Simple Task Management in Obsidian For the Digitally Overwhelmed

There’s no need for complex plugins when straightforward links and queries will do

Ellane W
Obsidian Observer

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Cartoon line drawing showing a person reaching for tasks, which are represented by small boxes with a trailing wiggly line. The person has a trolley with an open lid next to them, and we can see three tasks neatly aligned inside.
Illustration by Author

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Plain text task management has been a quest of mine for more than five years now. I started off in The Archive, tried simple lists in Text Edit, then fell deeep down the Obsidian rabbit hole for a couple of years.

Now I’m contentedly settled in a broader approach that uses, but doesn’t rely on the features of any one app. I have access to all my tasks and notes in apps like Obsidian (Mac, iOS), iA Writer (Mac, iOS), Taio (iOS), and even in the Finder itself (sans wiki links).

Obsidian is the only app I’ve found that can use embedded queries, however those are the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

Is Simple Task Management for You?

Forgetting the inconvenience for a moment, if you could successfully track your projects and tasks with a notebook and paper calendar, the kind of simple task management I’m talking about here will most definitely work for you.

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Ellane W
Obsidian Observer

Designer and educational publisher for 30 years+. Plain-text advocate. Still using paper, but less of it. https://linktr.ee/miscellaneplans