Note Taking: Knowledge Base Approach

Recently I published a post about overall Obsidian usage. Today I'd like to share some tips on how I organize my knowledge base (task management deserves a separate post 😉).

The last few years I work as a technical leader at different levels (from 1-2 teams to the division with 5-7 teams). So it's really important for me to remember the technical context for each component under my supervision, the customers I work with, roadmaps, agreements, deadlines and statuses of ongoing activities.

So I came up with the following structure:

✏️ Projects. This domain contains information about time-limited activities: key technical architecture details, requirements, limitations, milestones, stakeholders, etc.

✏️ Product. I work in a product company, so I keep notes regarding product areas I’m responsible for. I organize them by components or architecture concerns like Security, Backup\Restore, Data Streaming, etc. Additionally I have sections for common parts like plans for the release, researches, quality tracking, etc.

✏️ References. This domain is about materials that are subject of my professional interests. I split them into soft skills and technical skills. I usually write short summaries in my own words for quick reference and add links to the initial sources for the reference.

✏️ People. As a leader I work with the people on their growth, so I track communication history with all agreements, roadmap and feedbacks.

✏️ Templates. Obsidian allows using notes templates. I have templates for meeting minutes, ADRs and for some other cases. They help me quickly create notes with a predefined structure.

✏️ Archive. Something that is not actual anymore. I don't delete outdated notes, I move them to the archive for the history.

Additionally to the folder structure I actively use cross-references between notes and tags.

The described approach works for me, but I don't guarantee it will work for you. That's why I recommend to check 2-3 widely used techniques like Second Brain and pick one to begin with. Start with the simplest option and step-by-step adapt it to your needs and personal convenience.

#softskills #productivity