My last few articles have talked about the ongoing battle with myself in regard to how I am changing my system. I have mentioned that Logseq isn’t perfect, but I still want to stick with it. I briefly mentioned some of the things that I love and also annoy me with Logseq; however, I want to elaborate on that a bit more. For the purposes of this article, I will be making the comparison of Logseq and Obsidian, as those are the two programs I have the most experience with — and also they show each others shortcomings.
What I Like About Logseq
Moving to Logseq made me realise that the outline note-taking method is my jam. It is what I can work with to create a logical flow in my brain. With an added plug in, there is a coloured line that shows me what level and note my cursor is at.
The best thing about apps like Logseq and Obsidian is the ability to network notes. Even though they both do it, how they do it is different. What made me choose Logseq’s way is because, by default, they have the references on the main page and preview the block it is in. Logseq take it one step further by making hashtags and square-bracket links the exact same thing. This allows for simplicity and eliminates the need to remember what is a page vs what is a tag in my system.
One of the biggest things why I am staying in Logseq is how they do block references. With the plug in Logseq Interstitial Journal I have a quote that is at the top of my journal everyday. Furthermore, they are quotes I have put into my system specifically. Even though it did break and I have had to have a manual update loaded — it doesn’t matter. It would be nice for the plugin to be fixed but it still is works. There is no way to do this in Obsidian (at the time of publishing this article) and for this alone, I would not move back.
What I Like About Obsidian
I do love the graph; however it made me distracted and not get any work done. This is an extension of getting in the spiral of creating the best colour scheme but not doing any work.
Obsidian also has a lot more plugins. But I should note that I am sure that it may end up being the same with Logseq, it is just taking longer to get there.
Finally is one that I am only putting here because of some of the current sync issues that are happening with the Readwise Sync to Logseq. It is also much easier to delete pages and re-sync them across your entire graph. That has to do with how the graph is stored specifically. But again, this could improve with time.
So Why Do I Stay With Logseq
The truth is that I could spend forever trying to get a system that works perfect. That looks perfect and syncs perfectly. The downside of that is that I would never get any work done and I would be constantly remaking my system.
Some of the shortcomings of Logseq actually benefit me and my productivity, for example, even though the graph isn’t that flash — it means I am not wasting time being distracted by it.
There are enough plugins with Logseq that you can customise it. For me, I now see I was getting overwhelmed with all the new plugins and endless choice that was becoming overwhelming at times. I need a limited number of options and capabilities that I can see how I would use them.
The bugs tend to be weeded out within a new release or 2, and until they do — I call them the quirks of Logseq.
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