Why I Don't Use Readwise for Book Notes in Obsidian (& What I Do Instead)

[@Krizzler77]

I only ever read physical books most of the time so I'm happy I saw this video before I tried to force myself into accepting digital books just for ReadWise. MindNode looks great and even better that you've given us a way to sync it with Obsidian. Excellent video!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful 😊

[@jefframirez1]

This is a great, high quality video, Mike! Keep up the great work and I hope we get to see more like these.

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks! Appreciate the kind words, glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@shinesilently]

Really enjoyed the video and the concise walkthrough of your workflow. Thank you!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

[@RichardMikulskij]

What a great video and philophosy nuggets on this subject! Gonna take a few tips here on board, Earned my sub!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@turnseye]

🤯 great workflow, I think the slight friction to capture notes in the mind map prevents mindless over-highlighting from a Readwise workflow. I’m gonna try it!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks! You nailed it, I call it “intentional friction” 😊

[@matthewarmstrong4999]

Thanks Mike! This is super helpful as I'm getting to know Obsidian.

[@MikeSchmitz]

Glad it was helpful!

[@glholman]

Great video, really helped with new ideas for Book reviewing and note-taking. My Qs are twofold: (1) how are you interacting with your mindmap app using your phone so that is efficient given that we are generally tying up both hands to read and focus intensely on the book reading; and (2) I am using zotero as my single source of truth concerning citation library and metadata because I need to cite reference works properly for books with page numbers, etc. for use in more academically oriented papers and ultimately my own books. So if you could, would speak to how you connect the dots on that use case if you happen to have thought that through and done any of that. Many thanks, I really like your style and mental model for discussing your workflow.

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks for the kind words! Re: my workflow, I usually have my phone with me but I'm not holding it while reading. Most of the time it's on the coffee table next to me (not in my pocket) but I'm only reaching for it when I encounter something that resonates with me. I'm not trying to capture everything that sounds important from the book (if I was, it'd be too much and I'd be constantly going back and forth). I actually find the rhythm of pausing to capture something gives me space to think a little bit more about the idea I'm capturing, which I like. Unfortunately, I have no experience with Zotero so I'm not sure how to answer your second question though.

[@NicoLargi]

Interesting video. Love the emoji idea. I find I'm highlighting way too much. Gonna try this instead! Thanks!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Awesome! Love to know how it goes or what changes you end up making to my workflow 😊

[@yarikv]

Excellent content! You're really smart. Thank you so much, I appreciate that.

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks for the kind words 😊 Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MrMAXPOWER117]

Hi Mike, thank you for this Video. I am struggeling with my notetaking, or more specific: with the use of my notes i have taken. i read physical books more than digital ones and my progress looks like yours (from what you said). I started with "rewriting" the book in my notes. Than i switched to post its in my book, i tried Obsidian but made a too big and not functional system, i am lazy and dont fill the system, and so on and so on. now i am using Microsoft OneNote because its easy accessable for me via phone, tablet and pc, its free, and it helps me to take notes and scribbles. I take notes of "meaningfull text" (in my opinion) and write it in OneNote. Thats all. At the moment i am not happy with what i am doing with my notes... i do nothing with it. My plan is to reread my notes everytime i need knowledge on this topic. I remember some of my notes or things out of the book just because i remember. At next, i will use your idea for summarize the book in a few sentences and structure my notes a bite more. Maybe doing a visual thing aswell (maybe not a standard mindmap, but similiar). Thanks!

[@MikeSchmitz]

This system has helped me a ton - hope it works for you too! 😊

Hey Mike, thanks a lot for sharing your workflow! :-) Really loved it. One thing, I can't get my mind around though: How do use the mindnote app on the iphone? Is not everything tiny? And does the typing not make you crazy? Or do you have some kind of bluetooth keyboard for it?

[@MikeSchmitz]

I don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard, but I don’t like at the whole kind map often on iOS. Usually I’m focused on the section I’m currently reading, so the size isn’t an issue. But if you were trying to browse your finished mind maps, the phone would be terrible for that.

[@DanteMishima]

I would absolutely love physical books. It's just difficult to get physical books in my country

[@MikeSchmitz]

That’s fair! To be honest, my workflow would still with digital books. But I know I’d personally struggle a lot more to stay focused on what I was reading.

[@paulywalnutz5855]

great content bro!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words 😊

[@mel-in-portland]

Thanks for your interesting video! Do you have the "Save" function turned off? I'd like to save this video to come back to!

[@MikeSchmitz]

Thanks for the kind words 😊 I do not have the ability to save a video turned off. Just went through the settings and couldn’t find anything like that. Can you save other videos besides mine? That’s weird. It does show up for me on these videos, so unfortunately I’m not quite sure what to do here.

[@mel-in-portland]

@@MikeSchmitz Thanks for the prompt reply! Oh yes, KZbin users can categorize and save videos if that function is turned on. Your video only has Thumbs Up/Down and Share options located on the right under your video, but other channels have several other options such as Clip, Save, Report, Thanks, Transcript, etc. Most do have Save functionality turned on. I would add a screenshot of this, but I don't think I can add a Screenshot to a comment.

[@MikeSchmitz]

@@mel-in-portland I know which button you're talking about, but unfortunately, I can't find a setting for it anywhere...I do have every permissions and sharing feature I can find turned on though. For what it's worth, I can view this video without being logged in and I still see the Save button (but obviously have to log in in order to actually save it). I will keep digging though!

[@mel-in-portland]

@@MikeSchmitz thank you! :)

[@M4XD4B0ZZ]

Does anybody know an android alternative? 🤔

[@MikeSchmitz]

I would give a serious look to Xmind

[@M4XD4B0ZZ]

@@MikeSchmitz thank you!

[@clintonmakworo2172]

😊

[@gnostie]

You should be clear in the video title that you’re using a physical book system and not trick people into clicking on your video thinking that they’ll get advice on their workflow.

[@MikeSchmitz]

Definitely not trying to trick people, but my workflow still works (maybe is even better) if you read digital books. In a lot of ways, that could actually be better because you could have the Kindle app and MindNode open in split screen on the same device. IMHO the main points are still completely valid (insert friction from just highlighting, decide what really is important for you, only transfer the really great stuff).

[@valentinoserusi8337]

Looking at your home screen, you removed omnifocus, don't you use it anymore?if yes why?

[@MikeSchmitz]

I actually don’t use OmniFocus anymore. It’s a great app, but was overkill for my needs. Currently I’m using Todoist because there’s a plugin that syncs tasks with Obsidian 😊

[@valentinoserusi8337]

@@MikeSchmitz thanks for answer, yeah I see plug-in for Todoist, should be good a plug-in for omnifocus too but I think not possible unfortunately but I love the new OF4, however could be interesting a video on how you use Todoist(and sync to obsidian)

[@valentinoserusi8337]

While seems you use obsidian for write and note, what your drafts use instead?

[@MikeSchmitz]

That's a great idea! Adding it to the list 🙂

[@MikeSchmitz]

​@@valentinoserusi8337 I used Drafts mainly for quick capture, then I transfer over the good stuff to Obsidian. This is actually part of my Creativity Flywheel. If you're interested in learning more about that, I'm doing a webinar that will cover parts of it shortly: live.obsidianuniversity.com/