Thinking Space vs Second Brain the ideal use case for Obsidian

Obsidian is my beloved note taking app. I have been using obsidian for more than three years now. I love it primarily for its simplicity and the ability to link notes. There are a myriad of other features if you want to dig deep, however let’s stop at those core features: simple markdown text files and linking of notes.

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon the concept of Zettelkasten. That story of the famous Niklas Luhmannwho created history by producing a plethora of academic papers and books using a slip box (Zettelkasten) despite starting from a non academic background? If you are interested in Zettelkasten and Niklas Luhmann see here and here. Being a flashcards (both paper and digital) user myself, this concept resonated well with me. Flashcards were the go to method for me to study both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Right about the same time some internet algorithm pushed Obsidian in front of me and I thought this is the perfect partner to bring about the best work I can do using the Zettelkasten workflow.

The Workflow

I needed a way to capture information (fleeting notes), a way to process them and eventually create permanent notes. When there are references-rich sources like research papers, I wanted to create literature notes from which further digested notes could be created.

Thinking process using Obsidian as the Thinking Space

Information flowing from the web, papers, books, people and my own thoughts are captured using a synchronization enabled simple software to create fleeting notes. I could capture fleeting notes from any software. (or with a piece of paper for that matter). Currently I use Apple Notes for this as there is great synchronization between the devices I use. However Google Keep would work just the same.

There is some processing of information before being brought into my obsidian vault.

Notes enter initially as fleeting notes then to be further processed and atomized (made to represent a single atomic concept or fact) in to permanent notes,

As the number of notes grew, naturally new connections appeared. New thoughts, workflows, thought processes, mental frameworks emerged, old knowledge got strengthened and I kept on becoming productive.

Ability to integrate with Zotero was a great boon and I quickly became a supporter and got a paid membership.

With the AI integrations, connections between the notes I was blinded to, were brought to light.

That’s it. Got the knowledge in, thought about it, made connections. And revisited whenever I needed to.

Using obsidian for “everything”

This is where my gripe starts.

What I see when I go online to learn about new ways to use obsidian, Youtube, Medium, Reddit etc etc, is this tendency to over complicate this simple software.

To Obsidian developers’ credit, they kept it true to its original values and let the community plugins take it away in any direction they fancied without causing damage to the key theme of the obsidian.

There are so many tutorials nowadays on how to create ”todo list apps“, “project planning Workflows”, “book shelves”, “movie databases” etc etc.

While these workflows are not “bad” on their own, I feel they betray the whole philosophical existence of Obsidian. At least for me. (and a lot of the users who would benefit from obsidian.)

There are purpose built software tools for these functions and they do a much better job of those jobs. I advocate for using the right tool for each task, rather than attempting to use a single tool for everything, even when its limitations are glaringly obvious.

Strengths of obsidian

I think when we use any software, the primary determinant should be what does that help me achieve and how does it do so.

For me, obsidian is to help me think. Think and think again.

For thinking, I need context. I need my previous notes and a way to understand how they are interconnected. I find the “linking the notes” ability of Obsidian to be very helpful here. When I start jotting down my thoughts, I start creating connections with my previous notes, and I try to create new ideas based on the “old and the new”.

This process is immensely helped by Obsidian’s simplicity and the ability to make links. I found certain plug-ins that help to discover notes that are hidden, for example, Smart Connections, Strange New Worlds and Power Search. The idea of having these plug-ins is to surface out hidden “gems”. Finally, the note that you create is a sum total of all the cognitive work so far.

In my case output creation is done in a different office suite ( Google workspace) which provides more features than plain obsidian, including collaboration ability to share among other software, formatting options and ability to work from any Internet connected device. Another important point is that this approach separates thinking and creating processes. I don’t want my Obsidian vault to be “contaminated” with partially synthesized cognitive outputs.

That is all. It’s that simple.

No todo lists, no project plannings, no movie databases, no bookstores.

