Anytime I need to take notes, the first app I open is Obsidian. Since the core setup lacks some features I need, I have to install specific plugins to make my notes easier to format. That trade-off works for me since I only add the plugins that earn their spot and are worth it.

I try to keep the list short and useful, and use plugins like Templater for capture, Calendar to plan the week, and Canvas to organize my notes from a different angle. They're the most popular plugins in Obsidian, and once you see what they can do, you’ll understand why. Let's start with the plugin I rely on most for weekly planning.

Calendar: the backbone of my Obsidian workflow

Easier to find notes by date

The Calendar plugin is a must-have for me because it lets me save notes I know I’ll need for a specific day. For example, on Monday, I created a “Things to do for the week” note listing things I would like to get done, but that are not of vital importance. Whenever I want to refresh my memory on what I need to get done, I can easily click on the Monday note for that week.

Also, if I have a meeting on a particular day, I can plan and paste any notes I’ll need for that meeting. That way, I’m not scrolling through my notes and can just click on the day of X event and get the notes I need. The longer my notes were, the more dots were displayed on the calendar. However, the calendar on the right pane does not display the number of notes you have. To see how many notes I have, I had to check the left sidebar for the total.

Map ideas with Canvas

Drag notes, draw lines, see the big picture

I’m always looking to learn new tips and tricks to get the most out of Obsidian. Even if it’s the most minor thing, I want to learn something new. Without my notes, keeping track of what I want to learn, what I’ve practiced, and what I’ve completed is complicated. I can draw a line from one idea to another, so I know which order to read my notes—no need to redraw the lines since they adjust automatically as I move the cards around. I can also add some color to each one, so certain types of notes are easier to find on the board. When I get bored with a color, I can always change it.

I can go back at any time and adjust the note's size to make room for others. But I can still view the notes using the slider on the side or by scrolling directly through the note. Any Canvas note I create appears in Graph View along with all the notes in other formats. I can also add cards from my vault, drop in a few text cards for open questions, and, with a backslash, add all sorts of things from the menu, like a heading, a bullet point list, a link, and more.

Obsidian Templater to-do templates that save time

One insert creates a dated checklist of essential tasks

Using Obsidian Templater has been a huge help in speeding up how I structure my daily notes and project pages. Before, I wasted time manually typing out basic headers, checklists, or metadata for every new note. Now, I only need to trigger a Templater script to get the format I need for that specific note.

The extra time lets me finish more, so I feel less stressed. I can always go back to my templates folder and tweak the templates. Every Monday, I open a blank note and run my “Monday plan” template. It drops in a short list: Task 1 (due today), Task 2 (due Wednesday), and Task 3 (due Friday). I swap the labels for real tasks, add a quick link to the source note, and start on what’s due that day. I make sure the template has checkboxes so I can keep track of what I haven’t completed. All this makes my projects easier to track and my progress impossible to miss.

Turn Obsidian into your weekly command center

When I use Canvas, Calendar, and Template together, it makes my note-taking process a lot easier. Thanks to Calendar, I can click a specific day when I know I’ll need my notes and continue with my day. I don’t waste time searching or scrolling through my notes. Templater drops the note structure I need in, so the only thing I need to do is start typing. And, for those times when the text doesn’t make sense. Canvas can give me a visual of my notes and show me how everything connects. These are the plugins that help me keep my notes together, speed up my workflow, and get my projects moving.