The concept of a “second brain” isn’t new by any means, especially when personal knowledge management (PKM) systems are the subject of discussion. From a high level, the concept acknowledges that our brains have limitations and tries to address them by creating a system of offloading information that we don’t need in the present moment to some secondary system (often some kind of PKM solution), creating space for our brains to focus on what matters in a given moment. There are different ideas of what this means or how to do it (especially as companies and entrepreneurs have tried to capitalize on the concept and build their own, self-serving definitions), but the core concept is simple: capture and retain knowledge, but don’t try to keep it all in your head.

In my case, I leverage Obsidian to run my life and store all the things that I think and learn. I often joke that it’s my primary brain rather than my second brain; that I’d be utterly lost without all of the information and structure I’ve established in my Obsidian vault. After all, it contains droves of thoughts and information, including my day-to-day plans, my journal, notes on things I research, and so much more. It’s a prime artifact of how I’ve grown, changed, and existed over multiple years; it’s the operating system for my life.

Despite the fact that I’ve been using Obsidian for years, it wasn’t my first experience with leveraging software to act as a second brain. Prior to Obsidian, I used Craft, Bear, OneNote, Evernote, and others. The way I use these systems has significantly evolved over time, to a point where I’ve effectively dialed in the way I use these systems to exactly what I need to navigate my life. With this experience, I’ve gathered thoughts on PKM systems and how to approach them, some of which might conflict with what influencers in the space preach.

Since Obsidian is my current “second brain,” I’ll present my thoughts through the lens of this particular solution, but most of these thoughts can be applied to nearly every “second brain” or PKM system.

The Best Structure for Your Vault is Your Structure⌗

I’ll die on this hill: the best structure for your Obsidian vault is the structure that both makes sense to you and best addresses your needs. Most likely, this isn’t going to be some structure that you’re prescribed as much as it’ll be a structure that you find from just organically using Obsidian. I don’t say this to discourage anyone from trying organization systems like Zettelkasten, but rather because I’ve seen people (including me) get lost in trying to learn and use systems that just don’t align with how they think. I could write a post just on how important “capture” is to me and how it’s critical to removing barriers to capture.

In the context of Obsidian, if you feel it’ll help you to set up folders, note templates, or some other form or organization before writing your first note, go for it. Just don’t feel like you have to stick with that system. If something doesn’t feel right or like it’s adding friction to your Obsidian workflow, consider changing it to something that that flows better for you. There are countless ways to set up a vault in Obsidian and the best way is always going to be the one that works best for you (not necessarily the new, hot organization system that PKM influencers peddle). In my time with Obsidian, I’ve changed course multiple times and I feel like I’m better off because I made those changes.

Don’t Drown Yourself in Plugins You Don’t Need⌗

Another thing that I see (especially among people picking up Obsidian for the first time) is a sense of obligation to install dozens of plugins to “take full advantage” of Obsidian and its capabilities. Again, this can work for some, but shoehorning in a bunch of plugins probably won’t bring you much value (and is more likely to slow you down or keep you from doing what you need to do with a tool like Obsidian). Sure, a vault with a plethora of plugins looks impressive, but if it’s not helping you capture your thoughts and knowledge, it’s probably not doing its job.

In my current configuration, I have five community plugins that I use. I’ve experimented with more than those five (and even pushed myself to get more out of plugins a couple times), but those five are what I found works best for my current workflow.

My rule of thumb with plugins tends to be to only add a plugin if I feel I’m reaching some kind of limitation of my organization system or “vanilla” Obsidian itself.

Prioritize Capture Over Looks⌗

I’ve hinted at this with the last two points, but there’s one thing that I feel is absolutely critical when incorporating a tool like Obsidian into your life: make it easy as possible to capture thoughts and information in Obsidian. By doing this, you reduce the barrier to getting things out of your head and on “paper.” It doesn’t even necessarily have to be pretty; the important part is just putting your thoughts somewhere (while they’re fresh) so you can then clean them up and turn them into something useful for you. If you’re anything like me, it can be critical to write your thoughts down before more thoughts take their place (causing the earlier thoughts to get lost to the ether), so it’s critical that a tool like Obsidian is set up so you can capture without fuss.

I do a couple things to streamline capture. Most notably, I include a “Scratchpad” section in my daily notes, which I designate for any and every thought that I want to quickly save for later. This reduces the need to create a new note until after I have at least a reference for the thought, making the delay between having a thought and capturing it practically nonexistent (I just have to grab the device closest to me, open Obsidian, and find my current daily note before I start capturing). This flow is supercharged by leveraging the command palette in Obsidian and specifically the Open today's daily note command included with the built-in “Daily notes” core plugin.

Closing Thoughts⌗

One of the beautiful things about Obsidian (which applies to comparable tools) is that it’s incredibly versatile and able to cater to virtually any workflow that includes some kind of device capable of running the tool. While these three points are great starting points, remember that the best way to use Obsidian is the way that works best for you. Don’t feel like you have to spend a bunch of time worrying about adding plugins, tweaks, or other customizations to your Obsidian workflow unless they feel right for your needs and uses cases.

Happy capturing!