Three settings to take better notes

When note-taking, small notes are better¹. There is low-hanging fruit in the Obsidian settings to encourage writing them.

1. Increase the font size

Consider this note.

Screenshot of the Obsidian app. The text is set in 16px and roughly fills half the screen.

This is the default font size. The text only fills up half the screen. The note feels short and incomplete.

The same note in the previous screenshot on 20px. The text now fill almost the whole space

The same note, but with an increased text size. The note fills the space. It feels complete.

Writing in 16px or writing in 20px is the difference between mind-mapping with a pencil or a marker. In your personal notes, go for big.

Adjust the font size in Settings / Appearance / Font / Font size.

The title of an Evergreen note is crucial. It contains the full idea in a concise claim.

The same note as previously with the title of the note displayed inline

Have this title always visible to reword and improve as the note evolves.

I used to maintain two note headings: The file title, and a # title tag in the note. Don’t be like past me. Remove the unnecessary overhead.

Enable inline titles in Settings / Appearance / Advanced / Inline titles.

The same note in Obsidian with a font that is almost monospaced and looks like a typewrite font

Choose a font that makes you feel like doing messy, bold, creative thinking. iA Writer Quattro works for me.

Set a font in Settings / Appearance / Font / Text font.

Our digital environment affects how we think.

These simple adjustments to Obsidian improve the ease of taking notes, ultimately fostering a more creative and productive note-taking experience.

Shorter notes encourage Atomicity and dense linking. Also, the effort per note is low. Therefore, you create more notes. This gives you more to work with. ↩