NotebookLM and Obsidian are the dynamic duo I did ...

Taking notes is one thing many people do all through the day. I do know I am unable to get via mine with out setting reminders or jotting down a couple of issues to jog my reminiscence. It is like I am nonetheless at school and note-taking is my saving grace earlier than the following take a look at — besides as a substitute of finding out, I am simply attempting to not overlook one thing I must do.

Whether or not I am in a gathering or researching a brand new subject for a narrative, I take notes as I am going. I strive to determine what is going on on with a brand new program or make sense of a subject that is getting traction these days, and I jot issues down alongside the way in which. My favourite app to make use of is Obsidian. It is nice for maintaining tabs on all types of matters, and a free, easy-to-use note-taking app that is grow to be fashionable with thousands and thousands of customers.

I am additionally a giant proponent of NotebookLM and figured why not attempt to use Google’s note taking app to assist me decipher a few of my notes in Obsidian. What I discovered was truly fairly stunning. Not solely is my handwriting atrocious, however my notes will be actually onerous to decipher. Fortunately, AI was in a position to assist me spot some patterns.

Obsidian is straightforward to make use of and easy to combine

I used to be happy with convey it over

Should you’re utilizing Obsidian, you may open completely different sorts of notes and use them for absolutely anything. On the finish of the day, you are the one typing in them, so it is fully as much as you the way you utilize them. I like to make use of Obsidian to maintain observe of my week. I normally have a be aware with reminders for every day, together with one for freelance matters I wish to analysis for story concepts. I will even make a every day be aware for random ideas or issues I must look into.

Fortunately, there are a couple of methods to combine the notes I preserve in my Obsidian vault. I can export them as PDFs and add them to NotebookLM. It is easy sufficient, however you do have to avoid wasting every be aware individually. That may current a little bit of a problem, because you may lose the connections between your notes — and the AI might not perceive how the whole lot matches collectively. So, utilizing Markdown hyperlinks is essential.

Markdown is the key ingredient for simple integration

You’ll be able to copy, paste, and get the hyperlinks

As a result of NotebookLM works with Markdown, I take advantage of Markdown hyperlinks in my Obsidian notes. I depend on these hyperlinks to attach my notes and assist me perceive which matters are a part of the identical analysis thread. I do preserve them in folders in my vault, however relatively than opening one be aware after which one other simply to toggle between them, a Markdown hyperlink lets me soar from one to the opposite.

Meaning I can copy and paste textual content from Obsidian into NotebookLM, and it understands how the notes are related… all due to the Markdown hyperlinks. That is confirmed once I use one of many many options that NotebookLM gives to assist folks research and do analysis. In fact, I additionally fill out my pocket book with different analysis hyperlinks outdoors of Obsidian to color a fuller image of no matter subject I am diving into, particularly if I am beginning with notes I uploaded from Obsidian.

Thoughts Map helps me join my analysis additional

I uploaded an inventory of the notes I had opened immediately and threw them into NotebookLM’s Thoughts Map. It mapped out all of my notes, displaying how they’re related and greatest navigate via them. It even discovered elements of my analysis and notes that I hadn’t related through Markdown hyperlinks and grouped them collectively. Which may look like a small factor, however I accomplish that a lot analysis on completely different matters that it may be robust to maintain observe of the whole lot.

Granted, I do not at all times put the whole lot into Obsidian. However I do continuously hyperlink again to older notes from new ones. Utilizing Thoughts Map helps me make deeper connections to notes I could have missed linking. I additionally actually loved the newer NotebookLM device, Reviews. I will add in a few of my scribblings (which can learn like they’re from a madman) and Reviews can flip that right into a briefing doc to assist me higher perceive each my very own writing and the analysis hyperlinks I’ve added from across the net. Since NotebookLM makes use of no matter I present as its supply materials, it may pull the solutions I would like straight from my analysis.

Generally, I simply use it to summarize and assist me set up

I can ask inquiries to remind me in regards to the subject

I do loads in Obsidian to maintain observe of the whole lot happening in each my skilled and private life. Since I am at my laptop for many of the day, I converted from the iPhone’s Notes app to Obsidian as a result of it is a lot simpler to prepare and customise with completely different options. Now that NotebookLM has a cellular app as effectively, it opens up much more flexibility in how I combine it with Obsidian.

I can return into Obsidian to revise or increase what I’ve written and benefit from its big selection of options. Conserving Obsidian tidy additionally improves how effectively NotebookLM can course of and use the content material — particularly as I make updates. As soon as I sync the 2, I can use NotebookLM like a chatbot, asking questions to look deeper into the analysis. The extra I take advantage of these two and combine them, the higher they will be, which is one thing I am genuinely so enthusiastic about.