Taking consistent notes is something hard to achieve. In my opinion, it has to be considered as a proper system – with a proper organization and a strict set of rules – specifically tailored for its user. For a long time, I did not take notes on my computer. I was always unhappy with the built-in note-taking app available on my devices. What I was specifically missing was a proper versioning and history of the notes, markdown syntax and, more importantly, syncing across devices – laptop and mobile phone.
In this post, I’ll walk you through my Obsidian setup, and explain how I use Git to create a personal note-taking system that can be synced across devices with a minimal and free setup.
Syncing your notes with git
The requirements for my notes are quite low: I simply want my notes to be synced across devices. I especially want to be able to read them from my phone when I have a few minutes outside – most of the time to learn my German vocabulary. Even though the Apple note-taking app allows cross-device syncing, I could never stick with it. The only software that I was able to stick with was Obsidian: it allowed me a deep customization of the look and feel of the app, came with some very interesting plugins for my workflows – the Git and the spaced-repetition card plugins – and, most importantly, it shipped with an option to activate vim motions!
The zen of coding, the zen of taking notes
When you are used to using vim motions, having to deal with text quickly becomes a chore. All your shortcuts and muscle-memory motions are suddenly not there anymore. It felt like a huge relief to have them back inside a note-taking app on my laptop. Obsidian also allowed extensive customization: write some CSS files, and you can change the fonts, the colors, the sizes, the UI – everything. For a Neovim user, this felt truly impressive. I could finally configure my note-taking app in the same way that I configure my text editor – adding community plugins, allowing full personalization and tailoring of the workflows within the app.
Mobile setup
On the laptop, the setup is straightforward. Simply create a GitHub repository inside your vault. If the setup is working through your terminal, the Obsidian Git plugin will automatically be able to commit/fetch the data from the remote. No issues there.
For the phone, it was, however, more complicated. On my iPhone, there is no terminal (if you omit the iSH app). You then need a trick to somehow allow your Obsidian vault to access your Git repository from there. It’s not straightforward, but I will try to explain.
A small detail before we proceed: the Obsidian Git plugin on mobile requires an HTTPS Git URI rather than SSH. This means the repository must be configured accordingly on the laptop side before any of it touches the phone. (You must first execute the following commands at the root of your GitHub repository folder.)
- Clone the repository on your laptop:
git clone git@github.com:{your_user_name}/{your_repo_name}.git
- Set the URL to use HTTPS instead of SSH:
git remote set-url origin https://github.com/{your_user_name}/{your_repo_name}.git
- Zip the full folder
{your_repo_name}(.gitmetadata included – it is the part that actually matters the most). - Send the zip file to your phone (in my case, I used AirDrop from my laptop, but you can use another file transfer method, such as email).
The last step is to generate a GitHub personal access token – generated from the account settings, then pasted into the plugin’s configuration window on the phone. Link to the documentation.
And then it works. From there, it’s up to you to decide whether you prefer to manually sync the content to Git, or to have it happen every X minutes.
Friction removal
What I like about this setup is the friction removal when it comes to reading notes. With mobile phone access and syncing, the barrier to opening your app anywhere is reduced to virtually nothing. I think my consistent learning of German vocabulary has been improved just because of this particular friction removal. You can virtually study your notes anywhere – while waiting at a restaurant or waiting for a train on the platform – usually during times that I would otherwise spend browsing social networks on my phone.
Conclusion
Sometimes, you think that you are not putting enough dedication and willpower into your learning, when it might simply be that you are not using the right tool for your personal workflows. In my case, switching to Obsidian tremendously improved my consistency in taking notes, and also reduced the friction involved in reading my notes back.
In a way, Obsidian brought the same spirit as Neovim to note-taking: a piece of software that allows a deep and highly personalized configuration. One that allows the user to tailor the software to their specific needs, in a way that reduces overall friction and brings enjoyment – a tool that feels like home.