Creating Interlinked Notes in Obsidian

For years, my digital note-taking system was a black hole. I\'d dump articles, fleeting thoughts, and meeting notes into a folder, and they would disappear forever. It wasn\'t a knowledge base; it was a digital junk drawer. I knew there had to be a better way to connect my ideas, but every system I tried felt rigid and unnatural. That is, until I truly understood the power of a simple double bracket: [[ ]].

The moment I understood bidirectional linking

Honestly, the concept of \'bidirectional links\' sounded overly technical and intimidating at first. I just ignored it. But one day, I was looking at a note and saw a section called \'Linked Mentions\'. It showed me every other note that pointed *back* to the one I was reading. That was my \'aha\' moment. It wasn\'t just about creating a one-way street from Note A to Note B. It was about seeing the entire conversation between my ideas. I realized I could follow a train of thought forward and backward, discovering connections I never knew existed. This single feature changed my entire approach to learning and creativity.

My simple workflow for creating linked notes

I decided to keep it simple. I didn\'t need a complex system, I just needed a habit. My process boils down to one question I ask myself while writing: \'Does this concept remind me of anything else I\'ve written about?\' If the answer is yes, I create a link. It\'s that straightforward.

Creating links on the fly

The most liberating part of this process for me was realizing I could link to notes that didn\'t even exist yet. By simply typing `[[A new idea]]`, I create a placeholder. The text becomes a link, and I can click it later to flesh out that new note. This allows my writing to flow uninterrupted. I\'m not stopping to create files and folders; I\'m building the structure of my knowledge organically as I think.

Using aliases for cleaner text

Initially, my notes looked clunky. Sentences would read like, \'I read about the [[Pomodoro Technique]] and it was helpful.\' It broke the flow. Then I discovered aliases. By writing `[[Pomodoro Technique|this time management method]]`, the link still goes to the correct note, but the text reads much more naturally. It\'s a small tweak, but it made me much more likely to link frequently because it no longer disrupted my writing style.

Beyond the basics: using the graph view

I\'ll admit, when I first opened the graph view, it looked like a chaotic mess of dots and lines. I dismissed it as a gimmick. But after a few weeks of consistent linking, I opened it again. This time, I saw clusters. I saw dense hubs of notes around core topics and lonely, orphaned notes that needed more connection. It\'s not something I use every day, but when I feel stuck, I open the graph. It gives me a bird\'s-eye view of my own mind, often showing me where the next interesting connection might be hiding.

What I learned from this process

Switching to an interlinked note-taking system wasn\'t just about adopting a new tool. It forced a fundamental shift in how I engage with information. I moved from being a passive collector of facts to an active weaver of ideas. It\'s a slower, more deliberate process, but the payoff is immense. My notes are no longer a graveyard; they\'re a living, growing network that helps me think better. And it all started with two simple brackets.