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Obsidian properties help me to write interoperable YAML, and make my notes into a truly useful resource that’s accessible in multiple apps. More on harvesting notebook gems.
I’ve been on a (planned) roll lately with publishing one productivity digest (like this one) and one supplementary article per week. The reason for this has been twofold; to provide helpful content to people interested in the same things I am (while giving me an outlet to talk about stuff that bores my family!), and to hone my writing skills with regular practice.
Those are good motivations, but it’s feeling like time to shift to a more organic pace. I’ll be continuing the once a week PTPL digest, and will work on more detailed topics as they come up. Thanks for your reading support, I appreciate having you on this journey with me. Comments and ideas are always welcome, so please let me know if you have thoughts or suggestions to share about this, or anything else I might write.
Mark Dykeman has been harvesting his notebooks into a useful library of sorts. His is not an efficient process, by his own admission, but it is useful to him. You can’t save everything and you (probably) shouldn’t catalog everything; but you can graze on your own work and harvest gems from the chaff.
The properties feature in Obsidian hasn’t been out very long, but it’s already a firm favourite in my book. Not because it adds something new, but because it simplifies and extends something I was already using: YAML (Yet Another Markup Language). I’m not a coder, and there’s a lot I don’t know about things like this. Properties makes it easy to write YAML, and looking at the source view is teaching me how to get it right on my own.
Rejoice, fellow plain texters and ubiquitous linking nerds: YAML scores high on the interoperability scale! That link is to Cory Doctorow’s new book, The Internet Con, which I purchased during his recent Kickstarter campaign. The ideas it contains are important, vital, even, if the freedoms we ought to have are to come about, and if the freedoms we enjoy now are to continue.
Back to Properties. Here’s a primer if you’re new to this concept in Obsidian.
I’ve been using YAML poorly for years, constantly trying to improve my methods, not succeeding. Within a week of playing around with properties I finally have a system that’s working well and is truly useful in practical ways!
Best example is the flashcard system I wrote about last week. Properties let me keep each flashcard clean, while providing consistent information about each that I can view any time. This metadata lets me quickly search for certain categories of cards. It’s still just YAML, though! And this means I’d easily be able to shift them into an app like Notenik, that honours YAML beautifully.
In case you missed it, this is what’s in my mobile office and everyday carry bags:
What’s in My Bag — Bellroy Mobile Office And EDC
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