What Steph Ango Writes About Obsidian and Note-Taking

Updated

Steph Ango writes about Obsidian and note-taking as part of a broader argument about tools, files, and thinking. The two most directly relevant essays are “How I use Obsidian” (September 2023) and “Evergreen notes turn ideas into objects that you can manipulate” (September 2022). Around them sit related pieces on file ownership, minimalism, and tool design — “File over app” (July 2023), “Great tools choose to be bad at some things” (November 2022), and “What can we remove?” (June 2024). Read together, they describe a personal workflow and a set of opinions about what note-taking software should and shouldn’t do.

The two core essays

“How I use Obsidian”

This is the practical entry point: a walkthrough of Ango’s own setup rather than a general tutorial. It sits in the Writing section of the site and is dated September 2023. If you want to see how one experienced user organizes notes in Obsidian — rather than a feature list — start here.

“Evergreen notes turn ideas into objects that you can manipulate”

This essay is about the note-taking method, not the app. The title states the central claim: evergreen notes are ideas made into objects you can move, combine, and revise. It explains why notes written as durable, self-contained units are more useful than disposable captures. Read this if you’re deciding how to write notes; read “How I use Obsidian” if you’re deciding where to keep them.

The surrounding themes

The Obsidian posts don’t stand alone. Several nearby essays supply the reasoning behind the workflow:

  • “File over app” (July 2023) — the case for keeping your notes in plain files you control, rather than locked inside an application.
  • “Great tools choose to be bad at some things” (November 2022) — why a tool that does less can be better at the thing you actually need.
  • “What can we remove?” (June 2024) — a minimalism argument applied to design and, by extension, to systems like a note vault.
  • “Don’t delegate understanding” (August 2023) — why the act of writing notes yourself matters, rather than outsourcing comprehension.
  • “Concise explanations accelerate progress” (August 2023) — a writing principle that shapes how the notes themselves are phrased.

The site’s topic list also tags obsidian, tools, writing, minimalism, and design, which reflects how these essays are grouped.

How to choose what to read

If you want to… Read
See a concrete Obsidian setup “How I use Obsidian”
Understand the note-writing method “Evergreen notes turn ideas into objects that you can manipulate”
Know why files matter more than apps “File over app”
Think about tool minimalism “Great tools choose to be bad at some things,” “What can we remove?”
Improve how you write notes “Concise explanations accelerate progress,” “Don’t delegate understanding”

Practical note

The site presents these as personal essays and ideas, not step-by-step software documentation. Expect opinions and worked examples from one person’s practice rather than exhaustive Obsidian instructions. For setup specifics, treat “How I use Obsidian” as a description of a workflow you can adapt, and check Obsidian’s own documentation for current menu paths and features.