Productivity software is essential in my workflow. Without something to help me stay on task, my mind will wander and find something else to focus on. It's easy enough to stay on task while online, but I've found myself away from home and reliable internet much more often lately (with a baby on the way, my wife and I go to a lot of prenatal appointments). To combat my natural tendency to get distracted, I started looking to build an offline productivity pack that would help me work, even with access to the web.

I've tried a lot of different apps in the past, and I considered those first. Todoist, Apple Notes, and various other tools could all be combined to get the job done, but then I realized something. Everything I looked for, from note-taking capabilities to Pomodoro timers, could already be found in Obsidian through its plugins. Obsidian has been my go-to for a long time, and I don't really need an internet connection for it to be useful.

Obsidian's community has created hundreds of plugins to choose from

Calendars, timers, and even Microsoft Word clones

If you're a long-time user of Todoist (like me), good news: the Todoist Sync plugin makes it easy to connect your task list straight to Obsidian. The plugin is bidirectional, so items you create within Obsidian will also appear on your Todoist list. Yes, technically, it needs Wi-Fi to work, but only for the initial sync. As long as you connect briefly at the start of the day, your task list will update automatically. It's far from the only Todoist integration available, either. Moving on from that, Big Calendar is how I track my work inside my vault. It allows me to easily see when a note is created, and I can manually enter upcoming tasks, such as meetings and appointments.

Unfortunately, Big Calendar doesn't link to third-party tools like Google Calendar. While it would be convenient to sync all of my existing appointments in one place, I've found that manually entering them makes me far more likely to remember the exact time of a meeting or interview compared to relying on a calendar notification. As for focusing, I use a basic Pomodoro timer app. It places the countdown in the bottom-right corner of my toolbar, so I can see it if I want to check, but it is otherwise out of the way.

But what about accessing reference and source materials?

The vault is a self-contained research library

I started using Obsidian because of its ability to be a place to track everything I have learned. As is often said, the human brain is great for generating ideas, but it's not as good at storing them. When I find something interesting, I make a note for it inside Obsidian. And here's the kicker: when I know I'll be offline for an extended period, I do research ahead of time and ensure the relevant notes are available in my vault. Tools like Obsidian Web Clipper are a lifesaver for quickly storing and organizing notes. The built-in search function is pretty effective for finding material, but I make use of Obsidian's tag system to save myself some hassle. For example, if I'm researching a productivity app, I might tag it as "software, productivity, timer."

It's possible to save entire web pages inside Obsidian. If you prefer to access the page itself, Obsidian has a core plugin called Web Viewer that allows you to browse the web inside Obsidian itself. Load up the page you need before you're offline, and you're set.

Sure, it's not a perfect solution. Sometimes I'll discover more questions as I research that I have to wait to find the answers to. I make a note to dig deeper into those subjects when I'm back online. If you're really desperate, Wikipedia is only around 156GB uncompressed. You could, theoretically, keep a copy of it on your computer.

The information is available cross-platform

I can access my notes from both my laptop and my mobile device

My Obsidian vault has the same content (and mostly the same functionality) regardless of where I use it. Syncing information between two devices is relatively simple, and you don't even need to pay for a subscription to Obsidian Sync. In my case, I use iCloud. I store my vault on the cloud, and I can load it up and access it in its entirety when I'm offline. One caveat: like websites, make sure you load your vault before you go offline. Any changes I make while on the go automatically sync as soon as I reconnect to Wi-Fi.

Because of this, I can often leave my laptop at home and work from my phone. It's a lot less hassle, and allows me to be productive without worrying that I'll leave my computer behind somewhere. If you don't already have a cloud storage service like iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive, you can sign up for Obsidian Sync for $4 per month and keep your vault safe on the company's cloud servers.

Obsidian does carry a somewhat steep learning curve

Reaching a functional level of proficiency is a task unto itself

If you want a quick solution, Obsidian isn't the answer. While the application itself is free, easy to install, and relatively easy to set up, learning what workflows best fit you takes time. It can also be confusing learning your way around Obsidian and the various plugins and options. If you go in unprepared, it can feel a little overwhelming. I've recommended Obsidian to several friends, but some of them have come to say it's overkill for their needs.

You can get a basic setup created in under an hour

Start small, go slow

While it's true that Obsidian is not quite as plug-and-play as other applications, that initial setup time pays dividends. The average user can get a basic productivity setup running in less than an hour. All you need to do is install a few basic plugins — a calendar app of your choice, a to-do list app, and anything else you consider essential — and you can start taking notes, drafting emails, and so much more. Obsidian has a ton of potential, so starting small and building your way up, adding more features as you need, is the best way to avoid being overwhelmed. It grows with your needs, and that's one of the reasons I find it works so well offline. You don't have to search endlessly for an app that does what you want. You can create it yourself.

Obsidian works just as well offline, so why use anything else?

After a while of searching, I realized Obsidian does everything I need. I could try to replace it with other apps, but I like the experience of having everything in one place. I would recommend it to anyone willing to take the time to learn the interface; it makes it easy to keep information together, rather than sorting through hundreds of Apple Notes when I'm trying to find something.