Introduction: When the Note Count Becomes the Story
You know that moment. You open your Obsidian vault, glance at the note count, and a number stares back at you. 2,094. Two years of typing, linking, tagging, and thinking—all distilled into a single metric. But what does that number actually mean? Is it a trophy or a tombstone? A sign of diligent knowledge work or digital hoarding?
That's exactly what the Obsidian community has been wrestling with. A recent discussion with 711 upvotes and 53 comments laid bare the reality of building a substantial personal knowledge management system. People aren't just asking "how many notes?" They're asking "what now?" and "was it worth it?" This article digs into those questions, moving beyond the surface-level metrics to explore what sustainable knowledge management looks like in 2026.
The Obsidian Journey: From Blank Canvas to 2,000+ Notes
Let's set the scene. Obsidian exploded onto the productivity scene a few years back, promising a local-first, markdown-based, infinitely linkable thinking environment. For many, it was a revelation. No more walled gardens. No more proprietary formats. Just your thoughts, in your files, connected however you see fit.
The initial phase is familiar to most users. You create a few notes. You experiment with links. Maybe you try a Zettelkasten approach or set up a PARA system. The graph view is mesmerizing—a galaxy of your own making. But then, something shifts. The note count climbs from dozens to hundreds, and then into the thousands. The system that once felt liberating can start to feel… heavy. The discussion we're drawing from captures this exact transition point. It's not about starting Obsidian. It's about living with it at scale.
What's fascinating is how personal this journey is. One user's 2,094 notes might represent a tightly interlinked web of atomic ideas. Another's might be a sprawling archive of meeting notes, project plans, and half-baked thoughts. The number alone tells you almost nothing—and that's the first important lesson.
What 2,094 Notes Actually Feels Like (The Good)
When it works, it works beautifully. Imagine searching for a concept you vaguely remember exploring six months ago. Instead of sifting through folders, you type a keyword, and Obsidian's search surfaces not just the note, but all the notes linked to it. The context is preserved. You're not just retrieving information; you're rediscovering a train of thought.
Several commenters in the source thread highlighted this as the core value. One put it perfectly: "It's less about finding a specific note and more about stumbling upon connections I forgot I made." That's the magic of a linked knowledge base. The value isn't linear; it's networked. Each new note increases the potential connection points, making the whole system more valuable than the sum of its parts. This is where tools like backlinks and the graph view shift from being neat features to essential cognitive aids.
For research, writing, or complex problem-solving, this environment is incredibly powerful. You can move from a broad topic to specific details effortlessly, following paths you created yourself. It feels less like a database and more like an extension of your own memory.
The Inevitable Friction: When Scale Becomes a Burden
Now, let's talk about the friction. Because with 2,000+ notes, it's definitely there. The most common pain point mentioned? Overwhelm. The graph becomes a hairball. Search returns too many results. You forget your own naming conventions or tagging systems. A system built for clarity starts to generate its own noise.
Several users in the discussion confessed to periods of "note guilt"—knowing they had valuable information in their vault but feeling paralyzed when trying to access or use it. This often stems from two issues: inconsistent structure and the collector's fallacy.
Inconsistent structure happens naturally. You start with one method (say, atomic notes), then experiment with another (maybe MOCs - Maps of Content), and before you know it, you have five different organizational philosophies coexisting uneasily. The collector's fallacy is sneakier. It's the belief that saving a note is the same as understanding or using the information. You end up with a vault full of "might be useful someday" content that just sits there, digital dust gathering on digital pages.
This is where many PKM systems break down. The tool is capable of holding everything, so we try to put everything in it.
Community Wisdom: Answers to the Big Questions
The Reddit thread was full of sharp questions and even sharper answers from experienced users. Let's address a few directly, since they're probably on your mind too.
"Should I aim for a high note count?"
Almost universally, the answer was no. The high-count users warned against making it a goal. One analogy stuck with me: "Measuring your PKM by note count is like measuring a library by how many books it has, regardless of whether anyone reads them." Quality of connections, frequency of use, and depth of thought matter far more than raw quantity. A small, actively used vault of 200 notes is infinitely more valuable than an archive of 2,000 notes you never open.
"How do I actually find things again?"
This was a major theme. Beyond basic search, the pros recommended a combination of:
1. Strong, consistent MOCs (Maps of Content): These are index notes that act as tables of contents for topics. They don't hold all the information, but they point to where it lives.
2. Strategic use of tags vs. links: A common suggestion was to use links for strong, specific relationships and tags for broader categories or statuses (like #todo or #seedling).
