Are you ready for a step-by-step guide to tilling the plot and seeding your mind garden? Which is my not-so-fancy gardening metaphor for getting started with Obsidian PKM (Personal Knowledge Management).
A well curated personal knowledge management system will help you realize the full potential of your thoughts and ideas. Obsidian PKM provides a structured yet flexible platform to organize, connect, and develop your ideas.
Embrace Simplicity with Obsidian PKM
PKM should be easy. Thinking should be the hard part.
The preservation of ideas is the most important of the 4 areas of creative competency. This makes a personal knowledge management system vital for a digital creator. Obsidian PKM allows you to focus on the complex nature of your thoughts, rather than getting bogged down by intricate software.
You want to keep your personal knowledge management system and the tech behind it as simple as possible so that you can focus on sensemaking.
You don’t want to spend more time and energy on managing your notes than writing and connecting them. This leads to a particularly nasty form of procrastination where you waste time playing with fancy software features or experimenting with complicated workflows.
These things only steal your focus with both your productivity and creativity suffering.
So, in this spirit, let’s get started with the quickest and easiest way to get your mind garden started.
Why choose Obsidian for your Personal Knowledge Management System?
There are numerous tools of thought to choose from, and most offer the basic requirements for curating a robust personal knowledge management system. However, Obsidian PKM has some key advantages that make it stand out above the rest, making it my choice in PKM software over the myriad of other options.
Obsidian is Free
Obsidian PKM is 100% free for personal use offering access to high-quality PKM tools, ensuring that anyone can start organizing their knowledge without financial barriers.
It has an extremely generous free plan that lets you use the full version of the software with no limitations. You can create an unlimited number of notes, folders, and vaults.
You also have access to all the official themes and plugins as well as a large community catalogue offering almost any feature you might need for your personal knowledge management system.
If you end up loving Obsidian as much as I do and want to support the development of a great piece of community driven software, Obsidian offers extremely affordable paid options that allow you to publish your notes online, and sync between devices.
Obsidian is Simple but Powerful
As previously touched on, it’s extremely easy to get started with Obsidian. You don’t want to have to wait until you can learn all the ins-and-outs of a complicated program to get your personal knowledge management system started.
With Obsidian PKM, you’ll be able to hit the ground running, writing and linking notes with ease.
Obsidian strikes the perfect balance between a user-friendly interface and a suite of powerful features, especially when including community plugins. This allows you to get started easily and still have plenty of room to scale as your mind garden grows.
Obsidian is Private and Future Proof
Many note-taking apps store your notes on their own server, but with Obsidian all of your notes are stored locally, on your own computer. This gives you full control over your data and its security. You don’t have to worry about losing access to your notes if the app suddenly shuts down or gets hacked.
As long as you have a good backup contingency, then your personal knowledge management system will be safe, and your garden will always be accessible.
Your notes are also saved in markdown format making them both future-proof and portable. You can open markdown files in any text editor. This means you will always be able to access, read, and edit your notes.
Set up Your Obsidian PKM and write your first notes
Setting up your personal knowledge management system in Obsidian is a straightforward process, designed to get you up and running with minimal fuss, ensuring that you can start organizing your thoughts and ideas right away.
- Download the installer here. Then install and run Obsidian according to your operating system
- Choose a name and location for your first vault. To create a new vault, click the safe icon (third up from the bottom left). You can also open an existing vault from here.
- Click on the gear in the lower left corner and set your preferences in the Editor, File, and Appearance tabs.
- Create a new note using the icon in the left sidebar. Choose an idea or concept you already have a lot of knowledge about and is important to you. Give the note a simple title and write what you know about the concept. Aim for the perfect balance of concise and complete thoughts.
- Repeat step 4 a few more times with concepts and ideas that will be foundational to your thinking. Do this until you start seeing some connections between your notes.
- Begin linking related notes together using bi-directional links by using [[note name]]. Weave together different strands of thought, enhancing the depth and breadth of your knowledge base.
Congratulations! You’ve just tilled your plot and seeded your mind garden with some foundational concepts based on your individual skills and passions. This is a big first step, and you have just taken it!
Choosing Obsidian for your personal knowledge management is a step towards a more organized and insightful intellectual life. With its blend of simplicity, power, and privacy, Obsidian PKM will grow and adapt along with you.
Happy Mind Gardening! 😊🌿📝