thing is: take a note. That’s just it.

I’m myself a beginner on this: on both taking notes and doing it on Obsidian. I wrote this blog so I can reference and know what I should be doing. It’s also a way of taking notes, because the posts themselves are written in Markdown.

Note: I’m not a English-native speaker, so maybe there are some typos I’ve made.

Links #

I highly recommend you to check out these links:

• (video) Note-taking with the PARA method - Best for Beginners
• (docs) Obdisian Help