3. Dataview queries: For the technically inclined, the Dataview plugin lets you create dynamic lists based on note metadata. Think "show me all notes with 'project' in the title that I modified last week."
"Is it worth going back and 'cleaning up' old notes?"
Opinions were split, but the pragmatic middle ground seemed most popular. Don't try to overhaul everything at once—that's a recipe for burnout. Instead, adopt a "just-in-time" tidying approach. When you actually need to use an old note, spend a few minutes updating links, adding a better summary, or merging it with related material. Your vault evolves as you use it, not through separate marathon reorganization sessions.
Building a Sustainable System: Practical Tips for 2026
So, based on two years of collective trial and error, what does a sustainable approach look like? Here's what I've distilled from the community and my own experience.
Start with Outputs, Not Inputs
This is the single biggest mindset shift. Don't ask "what should I put into my vault?" Ask "what do I want to get out of it?" Are you writing a book? Learning a complex skill? Managing research? Your goals should dictate your structure. If you're a writer, your vault might revolve around drafts, character bios, and plot outlines. If you're a developer, it might be organized around projects, code snippets, and problem-solving logs. Let purpose lead the way.
Embrace the "Good Enough" System
Perfection is the enemy of a usable PKM. You will change your mind about workflows. Your tags will get messy. Some notes will be orphans. That's okay. The goal isn't a flawless, museum-ready archive. The goal is a living system that helps you think and create. I'd rather have a slightly messy vault I use daily than a perfectly organized one I'm afraid to touch.
Schedule Regular "Vault Reviews" (But Keep Them Short)
Set a calendar reminder for once a month. Spend 30 minutes, tops. Browse your recent notes. Look for patterns. Do you have ten half-written notes on the same topic? Maybe it's time to combine them. Is there a tag you never use? Delete it. This isn't about deep cleaning. It's about course correction—small tweaks to keep the system aligned with how you actually work.
Common Pitfalls and How to Sidestep Them
Let's be honest—we've all fallen into these traps. Recognizing them is half the battle.
The Plugin Spiral: Obsidian's plugin ecosystem is incredible, and it's also a productivity black hole. It's tempting to spend hours configuring the perfect setup with ten community plugins. The antidote? Add plugins only when you have a specific, recurring problem. Need better task management? Then look for a task plugin. Don't browse the plugin store looking for problems to solve.
The Template Trap: Complex, multi-property templates can make note-creation feel like a chore. If filling out your template takes longer than writing the actual note, the template is failing you. Start simple. You can always add fields later. A title and a body are enough for most notes.
Ignoring the Physical World: Not everything belongs in Obsidian. Sometimes a quick sketch on paper is faster. Sometimes a conversation is better than a note. Your PKM is a tool, not the totality of your intellectual life. I keep a simple notebook for raw, unstructured brainstorming. Only the good stuff migrates to digital.
When to Bring in Outside Tools and Help
Obsidian is powerful, but it's not always the right tool for every job. For instance, what if your knowledge work involves tracking information from dozens of websites over time? Manually checking and copying updates is a huge time sink. This is where automation can save you.
You could use a platform like Apify to set up a simple web scraper that monitors specific pages and dumps the formatted text or data directly into a designated folder in your Obsidian vault. It handles the tedious collection, so you can focus on the thinking, linking, and synthesis. Just be mindful of terms of service and use such tools ethically.
Similarly, if you're struggling with the visual design of your vault or creating custom plugins, don't be afraid to seek help. A freelance developer from a marketplace like Fiverr can often create a simple, bespoke solution in a few hours that would take you days to figure out. The goal is to spend your time on high-value knowledge work, not on fighting tools.
And let's not forget the physical setup. Staring at a screen for hours of note-linking demands a comfortable environment. A quality monitor, like those you can find on Ergonomic Monitors, or a reliable mechanical keyboard Mechanical Keyboards can make those long thinking sessions much more sustainable. Your tools should serve you, not cause strain.
Conclusion: Beyond the Number
So, back to that number. 2 years. 2,094 notes. After listening to the community and reflecting on my own journey, I see it differently now. It's not a score. It's a snapshot of a process—a process of thinking, learning, and connecting.
The real metric of success for your Obsidian vault in 2026 isn't on the status bar. It's in the ideas it helped you form, the projects it helped you complete, and the clarity it brought to your work. Did it make you a better thinker? Did it reduce your cognitive load? Did it help you create something meaningful? Those are the questions worth asking.
Your next step isn't to create note number 2,095. It's to open your vault, use it for something that matters to you, and maybe, just maybe, ignore the counter altogether for a while.
