DEV Community: Michał Paczków

How do I successfully manage a LOT of information as a Senior/Lead Engineer 🥷? Obsidian 101.

Michał Paczków — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 20:16:14 +0000

Knowledge Management is Graph Problem
🧰 Toolbox - links, tags + properties, folders, templates
- Links
- Tags / Properties
- Folders
- Template
Practice Time
- Use Case #1 - Meetings
- Use Case #2 - Software Engineer’s Journal
- Use Case #3 - Efficient Learning
Obsidian - best friend of knowledge worker

In the world of software development, managing a large amount of information is critical. Obsidian is a powerful note-taking and knowledge-management tool. It is gaining popularity for its flexibility and robust features.

This article is a guide for software developers. It explores Obsidian's basic tools and how to integrate them into daily workflows.

Knowledge Management is Graph Problem

I've been working as a Senior Software Engineer for 4 years.

Every day I have to be faced with a lot of information. From technical meetings through mentoring and learning others to gain domain knowledge. It can be overwhelming unless you use the proper tools.

As I mentioned in the previous article knowledge management is a Graph Problem.

Most people fail to create a note system because they're based on a hierarchical structure, such as folders. From a long-term perspective, it leads to creating an archive - a place where we put notes in strict places. We need to rely on our memory to find pieces of information.

It’s a fragile system 🥚.

Much better is when we have many ways to reach the note based on related contexts. We can reach the note by analyzing connections which is a more robust way.

Obsidian offers several ways to create these contexts. Here we'll get familiar with the most basic tools, that cover 90% of my daily needs.

🧰 Toolbox - links, tags + properties, folders, templates

Links

A basic way to connect two notes. It’s a 1:1 connection. I use this tool when I directly connect two concepts.

It's simple but powerful. In days, weeks, and months you can reach the note by these related contexts.

How can I use it?

Whenever I create a new note think about concepts related to the new one. Search them in my System. If I see any connection I put it into the new note using [[]].

Tags / Properties

As I said in the previous article, notes are objects. We create them by externalizing our thoughts. Because they are objects, they can have properties and we can group notes by them to ease filter out.

Depending on the property type I use Tag or Property (in-build feature in Obsidian).

Tags I used for based, common properties like:

Type
Status
Keywords
Source (if I create notes from external material like book, video, podcast)

I don't want too many tags to overwhelm me and I don't want to manage them. Try to keep a simple and flat structure as possible. It allows me to filter out specific notes quickly.

I use Properties for anything else, like:

Creation Date
Modification Date
Description
People (for meeting note)

Like tags, I can use properties to filter out notes. It can be useful e.g. when I’d like to check notes between certain dates.

Folders

I use folders only for three reasons.

I need to keep backward compatibility with computer systems and tools. This is important when I use bash scripts or Github on my knowledge system.
Separate different high-level contexts of notes like Calendar, Utilities, and Templates.
When I want to create temporary notes related to a particular project like a bigger feature. After finishing it I’d like to remove all related stuff, so I put all the notes inside this folder project.

Template

Obsidian allows us to create Templates of Notes and thanks to that we can reuse the structure of the notes. The perfect example of DRY.

Even though the app has an in-built plugin, I recommend Templater plugin. It enhances the possibility of templates and saves even more time.

Practice Time

As a software developer, I have to manage the knowledge that comes out of meetings. The topics range from technical discussions with developers to business meetings with domain experts.

Besides the important point of a knowledge system is gathering insights about technical decisions I made in the past. This will help me make better decisions and create better solutions in the future.

Use Case #1 - Meetings

For meetings, I use the template below.

As you can see I use only one tag #meeting and a bunch of properties describing the meeting itself. This structure allows me to obtain information from the meeting in the future without remembering the exact place of note. (Remember to create notes for your future self!)

I can do it by visiting the meeting tag.
I can filter out by date, project, or check by related context like participants of the meeting.
I’m a fan of 60 Second Summary, that method enforces focus as at the end of the meeting I need to write the main points.

---
tags: meeting
date:
project:
people:
---

# <% tp.file.title %>

## Main Points / Question

What do I want to focus on meeting? Do I have any important points issue worth mentioning?

## 60 second summary

What are the main points/assumptions from the meeting? What is important to me?

