In 2021, I came across a book that quietly rewired the way I think and learn: How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens. At first glance, it’s a book about writing and productivity, but beneath the surface, it’s really about understanding — about building a personal knowledge system that grows and connects over time. Central to the book is the idea of the Zettelkasten, a method of note-taking developed by German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. The concept fascinated me: a system where each note is a distinct idea, and through deliberate linking, those ideas begin to interact and generate new insights.
At the time, I was working in a highly technical role in the U.S. Army, and I knew my existing note-taking habits weren’t cutting it. I had scattered Google Docs, half-remembered bookmarks, and mental sticky notes everywhere. I wanted something more intentional — a system that could help me actually think better and retain what I was learning.
That’s when I found Obsidian — not the volcanic glass, but the Markdown-based note-taking app. It was September 2021, and I remember the moment clearly because something clicked. Obsidian wasn’t just another digital notebook. It was a canvas for thinking — one that fit perfectly with the Zettelkasten method and my growing interest in personal knowledge management.
Why I Fell in Love with Obsidian
Obsidian felt like it had been built for someone like me: someone juggling complex technical material, trying to retain and synthesize knowledge across different domains. I started applying ideas from Ahrens’ book immediately, building atomic notes, linking them together, and watching my “vault” evolve from a handful of thoughts into a growing network of ideas.
But what really sealed the deal for me was the ecosystem of integrations and plugins. I could:
- Connect it with Zotero for managing research papers and citations.
- Use Anki integration to turn my notes into spaced repetition flashcards.
- Read and annotate PDFs directly within the app.
- Extend the functionality almost infinitely through community plugins — from tag wrangling to visual graph views of my note connections.
And on top of all that, I could sync everything with iCloud Drive, which meant I had full access to my knowledge base across my Mac, iPhone, and iPad — without relying on someone else’s cloud or paying for another subscription.
More Than Notes — A Thinking System
Obsidian turned note-taking from a chore into a craft. It helped me not just store information, but engage with it. Whether I’m reading technical documentation, preparing for a certification exam, or just exploring an idea I’m curious about, I now have a system that supports my thinking instead of working against it.
Over time, Obsidian has become much more than a note-taking app for me. It’s a thinking companion, a second brain, and one of the few tools I can say has truly changed how I learn.
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