Enhancing Productivity with Obsidian and Logseq: Tools for Personal Knowledge Management
Yanesha Wickramasinghe
Manager & Entrepreneur Getting Things Done With Efficiency, Intelligence and Good Communication.
Binoculars make your eyes better. Hearing aid makes your hearing better. Forklifts let you lift tons of weight. Have you ever wondered what makes your brain better? Imagine having a second brain - a cyber brain that helps you think faster, and better and lets you see connections you may have never seen!
That's where Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) software comes into the picture. We can't give our brains any superpowers (yet). We can give it the next best thing. Obsidian and Logseq are the best PKM apps out there. I've gone through a large variety of apps. Some of them are for notes. Some were for time management. Others were for managing business relationships. I've seen many whiteboard and brainstorming applications. Most of them weren't that good. Others could only do a few things well.?
Logseq and Obsidian do it all. If it doesn't there's a plugin for it. If that's not good enough, you can write your own. Logseq goes the extra mile to make everything open source under GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. That's the strongest open-source license in existence. If your code is, you can change Logseq into whatever software you want it to be.?
## Obsidian and Logseq - Not Versus
One of the reasons I favor Obsidian and Logseq over everything else is its focus on active externalism, a concept tied to the extended mind thesis. This notion posits that our minds extend beyond our physical brains, encompassing elements like paper, computers, or even Obsidian. Although Obsidian is freeware (not open source), the critical distinction lies in the format of the stored data: plain text markdown. While the small company behind Obsidian may change or vanish, my data is safely stored on my computer in plain text, providing a robust level of data security.
Offline-first approach stores data on your local device, ensuring that you have control over it, just like a Wiki. It only gets out when you decide on it. If you deal with sensitive data, Logseq will be the best option. It is open source with audited and secure code. The developers have made your to protect your privacy, unlike the cloud based service providers. Syncing across multiple devices is still available. You can use your existing cloud storage for the files if that is your desire. You are in control of your own knowledge management!
## Learn Some PKM Tricks
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Your OS comes with an app to take some notes. But Obsidian and Logseq thrive on connections and interlinks between pages or notes, replicating the fundamental principle behind the creation of the internet itself. Obsidian's graph view offers a visual representation of your interlinked knowledge, which allows you to fill gaps in your understanding incrementally. That is a very special power to be harnessed.
There are more tools and tricks accessible for visual-based organizations. Whatever you are already using is probably already built into the same app. Markdown and YAML are universally accepted standards. So you are never going to loose access to all the knowledge graphs and canvases you have made over time.?
Do you like using AI to organize and plan your notes? It's easy to connect GPT to your PKM and have even more help. You will have to trust OpenAI with your data. Most readers will find this an acceptable trade-off.
In conclusion, Obsidian and Logseq are two apps that stand as exemplary tools for personal knowledge management. Its openness, portability, flexibility, and extensive plugin ecosystem make it a compelling choice for professionals seeking to elevate their productivity and knowledge organization. You can install the app on almost any device you are using whether it is Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, or iOS.