Use Case #2 - Software Engineer’s Journal

One of the best tools to improve yourself in any area is journaling. I applied it also for Software World. When I encounter an interesting or challenging problem, I try to describe it in my journal.

The same with architectural decisions.

I describe when and why I made a decision, and what be potential consequences and benefits are. After some time I back to them and compare if the expectations match reality.

This practice helps me generate a lot of insight. I look at different design patterns. I also examine architectural decisions and areas where I should improve myself.

From the “technical” POV I added in mark paragraph in my daily note as #architecture and/or #to-verify. For daily notes, I use a great Calendar plugin.

Use Case #3 - Efficient Learning

When it comes to learning methods, I've come a long way. I used to consume everything without too much retention. Now, I learn more strategically. I use methods like Spaced Repetition and the Feynman Technique. This keeps retention at a high level.

Use a combination of Matter → Obsidian → Anki.

It gives me the possibility to gather information from many sources. Then, I process the information into pieces I can understand and put it into Anki. Thanks to that I remember almost everything I learned. No more feeling of wasting time 🥳.

Obsidian - best friend of knowledge worker

It doesn’t matter if you’re a software developer, doctor, or teacher. Nowadays, knowledge workers need to handle a lot of information.

Thanks to Obsidian, you can create a system. This system allows you to find the correct information at the correct time. It saved me a lot of time and frustration and it's just beginning...😉

How do I never forget and learn fast? Write to future self 🛸

Michał Paczków — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:00:00 +0000

In the world of coding, where things move fast and brains buzz with ideas, there's a big lie we often tell ourselves: "I'll remember it".

But, truth be told, our brains can only hold so much. If we try to exceed this limit, we will suffer from being overwhelmed and our productivity will decrease.

So, here's where taking good notes becomes a superhero move for developers.

Brain is a processor, not a warehouse

How many times have you thought you'd remember that clever solution or tricky code? Or maybe you had a meeting where you figured out an important solution you will for sure remember (spoiler alert: you don’t).

Our brains are not good at storing "raw" information (without understanding and connecting them). Relying only on memory is like building a castle on sand. It might look good for a bit, but it won't last.

The only option is to externalize the ideas.

When you close your thought in a note it becomes...object and now you can with it.

You can edit, split, and merge with other ideas, add properties, and restructure. It's easy to back and reuse that object. Upon these little objects, you can build the next one and create a whole system of knowledge.

You'll start noticing connections (aka. connecting the dots) that improve your understanding and allow you to learn faster. You'll have more analogies and references that are crucial to understanding deeply complex, abstract concepts.

Yup, it's an analogy for building a system from function -> classes -> modules. Pretty cool, isn't it?

Yet most people don’t back to their notes. They don’t remember where they are. Can it be improved? Sure, but you need to think about the future.

Two crucial questions

Think about notes like a message for your future self. Ask yourself:

”Under what contexts I’d like to find it in the future?” Would be related it to feature A, project B? Is it frontend, or backend stuff?
“In a few weeks, or a few months, or even a year or more, when I come back to this note, what do I know now that will be useful then?” (@tfthacker)

Ask for the following questions? Great! 👏

You should find several contexts for each note. It can be related to a person, meeting, feature, or technology. Yet, how to put all these contexts into the note, how to connect them!? Use a graph.

Build network, not archive

You don't want to treat your system like an archive. Your goal is not to place a note in a specific location, as this requires memorization (again) and may likely result in not revisiting the note after a longer period.

What you want to do is place the note based on contexts and connections with other notes. This way, you'll be able to reach Note X through various paths, making it more easily accessible for you.

Give you the possibility to reach notes in different ways. Managing knowledge is a graph problem, and that’s why a hierarchical system like folders isn't a good tool to solve it.

Example Time!

I’d like to find information about the Union Find when I added a long time ago. Now I remember that’s something related to data structure and/or graphs.

How can I reach the note in my system?

Starting looking directly using the Union Find phrase
Start from broader topics like Graph, Data Structure and go down
Start from related topics like Kruksal Algorithm, Spanning Tree

Thanks to graph I don’t have to remember the exact location of this note and can find it more easily and faster by related contexts.

Try it and I’m sure your future self will be more productive and certainly will be grateful as well as the rest of the team.