lewisdale.dev/src/blog/posts/2024/7/updating-my-obsidian-setup.md

---json { "title": "Updating my Obsidian setup", "date": "2024-07-16T09:00:00.367Z", "tags": [ "obsidian" ], "excerpt": "I've been using Obsidian for note taking for about a year now, with limited success, but I've recently made some changes to my configuration that have made it wildly more useful to me" }

I've been using Obsidian for note taking for about a year now, with limited success. I knew it was powerful, and could do a lot of thing that I wasn't taking advantage of, but I'd just never really put the time in to make it work for me. So, on a whim, I decided to try out making some changes to my setup and see how well they stick.

Note structure

I was always using the periodic notes plugin for automatically creating notes. Originally I was creating a daily note inside a single giant folder, and then switched to weekly notes. Neither really stuck, and the lack of folder structure made finding notes a bit of a pain.

So, I'm now taking advantage of the templating syntax for the plugin. My daily note title format is now YYYY/MMMM/YYYY-MM-DD, which generates a folder structure like this:

- 2024
  - June
    - 2024-06-30.md
    - 2024-06-29.md
  - July
    - 2024-07-15.md
    - 2024-07-14.md

Originally I didn't want the date to be in the filename, but I found that the plugin wouldn't just let me use the day of the month as it wasn't unique, so I had to use the full date. Regardless, my daily notes now have a decent folder structure that makes them easier to find.

Task lists

This is the most powerful feature I've started using so far. I've started using the Tasks plugin, which lets me define tasks in any note. All of the task parameters can be included in the entry, like due date, priority, scheduled date, etc.

* [ ] Task with due date 📅 2024-07-17
* [ ] Task with priority 🔼
* [ ] Task with scheduled date ⏳ 2024-07-17
* [/] Task with custom status

It also provides a simple query language to retrieve and filter them. In my daily notes, I list any scheduled tasks for the day, and then also any incomplete tasks are due in the future. I also filter out tasks created in the same note file, to avoid duplication.

> [!check] Due today
> ```tasks
> not done
> (due on or before 2024-07-15) or (scheduled on or before 2024-07-15)
> path does not include {{query.file.path}}
> hide backlink
> hide edit button
> ```

And then I create a more urgent section for overdue tasks:

> [!warning] Overdue
> ```tasks
> not done
> has due date
> due before 2024-07-15
> path does not include {{query.file.path}}
>  hide edit button
>  hide backlink
> ```

Automating note creation

Finally, I use the Templater plugin to automatically generate the daily note file for the current day.I can use it to fill in the current date for the query, which is then static. I can filter by due today, but that query list would then be dynamic and files wouldn't reflect the day they're created for.

{% raw %}

> [!check] Due today
> ```tasks
> not done
> (due on or before {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}) or (scheduled on or before {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}})
> path does not include {{query.file.path}}
> hide backlink
> hide edit button
> ```

{% endraw %}

There are plenty of other things I could be doing, like using Dataview to pull information from my notes, but what I've got so far is working pretty well and at least lets me track my tasks in one place and keep them organised.