How I Take SMART Notes in Obsidian MD

A practical Obsidian workflow centers on capturing ideas fast, tagging them by maturity, and turning them into a web of connected “permanent” knowledge—so retrieval becomes effortless and writing gets easier. The system starts with four note types—fleeting, literature, permanent, and project notes—and then routes each new thought into the right place using templates, quick capture, and a lightweight status model.

Fleeting notes act as temporary placeholders for both informational and actionable ideas. For quick capture, the workflow uses Obsidian’s quick switcher and a Shift+Enter shortcut to create a note on the spot. Personal fleeting ideas get an “=” prefix in the title to trigger a template with prompts designed to spark reflection and elaboration, while more objective ideas keep a normal title and pull in a default template. To track how far an idea has developed, the notes use the “evergreen” status scheme popularized by Andy Matuschak: seedling (bare bones), herb (expandable), sun (developed but not well connected), and evergreen (finished). In practice, the creator admits the system isn’t always maintained strictly—many notes end up with no status—yet the framework still guides how ideas are treated.

Informational fleeting notes are built from a simple template, then extended as needed. Automation relies on Templater and a “meta template” referenced from Brian Jenks’s workflow, though the approach can be replicated manually using plugins like Templater or Quick Add. The workflow emphasizes choosing tags for general topics and links for hierarchical relationships, treating tags like broad topical labels and links like a navigable structure.

Actionable notes lean on lists and task tracking. For reminders, a Reminders plugin is used: tasks are created with reminder text and a date using a specific syntax, then surfaced in a sidebar pane with notifications on Obsidian startup. For day-to-day execution, to-do lists handle ongoing tasks. Literature notes track progress on inputs like books, articles, and podcasts, with different templates so prompts and fields match the consumption style. Common fields include start and finish dates plus copied links; title prefixes also help search and automate template insertion.

Project notes hold planning and resources, organizing tasks around specific projects. The workflow keeps most notes as permanent by default—deleting mainly when task notes clutter the system or when a seedling idea isn’t worth expanding. Instead of discarding completed literature or projects, the approach favors archiving them for reference.

Structure ties everything together through inboxes and dashboards. Separate inboxes capture seedling notes, inputs to consume, and tasks. A “workbench” note uses Dataview queries to surface seedling/herb/sun items needing development, and can link the current note as a reminder. Inputs are saved via Pocket (with plans to switch to Raindrop.io for folder organization). Literature tracking uses Dataview Kanban boards with stages like not finished reading, implementing, and finished book notes, while Kindle highlights can be imported via a Kindle Highlights plugin. For tasks and habits, Habitica is mentioned, with an alternative path via Obsidian task plugins.

The payoff is retrieval and connection: Quick Switcher plus consistent naming makes information easy to recall, and the system’s flexibility allows both folder-like organization and cross-linking across higher-level ideas. The result is a vault designed to support writing, research, and ongoing productivity without heavy mental retrieval work from memory.