ive been using obsidian for about 4 years. my main obsidian is my diary. recaps of everything i did that day, and working through my thoughts. sometimes i draft emails in thre. i dont reread it unless i need to know what i was doing on a specific day 3 years ago. once a daily note is finished i do not touch it again. it is mainly there for historical purposes.
i have a separate obsidian for work notes. code im working on, todolists, etc. i am constantly editing these documents as needed. that obsidian functions more like a file management system. i have folders for different code projects, with markdown files explaining what i am doing and what projects relate to other projects.
i mainly slip up when i write something in the wrong document. but i can just copypaste it over. the system is still evolving though, i just entered grad school and my needs changed rapidly, and i am shifting my information management system to match that.
That’s a really interesting split: daily “historical log” for recall (3 years later), plus a separate work vault where docs are essentially a living project index. That’s a very sane way to avoid turning everything into one giant, overfit system.
Two things I’m curious about:
1.When you say you “mainly slip up when I write something in the wrong document” — is that mostly a friction/UX issue (too many similar places), or a missing “active project” surface that tells you where you are right now?
2.In grad school mode, what changes fastest for you: the set of active projects, or the kinds of inputs (papers/notes/emails/reading list) you’re trying to connect?
I’m exploring a goal-first workflow where you keep a small number of active targets/projects and let that drive re-entry and resurfacing (details in my HN profile/bio if you’re curious).
