Taking notes is like eating: everyone does it, but it’s hard to do well.

In order to take good notes, you need three things:

  • A desire to learn
  • A trusted source to learn from
  • A trusted system to grow your knowledge

We can’t help with #1, but if you have the desire to learn, we can help with the rest.

Obsidian Rocks is devoted to learning how to learn using one of the best note taking apps of the 21st century: Obsidian.

Note taking is a powerful force multiplier. No matter what you’re doing, taking great notes will make it better.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading.

  • Obsidian Update 0.16: What’s New and How to Use It

    Obsidian Update 0.16: What’s New and How to Use It

    Obsidian update v0.16 is now available for Insiders, and it comes with some great new features! Update: Obsidian has now updated to v1.0 which means the below changes (and more!) are now available to everyone. Brand New Tabbed Interface The biggest change is the updated tabbed interface, which makes it easier to work with multiple […]

  • Quickly Organize Notes in Obsidian

    Quickly Organize Notes in Obsidian

    There’s a popular concept in the Obsidian community called MOCs, or Maps of Content. What is a MOC? Pioneered by Nick Milo, MOCs are notes that primarily link to other notes, giving you an index, or a small Table of Contents that you can create for any particular topic. MOCs are one of the best […]

  • How to Backup Obsidian

    How to Backup Obsidian

    If you spend much time in Obsidian, then you’re going to want to make sure that your work is preserved. You don’t want to risk losing all that work due to a faulty hard drive, a network glitch, or even your own error. Accidents happen, and you need to be prepared. I had my own […]

  • Building a Second Brain and GTD

    Building a Second Brain and GTD

    Building a Second Brain and GTD have a lot in common. Building a Second Brain (BASB) by Tiago Forte is an excellent book. It’s partly about taking good notes but mostly about organizing your files more efficiently. Digital file management is hard, and it’s not something that comes naturally to me. So I’m glad to […]

  • Home Notes in Obsidian (with examples!)

    Home Notes in Obsidian (with examples!)

    Getting started with any note taking application can be difficult. When it comes to Obsidian, I find that the best way to get started is to create a home note, which will act as a starting place for you every time you open the application. Home notes in Obsidian can define the purpose of this […]

  • Pinning Notes in Obsidian

    Pinning Notes in Obsidian

    The sidebars in Obsidian are incredibly customizable. One of the easiest ways to customize your sidebars is by pinning notes to your sidebar, and in that way you can create your own views and plugin-like behavior. For example, I like to have my to-do list pinned in the sidebar. Note: I use a community plugin […]

  • Why isn’t Obsidian Open Source?

    Many people have expressed concerns on the closed source development of the Obsidian application. Obsidian is a wonderful application used by people all over the world, and the concern is understandable. Why isn’t Obsidian open source? Why do we care? One of the core ideas behind Obsidian is the open format of the application. Obsidian […]

  • Backing up Your Obsidian Vault on Github (for free!)

    Backing up your obsidian vault on Github is a great way to keep and maintain ongoing backups of your Obsidian Vault. Github offers both public and private repositories for free, so it’s a good option if you want free backups for your Second Brain. There are many more options when it comes to backing up […]

  • How to Use Obsidian Community Plugins

    Obsidian is a wonderful application all on its own, but you’re missing out if you haven’t at least tried some of the wonderful (and free!) community plugins that are available. Community Plugins are powerhouses that allow you to do all sorts of things. For example: Most of these things are either not feasible or much […]