You should always aim to make changes to your workflow only to improve the quality of your creative output. One way to improve this output is to improve the efficiency of your productivity system. I work in Obsidian and use a few techniques to improve the efficiency of my work. I spotted two contrasting aspects to efficiency that need balancing to achieve maximum productivity and I’d like to share them in this article.
1. Automation
Here is the most basic of the three suggestions, but arguably the most effective.
There are three ways that you can automate your Obsidian workflow:
- Plugins
- Templates
- AI
All of these have their own different qualities that enhance the efficiency of actions in your vault. They do this by replacing or performing different processes and workflows for you. I’m going to talk about each one in detail here.
1a. Plugins
As I have talked about before, Obsidian has a wealth of plugins that allow you to customise the software to the exact use for it that you have. Taking advantage of this will allow you to optimise your environment to the type of work that you’re doing, whether it’s pure knowledge work, task or project management or long-form writing. I do a mixture of all of these, so I have quite a complicated plugin configuration.
Having said this, I’ve designed them all to save me time by replicating or automating different processes in my notes. Two examples of plugins that save time for me are QuickAdd and Citations — QuickAdd automates the addition of tasks and note content in my vault. It also incorporates AI commands which I’ll explore in more detail in the AI section shortly. Citations (combined with the Pandoc Plugin) allows me to insert and render citations and a bibliography in my academic work.
Make use of plugins to improve your workflows in Obsidian to save time.
1b. Templates
Templates are one of the most common forms of automation that people use in their Obsidian vaults. This is because the need to create different types of notes repetitively is in high demand. People use templates to automate the addition of metadata into notes as well as content such as headings that needs to be added often. I use templates for my book notes and also for my lecture notes, saving time on writing metadata.
Templates link very heavily to plugins, with some of the most popular options in the Community section within Obsidian concerning their creation and implementation. The previously-mentioned QuickAdd is one such plugin, as is Templater, which allows creation insertion of templates with syntax that allows addition of variables such as dates and modification times. As well as this, Templater allows the execution of commands, extending its functionality for those who require this ability.
The vast majority of Obsidian users that read this will benefit from the use of templates, so have a look at the content that you find yourself creating regularly and consider making templates to automate this process and improve efficiency in your work.
1c. AI
Just half a year ago this wouldn’t have been included in such an article. As it stands however, AI has advanced to the level where it holds very significant efficiency benefits.
I have said before that the points within a workflow that require human input are very often just the start and end points i.e. deciding what information should be input, and modifying the resulting content so that it’s personalised to the creator. AI can manage everything in between.
Again, it’s not recommended to use AI for writing your own content, more so outlining and making structural corrections. There is a fine balance that needs to be struck between your AI use and your addition of your own thoughts, especially when outputting creative work. AI can be useful in the context of repetitive work that doesn’t require imaginative input however…
One of my uses of AI in Obsidian is to make flashcards based on content from my university course that I provide. This links to plugin use — it’s where I use the QuickAdd plugin to the greatest effect. This saves hours of writing up content that I can now spend writing for other people or actually learning the content on the flashcards.
I have published lots of articles on the power of AI in Obsidian recently. Here is my guide to AI in Obsidian, QuickAdd dev Chris’s advice, and my guide to using AI for learning in general.
2. Digital Minimalism
At the same time as promoting automation and complexity, I believe in digital minimalist principles. This is the one thing that you must combine with automation to find the best balance for your work and increase your productivity.
In principle, digital minimalism suggests that you only incorporate new technology into your life if you are certain that it’s going to provide a benefit to your work. I have found that with too much automation you end up spending a disproportionate amount of time maintaining each piece of your system compared to actually using it as a tool for thinking and creating.
This can come from getting caught up in the ideal of creating the perfect system that is always going to suit the work that you’re doing. Although you can get very close to developing this system, it doesn’t exist in its entirety. Instead, you must slowly iterate the system that you already have, introducing new ideas that are going to improve your work. This way you can get very close to a system that serves all the purposes that you want it to, without different processes that are going on in your vault overwhelming you.
Conclusion
How do you combine these two aspects? In truth, it’s a constant balancing act. To find the most efficient workflow for you there has to be a combination of automation and mindful human input. There is such thing as too much of one or the other — too much automation you disconnects you from your work and it lacks authenticity. Too pure and minimal then you are wasting time and power by not decreasing time taken to do mundane things in your vault. The time that you save by using these automations is worth more than the time you spend doing them manually.
The process is constant and unending. The best chance you have is to be mindful and often review the tools you are using, in your Obsidian vault and beyond. That way everything you use stays updated to work efficiently towards achieving your current goals.
Thank you for reading, if you found this article interesting then give it a clap. Follow for more Obsidian and productivity tips and content.