Before attacking me left and right please understand that this is what works for me personally. So please don’t judge. If you think creating that movie database with plot details is your use case for obsidian, please go ahead and do so. I truly appreciate that each one of us is unique in our requirements and preferences.

“Thinking Space” vs “Second Brain”

Finally, I honestly believe that a simple setup similar to what I showed above : “thinking space“ concept should be the most appropriate use case for the majority of Obsidian users.

Creating a “second brain” with Obsidian where everything has to happen in a single digital tool (all-encompassing digital repository), at least to me, makes a poor choice of digital tool use.

Your thoughts?

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Hey @lakshan — I couldn’t agree more!

The simplicity of Obsidian is exactly why I love it too. Conversely, it’s also the reason I don’t favor tools like Notion or ClickUp for personal use or why I dislike the feature creep that is currently happening in basically all productivity apps (like adding task management to a notes app).

Monolithic apps, or users turning apps into monoliths, run counter to the principle of using dedicated tools for specific tasks. I believe every tool should have one job, and every job should be done with only one tool. At least that’s something to strive for.

I call the tendency of people trying to press everything into one “god tool” the tool-to-rule-em-all fallacy. I’ve recently written in-depth about this very topic here:

I’d love to hear your opinion on this essay.

That being said, I do see Obsidian useful for a bit more than just a thinking space. For instance, I like daily notes and journaling, which are also good fits for Obsidian. Of course, we can have separate vaults for separate jobs if needed.

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Thank you.

I use obsidian to journal too. Journaling is also in fact an act of reflection /thinking and I like to draw in thoughts/ideas/facts from my vault in to the journal entry.

I am heading to read your article next !

Thanks and best regards

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Hi @lakshan, this is a very interesting post, thanks for sharing!

I have developed quite the same way of thinking about Obsidian and the working processes you are mentioning here.

To me, Obsidian is a specialized app that I use to accomplish specific tasks that only this software can do. In other words, I use Obsidian to write notes and then make something better out of them (the “thinking space” you are referring to). I do not use the software to do everything with/in my notes just because it is possible to do so, only what is necessary for my thinking processes.

  • For example, if I need to track something (like a to-do list of topics to write) and my workflow does not require the tracker to be integrated in the same “thinking space”, then I won’t do it on Obsidian. It’s adding too much cognitive load, and it’s generating noise near and over my notes! There are plenty of dedicated apps for this specific task, so I will use them accordingly.

  • On the contrary, if having this tracker is required for my workflow, let’s say because I haven’t thought of every topic I need to cover yet and my to-do list is still evolving as I am writing notes, then I will definitely use it with my notes. (The same way that, if I need to include a bibliography into my notes, and the only way to do it would be to manually go from Zotero to Obsidian, then it’s clearly not ideal and I will search for a plugin allowing me to automate this directly on the software.)

It’s all about what is useful for the thinking process. As people say, “less is more”: if you have less noise to worry about, then you have more space to think!

(So, even though a second brain clearly gives you all the info you might need, I think it is too complex for our busy brains, which are already overloaded with sooo many daily tasks and notifications!)

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Hi @growthpilgrim, I thoroughly enjoyed your essay. You nailed a lot of things that bother me (and a lot of people) in today’s “all-in-one solutions apps" trend.

I used to work with a fragmented system (consisting of many separated specialized apps) that was very performative (but came with a heavy cognitive load). It was something Notion and other apps never allowed me to replicate, on the contrary. Obsidian helped a lot however.

Unfortunately, it seems like we are more and more forced to use “all-in-one apps”, as many of these specialized apps are now evolving into ““better”” apps… Especially since there is AI integrating many of them now. (I will not develop further because I could make an entire thread out of this essay haha, but still it was a great read!)

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Thanks so much for your comment. It’s also heartening to know I am not alone in this line of thought!

“Thinking Space” is the concept that we should popularize for incredibly simple yet so “thought enabling “ apps like Obsidian.

Especially for new comers to see Obsidian in that angle than that of a “Digital Swiss knife “

Best wishes and thank you again for taking time to comment.

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