I want to simplify note-taking and get more value out of it. What I've been successfully doing is dumping links in a TIL document. I write some actual learnings when I feel like it. But I want my notes to be more than a collection of bookmarks. I want to process my thoughts more, form and share opinions, and be better at writing in general.
One thing I realized recently is that it's easier to achieve good design by defining constraints. Let's try that out:
- I like writing my notes in Obsidian. The app is pleasant to use and I appreciate the design and engineering its makers have put into it.
- I want some structure but not too much that it discourages me from writing.
- I want to query my notes in some meaningful way. I haven't done this much. I just search most of the time but it's probably because of the lack of structure.
The Zettelkasten Method pretty much satisfies a lot of these constraints. And Obsidian has all the core plugins to make it easy to do:
- Unique Note Creator - make new notes based on a template with the timestamp as its filename
- Property Editor - tags auto-completion
- Backlinks - graphs baby!
I already have some sort of digital garden on my home page. The wiki-style site generator I used even mentions the Zettelkasten method. I'm just realizing that this was already close to what I wanted. But I think it didn't work because it required file organization and it wasn't integrated with Obsidian. I coincidentally last updated it a year ago :P Will I write another post about wanting to write more next year or will I finally get into writing consistently?