How I Feel After Leaving Obsidian

Key Wellness / Self-Care / Productivity Takeaways (from the subtitles)

Shift from “note storage” to “expression through dialogue”

• In Obsidian, the workflow emphasized:
  • capture → organizing → distilling
• But the expression step was weak because there wasn’t an outlet:
  • no institution/paper
  • blogs felt repetitive for a small audience
• After moving to YouTube, the workflow became more like:
  • read a few pages → talk/discuss/explore the idea immediately → express it in a video
• Outcome: they felt it supported deeper understanding and clearer memory.

Use structure (series/curriculum) as a cognitive constraint

• They group content into series tied to books/topics, forming a kind of “curriculum.”
• Then they ask:
  • “Does this content relate to that series?”
• Based on the answer:
  • Yes → pull it into the right thread/episode
  • No → save it for later
• Why it helps: this constraint manages focus and reduces overload by preventing constant branching.

Reduce “capture pressure”; increase “thinking after consumption”

• They still capture (saving links/notes), but slower and lighter than before.
• Their main productivity win comes from:
  • consuming via videos/podcasts
  • then pausing to think through ideas afterward
• They report that grappling with ideas feels easier with audio/video than with books.

Choose inputs that match your learning preference (and remove friction)

• Their personal preference is verbal + visual (video/lectures).
• Reading has higher friction for them:
  • they can read only a few pages (often 2–3) before wanting to wrestle with ideas
• Videos help them:
  • consume faster
  • grapple while watching/listening
  • revisit earlier episodes to see how understanding evolved

Re-explore ideas by revisiting your own prior work

• They refer back to earlier videos in the same series to maintain continuity and context.
• They even use their own past videos to estimate:
  • “Where my understanding was at that time”
• They then apply that to improve understanding of related material.

Aim for “effective notes,” not “more notes”

• They’re not necessarily trying to create more notes.
• Instead, they believe the learning is more effective.
• Example outcome:
  • better recall of key assumptions and arguments (and the reasons behind them)
  • because ideas were processed through conversation and explanation rather than memorizing written phrases.

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Presenters or Sources Mentioned

• Self (the video creator / “I”): narrator of the series and workflow changes
• Zotero: notes/citation tool
• Obsidian: original note system
• YouTube: current recording/note expression method
• Kai: task manager they reference (generic or specific)
• Ecological psychology: the field/series
• Turvey: author whose lectures/book they plan to use
• Introduction to Ecological Psychology (book mentioned)
• Activist affordances (book mentioned)