When I switched to Obsidian after using a myriad of apps in the past few months, I realized that it's an extremely powerful tool that offers a lot more than just note-taking abilities. From that point, I started using Obsidian as my digital journal, a gamified habit-tracker, and whatnot. While these are all useful features, I figured that those who are using Obsidian for the first time may find it quite overwhelming. There are a bunch of options that aren't present on standard note-taking apps, plugins that offer extra features, and a slightly unfamiliar UI. Even if you get past these obstacles, Obsidian has so many features buried under the hood that you may have missed a lot of them.

So, I went on a feature hunt to find lesser-known Obsidian tips and tricks that improve your productivity and make a huge difference when using the app regularly. From creating a central note linked to all other related notes to leveraging AI to summarize or compile your notes, there's something for everyone. These tips are useful for students who take digital notes in class or for those who use Obsidian as a personal knowledge management tool or database. I've also made sure to skip common or well-known tips like creating a daily template, syncing notes to your smartphone, etc.

5 Create MOCs to organize your notes

A central note to link them all

If you've created a database inside Obsidian, chances are that you have multiple notes related to the same topic. In such cases, it's best to create a central note — known as a Map Of Contents (MOC) — that links to other related notes. This acts like a hub for that topic.

To do this, add [[note name]] to the MOC. For example, if you have a note that says 'XDA Pitches', add [[XDA Pitches]]. Then, enable the Dataview plugin and add the following line to the MOC note:

```dataview
LIST WHERE !contains(file.outlinks, [[notename MOC]])

4 Generate a calendar view

View completed tasks at a glance

When you have multiple tasks and deliverables, creating a calendar view is an excellent way to keep your deadlines in check. You can use Obsidian's dataview plugin to create a dashboard that consists of the calendar view. You can add tasks with their respective priorities and deadlines.

Once you complete a task, you can mark it as complete on the dashboard, and it will reflect immediately on the calendar. You can also use the calendar to determine the days on which you were most productive.

3 Visually map ideas with the built-in Canvas

Create flowcharts for simpler workflows

Sometimes, visualizing your workflow can give you a better understanding of it as opposed to viewing it in text form. That's where the Canvas plugin comes into play. You can create a map of your workflow, algorithms for a piece of code, or even a map that links multiple notes.

Create a new canvas from the Obsidian sidebar. Then, right-click on it to add cards, link notes from your vault, etc. Drag one end of the box to create connections between multiple elements. You can also add media files, links, YouTube videos, etc.

2 Make notes more searchable with tags

Use layered tags

Obsidian already has a capable search engine to help you look for specific notes. However, adding tags to your notes makes it easier to look for documents that belong to a certain theme. For instance, I have several notes related to self-hosted apps, so I've tagged them all with #selfhost.

Along with that, you can also add sub-tags within each note to further connect related files. Some self-hosted services are deployed in Docker, and others on a Linux system. So, I use #Linux and #Docker to further segregate them. This makes organizing your files simpler.

1 Link Obsidian with NotebookLM for AI goodness

Let AI do the hard work

The final and best trick to getting the most out of Obsidian is to sync it with NotebookLM. For those unaware, NotebookLM is Google's AI-powered research platform that can accept sources from multiple platforms — including Obsidian. All you have to do is export a note from Obsidian in the Markdown format and upload it to NotebookLM.

Once you upload your notes, you can ask NotebookLM questions related to them. If you have a large database of notes, you can get summaries, key pointers, answers to queries, etc. If you're preparing for a test, just feed all your notes into NotebookLM and get concise versions for simple learning. You can even create audio overviews!

Save time and effort with these tips

Obsidian can either slow you down with a plethora of features and options that confuse you, or you can learn a few quick tips that can positively impact your workflow. Out of these tips, creating a calendar view and exporting my notes to NotebookLM are the ones I use the most — especially in the past few weeks. Since I have multiple deadlines from different clients, the calendar view lets me plan my work and allot my time judiciously. On the other hand, using NotebookLM for summaries and extracting key points that I made note of during meetings has been a huge blessing.