You're not stupid: How to learn difficult things with Obsidian

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Obsidian - The free writing app that will transform your learning!

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[Plasmafox]

When something is as flexible and adaptable as Obsidian, with every user having their own workflow and preferences and list of extensions they think is best(and hundreds of them making videos about it, ) "just start using it" is a message worth saying in its own right.

[JustAntherSoul]

i also appreciate that it is an offline tool and that syncing is optional

[pon]

I discovered Obsidian too. While I am sold on the idea behind it, which this video demonstrates beautifully, learning new tools like this is overwhelming. Instead, this is what I am doing to at least get started on the process of building my web of knowledge. When I am reading, I make sure to have post-its, then when I come across something worth capturing, I make sure to write it down so that the essence is captured in one post-it note. The idea is to dedicate some time on weekends to turn the post-its into notes on Obsidian. For now, I think this will work for me. I suggest that you also start today and try not to be distracted/overwhelmed by how amazing these online productive gurus are doing.

[drkovalex]

I discovered Obsidian literally a month ago by myself and I found it exactly what I need. Private. No cloud. No server. No complex storage/container format - you can read files with notepad if you do not have Obsidian installed. Perfectly fit for my work notes. And with combination with my private SVN it is amazingly works!

[pipertripp]

I got Make It Stick on your recommendation maybe 2 months ago. Finished reading it about 2 weeks ago. Excellent read and it changed how I approach learning. I'm teaching myself infinite sequences and series and have adapted my techniques based on the reading. Whether you're a teacher, a life long learner, or a student at university you will definitely get a lot of reading Make It Stick.

[Omar-Asim]

In all these apps I feel like I'm gonna waste too much time organizing, connecting and beautifying notes, giving me a false sense of productivity, so I avoid them.

[jeffk]

As a long-time obsidian user, this is one of the best short videos on Obsidian. Great job.

[FlamencoOz]

This is the best introduction i've seen on Obsidian. Actually made me want to use it and to read Make It Stick which i've had for ages in my bookshelf to read and never got to it.

[LawrenceAaronLuther]

I've been using Obsidian for about two years, but I have to admit, I just like it for the file organization. I don't think I have a single note linking to another one, but perhaps I'm leaving some useful functionality on the table.

[Phoboss]

Key to getting started with note taking in a productive way is just simply start taking notes in Obsidian without caring about the endless features. In the course of time you’ll learn it step-by-step.

[jennyjohnson]

Thank you! I've been wanting so badly to make & keep useful notes on books & youtube videos & podcasts, & didn't know how to do so in a way that [stuff, or, the vast amount of information that I am capable of learning & then forgetting] wouldn't get lost in ever so many notebooks.

[olb]

Wow professionally edited material! The sound is so clear!

[lsikl]

I sync the data to my phone without paying for the syncing feature. And I can sync it from anywhere with internet access.

I made a batch script and task scheduler that automates sftp/backing up my laptop's vault to my VPS. Then, I sftp from my VPS to my phone.

This lets me maintain full control of my data and avoid paying for the syncing feature. Pretty handy.

[spacecat]

I've been using Obsidian for well over a year now and once I figured out which of the many workflows and plugins worked best for me (which was absolutely worth the effort), it's like I acquired a superpower. it's so useful

[rcrist]

I use Obsidian for documenting software development using highlighted code blocks. I also use it for all my life notes, study notes, and anything that I want to document. Great video. Note that the community continues to add new features such as the new simplified tables. Notes can have markdown text, images, videos, and just about anything you want to save.

[ichione]

Thanks bro, you have convinced me to use obsidian, why didn't I find this when I was deliberating between it and Onenote!!! So far it is very helpful and I can see the potential. This is notepad but with tons more features, it saves all your notes in your device and syncing them is not too hard to do too. And also the recall part and the science behind learning that you teach have opened my eyes.

[SnowmansApartment]

I'll try to get my hands on "make it stick" and try obsidian. I've always loved to learn things, but after pausing my masters and starting to work as a software developer, I noticed that my old system did no longer work, because of all the stress and so little time. Turns out my method required a lot of time and did not work at all when not investing a lot of time..
I hope better methods can help me to keep learning again, and never stop.
These videos give me hope, thanks :)

[sparetheearthlings]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have been wanting to learn the Zettlekasten method for a while and actually own How to Take Smart Notes, so I pulled it off of my shelf and am going to start reading it today!

[mezalos]

This is useful for learning since most teachers, books, and essays already have organized all the info.

But, from a longtime beginner user. I use Obsidian for everyday notes, nothing fancy. Don't work for the graphic. I mean, don't do your notes thinking "This will look awesome in the graphic". Instead, focus on doing your notes, focus on writing. The graphic will come organically.

[gdr]

The internal 'feel' of each note-making app is different, and it makes a big difference to how you approach and use them.

Obsidian for me is like a big scrap-book, I do not care about consistent layout. This encourages me to note often, and move on without fussing. Zettler, is the exact opposite for me, so I use instead, to 'formalise' and collate. You may find the exact opposite suits - the restrictions are instead guiderails enabling fast, accurate notes etc.

The second suggestions, is to use browser to markdown clippers to automatically save text, and ideally, import it automatically. If I find a stand-out goldmine, I print the web page to PDF (after using a reader type extension to strip all but the main text and images). I then treat the content with more care, instead of just collecting/hoarding.

Experiment till you find an effortless method for you, as most important, is to be an active learner.