Organize your world’s information

Part of Google’s original mission statement was to “organize the world’s information”. While they’re imperfect, I think they’ve done far more toward that goal than any other company in history. You can search for almost anything from “the world’s information” and they’ll find it for you.

While Google is great at organizing the world’s information, they’re less good at organizing your information.

Their personal tools, such as Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive, all have solid ways to search through your personal info. The problem is three-fold, though:

1. Those are separate buckets, and you might not know where to start.
2. The search features in those tools (particularly on Google Drive) are nowhere near as fast as a traditional Google Search.
3. Much of your information isn’t in Google products. It could be in various Apple Tools, Evernote, Notion or even on paper. Being scattered can make it hard to find what you want.

This is a problem I’m constantly working on in my life, though I know it’s one that I will never fully solve. In my mind, though, the effort to continually improve it is worth it. Every day, I’m able to tighten things up just a tiny bit more and make it a little easier to find what I’m looking for.

Obsidian

My primary tool for that right now is Obsidian, though the exact tool you use isn’t the point of this post. As I pour more and more data into it, it becomes smarter about helping me find what I need.

The problem, of course, is that I still have a ton of information in various other products, and that’s not changing anytime soon.

My goal with Obsidian to be able to answer questions such as:

• Who is that client we met with at the beginning of May?
• Who said that great quote “xx”?
• Why did I decide to start reading this book?
• Who do I know that is an Enneagram 5?

Emails will still be in Gmail, photos in Google Photos, and long-form content in Google Drive. I hope some day one superapp can query all of them at once, though it seems unlikely. For now, if I can just get my core info into Obsidian, it’ll go a long way toward getting me quick answers about my world.