How Smart Notes with Obsidian Helped Me
In the Beginning, there were only TXT files
I still remember when I started programming and working with Linux. I would spend hours researching commands and trying them out until I found the right one. When I finally got it, I saved the command in a plain TXT file somewhere on my computer. But then another problem arose—soon, that TXT file became cluttered with important commands, many of which, after a few years, I couldn’t even remember what they were for. Worse yet, I often found myself spending hours searching online for a command I had already saved in that TXT file.
That’s how my life as a programmer and student went: creating TXT files and losing them whenever I formatted my computer or left the company I worked for.
But time passed, and the world evolved. After losing countless commands and spending endless hours researching, I discovered Evernote.
Programming After Evernote
For those who have never used Evernote, it was essentially a simple way to save texts online—no formatting, nothing fancy. Over time, it improved, allowing users to save HTML content and later even complex files. The big advantage was the ability to search saved information and have a general overview of everything, all without worrying about hard drive failures or operating system issues.
For a long time, Evernote was everything to me. Anything I found on the internet that seemed interesting or could be useful in the future, I saved there. In this way, I built my own library of useful information.
However, Nothing Lasts Forever
As the years went by and the internet evolved, virtual folders like Dropbox and Google Drive emerged, and cloud storage became cheaper. People stopped saving text files and started storing images, spreadsheets, and complex documents. Evernote became a luxury for Brazilian programmers due to its cost, while its competitors—virtual folders—were far more affordable.
I tried several times to go back to saving my notes in TXT files and organizing them in virtual directories. Soon Markdown came along, making it easier to format documents without complications. But I still faced problems, such as linking information across files, conducting complex searches, and having an organized view of the entire history in a user-friendly way.
A New Hope
Recently, I was reading the book Smart Notes, which discusses a note-taking technique created by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. The Zettelkasten method is a "note archive" that helps you think, write, and learn more efficiently. By using keywords, it connects thoughts and links knowledge in a non-linear way.
While researching the topic, I came across the application Obsidian. I had already tried saving my notes using Markdown, but I always struggled to connect and search through the files quickly and easily. Obsidian solved this problem in an intuitive and straightforward way.
Everything became so simple and fast that I started using the Smart Notes method not only to save commands but also to document parts of the company's products. Many of these aspects weren’t properly mapped and often lacked documentation since, in a corporate environment, product development happens quickly, and documentation rapidly becomes outdated. The Smart Notes technique allowed me to update this information in an agile and efficient manner, ensuring that knowledge was continuously recorded and accessible.
Obsidian -> https://obsidian.md/
Smart Notes - Sönke Ahrens -> https://amzn.to/3W5AL2g
Buy me a coffee -> https://buymeacoffee.com/valdergallo
Top comments (0)