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Thanks to a handy graph view, infinite canvas, community plugins, and a robust markdown-based editor, Obsidian goes beyond being a mere note-taking tool and can become an ultimate digital sanctuary. You can use Obsidian to take notes, create a PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) system, outline ideas on a giant whiteboard, and collect information for research purposes. Among its many possibilities, I use Obsidian as a digital journal. Continue reading if you may want to replicate the same in your vault.

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Why Obsidian?

There is no shortage of digital journal apps out there. However, the likes of Day One, Apple Journal, and Everlog are available on specific platforms only. Besides, most of these apps have a paid subscription to unlock all the features.

Here’s where Obsidian comes into play. It’s free (you don’t need to pay for Sync add-on as long as you use one of the cloud storage services like OneDrive, Google Drive, or iCloud to sync notes), accessible on all the major operating systems, and comes with ample features and plugins to create an ideal personal digital diary.

Use Daily Notes plugin

Obsidian enables some of the core plugins by default. One such plugin is Daily Notes, which creates today’s daily note with a single click. I have set Obsidian to open a daily note at startup, and I am organizing them under a dedicated Daily Notes folder. The first step is to create a new folder so that your daily notes remain separated from other notes.

1. Open Obsidian and create a new folder from the top menu. Give it a relevant name.

   

2. Head to Settings.
3. Select Daily notes.
4. Select a new file location and pick your newly created folder.

   

5. Enable the toggle beside Open daily note on startup.

   

From now on, whenever you open Obsidian, the system creates a new note under the Daily Notes folder you’ve created.

Set hotkeys for Daily Notes

Obsidian supports over 250 hotkeys to navigate your preferred functions without lifting your fingers from the keyboard. I have set a keyboard shortcut to open today’s daily note.

1. Head to Obsidian Settings and select Hotkeys.
2. Search for “daily” at the top.
3. Select the + button beside Open today’s daily note and press the hotkey you want to assign.

   

Although Obsidian comes with robust markdown support, I prefer a standard toolbar at the top. If you are among them, use the steps below to enable it.

1. Head to Obsidian Settings and select Community Plugins. Select Browse.

   

2. Search and install the Editing Toolbar plugin for your vault.

   

3. Enable it and go back to your daily note.

   

This plugin also unlocks more color options and highlighter shades for your daily notes, which definitely helps in adding a personal and colorful touch.

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One of the biggest benefits of using Obsidian is the ability to create connections between your notes. You can link your related daily notes and create a connection between them.

For example, when you are writing a daily note and want to pull out an old entry (or memory) from the past for specific reasons, you can simply type [[date]]and link it to your current note. When you hit a significant milestone in your personal life, you can link some of the older notes where you were struggling in the past.

Use callouts in daily journal entries

I use callouts in daily notes all the time. It’s the best way to make specific text stand out in a daily note. Let’s check it out in action.

1. Open a daily note in Obsidian.
2. Type /insert callout and give it a title and note content.

   

3. Hit Enter and see your callout block in action.

   

When you have hundreds of entries in daily journal, it’s smart to use tags to organize them effectively. You can insert moods like Happy, Sad, Angry, Calm, Cheerful, and Surprised as tags and search for them in no time.

1. Open a daily note in Obsidian and type #tag.
2. Repeat the same in other daily notes.
3. You can now search all your daily notes based on tags at the top.

   

Iconize your daily notes

This is another neat way to decorate your daily notes with a personal touch. By default, they look basic at best with date, month, and year. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Head to the community plugins, search and install Iconize.
2. Enable the Iconize plugin.

   

3. Right-click on a daily note and select change icon. Pick another icon from the list. You can change icon color as well.

   

Transform your digital diary with Obsidian

Obsidian is one of the most versatile productivity tools out there. It’s a place where thoughts flow freely, ideas begin to germinate, and connections spark. The possibilities are endless here. If you dig Obsidian, check our separate guide to learn about top tips and tricks in Obsidian to boost your productivity.