How To Use Obsidian: The ONE THING That Took Me TOO LONG To Figure Out

Daily notes are the “hub” that makes many of Obsidian’s most useful workflows click—especially when paired with the Calendar and Reminders plugins. The core setup is straightforward: create a dedicated folder for daily notes, define a default daily note template, and configure Obsidian so “open today’s daily note” always uses that template and lands in the right place. Once that foundation is in place, the rest of the system starts behaving like a time-aware index of what happened and what you need to remember.

The workflow begins with organizing files. A “daily notes” folder is created, along with a templates folder containing a default daily note template. The template is then placed in the templates directory so new daily notes can be generated instantly. In Obsidian settings, the Daily Notes core plugin is adjusted to use a date format that sorts cleanly in chronological order (year-month-day), and to store daily note files in the daily notes folder. The template location is pointed to the default daily note template so new entries auto-fill with the right structure.

Next comes fast creation and navigation. Instead of relying on startup behavior, the system is tuned for hotkeys: a shortcut is assigned to “open today’s daily note,” and conflicts are resolved so the chosen key combination reliably creates the note if it doesn’t exist. With the hotkey working, daily notes become quick to generate on demand—no manual file creation required.

Inside each daily note, the recommended approach is practical rather than diaristic: use a bulleted log of actions (“had a meeting with Ben,” “go check the mail,” etc.). If something needs its own deeper page, that separate note can be created from within the daily note flow. This matters because Obsidian’s linking behavior ties those notes back to the day. When a note is created/linked from the daily entry, the Calendar plugin can show the day’s context in the sidebar, and inbound links reveal that the daily note is associated with that date.

The Calendar plugin adds two useful layers: a visual day-based view and a writing-activity signal—an extra dot appears for every 250 words typed, giving a rough sense of how much was captured that day. Clicking a date opens the corresponding daily note, and the plugin can prompt whether to start or create tomorrow’s note.

For time-bound tasks, the Reminders plugin is positioned as the better alternative to clunky “tomorrow note” planning. Reminders are created as checkbox-style items in the daily note, triggered by a specific syntax (using an @ trigger). A reminder can be scheduled for a date (e.g., the 15th) and optionally a time (e.g., 1:17 in the afternoon). The Reminders panel then lists upcoming reminders, and clicking one jumps directly to the note where it was set.

The takeaway is that daily notes—properly templated, hotkeyed, and linked to Calendar and Reminders—turn time into structure. For people who struggle with time concepts, this “ever-present” daily hub can still make calendar behavior, backlinks, and reminders feel coherent. The advice is to start simple: create daily notes, use bullets, and gradually add time-based reminders instead of over-engineering the system before it’s working.