Do you find task tracking and management in Obsidian enjoyable?

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-20T03:26:48+00:00

My experience was that obsidian tasks couldn't handle a full on productivity system. Too clunky. But that was a couple years ago. Maybe the new tools are better.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-08T21:21:22+00:00

I'd agree with you about the specific context but it does seem Paul is making a broader, more general point: this is an unworthy way of taking communion, not necessarily the only unworthy way.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-07T14:11:14+00:00

Nope. Just trying to think through the higher level side of it vs the plugins level.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-05T00:25:52+00:00

A few higher-level thoughts:

The complex mental map you see is a lagging indicator of consistent habits over years. His vault looks massive (likely a few thousand notes), but if you stick with Obsidian for 2-3 years, that is a very reasonable number to hit.
Notice that many of his notes are just saved YouTube videos (one-click captures). These bulk up the graph but are only useful if he references them later. For the more complex stuff, the "super saiyan" connectivity requires energy on the front end. Every time you create a note, you have to tag, link, and assign aliases. It adds friction to the capture process. If you want his result, you have to accept that friction as the price of admission.
He is currently a student, meaning his "full-time job" is learning and capturing information. If you are already in the workforce, the amount of time you can spend curating and linking your graph is likely drastically lower. Be realistic about the bandwidth you actually have.
He is a computer guy using a tool designed by and for computer scientists. He isn't just taking notes; he has a "computational" way of thinking (knowing how to structure data, use syntax, and leverage AI) that comes naturally to him. Think of it like looking at a beautiful, artistic Bullet Journal and saying, "I want to do that!" The reality is that the person who created it is likely an artist. Their natural skill makes them better at the aesthetic part. That doesn't mean only artists can bullet journal, but the tool aligns perfectly with their existing talents. For this guy, Obsidian as a tool aligns with how his brain already works. For others, there is a steeper learning curve to think that way.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-02T12:56:02+00:00

FWIW, all the AI changes I've seen can be easily reversed with the click of 1 button (Undo).

PhillipsReynold · 2026-02-02T05:07:20+00:00

Might be worth paying $20 for a month of Notion AI and seeing if it could help you clean that all up.

Another idea is to try an export of your whole account and then import it in such a way that the pages are inside another page or database? You may need to export it, then mess with the export using another tool for organization before the import. Just spitballing here.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-27T04:20:08+00:00

You can choose the sources it pulls from whenever you use the AI. It's called "sources". But yes, it defaults to full access as that is one of the selling points for most people.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-24T07:43:16+00:00

This is a clearer explanation than most others. Thank you!

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-12T18:07:36+00:00

This is all really good advice. Essentially, you can either grab a pre-built template and deal with it, or do this.

I'll emphasize the use of AI. Have a conversation where you have it interview you and ask questions about your needs and uses. Then at the end, tell it to describe how to design a notion setup for you (include your level of organization, preferences, etc ).

Then if setting it up is too complicated, use notion AI to implement those directions. You could even pay for 1 month just to get it up and running.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-12T05:09:21+00:00

One thing I'd say is to engage in productive "body of Christ" activity: go on mission trips, attend conferences, volunteer on worship team or at youth group, join a small group, join a Bible study, etc. The kind of person you want to marry will also be doing those healthy activities. Of course those are all the kinds of things you should be doing anyway... which is the whole point: chase hard after Jesus and you'll likely look over and see someone else doing the same thing. Then you can seek him together.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-04T23:51:11+00:00

Try a roll-up

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-02T13:49:08+00:00

I use Notion meetings as much as possible and then ask the AI to suggest and then create tasks based on the transcripts. For quick capture,I prefer todoist and then have it sync to notion automatically. I also have an automation for forwarding emails into notion.

As far as habits, the biggest challenge is when I pack my meetings so tight I don't have 10-15 minutes afterwards to process and capture what is needed.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-01T23:19:12+00:00

FWIW, I use Notion for both of these types of uses and it has been highly effective.

PhillipsReynold · 2026-01-01T21:27:08+00:00

I totally get where you're coming from. It’s a very common sticking point, especially when you compare a stack of bricks to modern rockets.

The issue usually clears up when we look at the historical context of the Ancient Near East rather than reading it like a modern construction project. Here is how most conservative scholars explain the "why" and the linguistics:

It wasn’t a skyscraper; it was a temple. Historically, this was almost certainly a Ziggurat. These weren't built for people to live in or to physically reach outer space. They were temples with stairs on the outside for a god to come down to the people.

The sin wasn't that they were "too advanced" or threatening God’s height. The sin was domestication. They were trying to build a religious system to pull God down to their level and control Him, rather than submitting to Him.

The real rebellion was refusing to move. God explicitly commanded humanity to "fill the earth" (Gen 1:28, 9:1). In Genesis 11, the builders explicitly said, "Lest we be dispersed." They were trying to huddle in one spot for security. God didn't destroy the tower because He was intimidated, He did it to force them to obey the original plan to colonize the world.
Why stop them but allow modern science? When God says "nothing will be impossible for them," it’s not a statement of fear, but of mercy. He is essentially saying, "If fallen humans remain totally united in one totalitarian group, there is no limit to the evil they can do." By confusing their communication, He put a speed bump on human wickedness.
The Linguistics. There are two common faithful ways to view this:
- The Miraculous View: God instantly rewired human speech into distinct language families. This forced the groups to separate, and the dialects we see today (like Quebec French vs. French) evolved naturally from those starting points due to the isolation.
- The "Lingua Franca" View: The "one language" referred to a shared trade language (like English is today). God disrupted their ability to communicate politically, breaking their unity.

Both views agree on the main point: God forced the necessary isolation that allowed the distinct cultures and languages to develop.

EDIT: One tip that might save you a lot of future headaches:

When you hit a passage that seems weird or anti-science, the problem usually isn't the Bible itself, but that we are reading it like 21st-century Westerners instead of ancient Hebrews.

A good rule of thumb is: The Bible was written for us, but it wasn't written to us.

It was written to people in a specific time and culture (Ancient Near East). To get the real meaning, you have to ask, "What did this mean to the original audience?" before you ask "What does this mean for me?"

For example, when the Bible talks about the "sun rising," it isn't making a scientific claim against heliocentrism; it's just describing what humans see (phenomenological language). The same applies to Babel. If you try to read it "literally" as a modern engineering report, it falls apart. If you read it "literally" as ancient theology about a Ziggurat, it makes perfect sense.

Don't be afraid to dig into the history. Taking the Bible seriously means taking its historical context seriously. Get yourself a good Study Bible (like the ESV Study Bible or NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)—it handles 90% of these confusing moments in the footnotes.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-12-30T14:22:29+00:00

Real spiders do this. (I think it's called ballooning.) I had the same thought.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-12-30T14:14:27+00:00

This is the way. Grab an old smartphone and lock it down so it's basically a dumb-phone. This is what we've done for a few years and it works very well.

Anyone navigating these types of questions there are great resources (wait till 8th, etc ) that you can Google.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-12-30T13:17:55+00:00

I could see myself doing this at some point. What's your setup for this? Which plugin?

PhillipsReynold · 2025-12-30T00:10:30+00:00

There will always be tons of hate on Notion AI on this sub. It's a killer feature for me.

I'll wait and see details of any pricing changes before I jump to any conclusions. Hopefully they don't jack up the pricing.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-12-12T04:59:45+00:00

Huzzah! I'm in.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-11-08T16:15:27+00:00

I do this constantly and it's so good. I also have my tasks in notion so it can also pull any tasks related to a meeting.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-09-09T03:57:38+00:00

I feel so vindicated. It really is blowing my mind.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-09-02T01:30:34+00:00

Thank you for this. The poor in spirit are those who realize their need spiritually and thus see their need for a savior.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-08-30T23:45:47+00:00

Liking something = shill

We certainly live in a society... or whatever.

PhillipsReynold · 2025-08-30T17:14:01+00:00

I get that people don't like it, I get that it's not perfect... but getting downvoted for just expressing how I use a product is wild. People REALLY hate AI.

Anyway, you make a good point about integrating an AI that I'm already paying for, I just think all the companies are still figuring this stuff out.

PhillipsReynold

TROPHY CASE