A Three Step Guide To Organising Your Roam Research 'Brain’

Ev Chapman
September 6, 2022
2 min read

When I first started using Roam Research I didn't get.

I had come from a very rigid system that required a lot of processing and maintenance. And suddenly I was staring at a blank page wondering how on earth is this going to be better at organising my brain?

A year in and I'm hooked on this dark art of connections, tags & daily pages. But it can quickly become a mess that doesn't make sense (just like our brains I suppose).

So I use two pillars in my notes system to make sure I can find everything again in an instant.

Tags. I have a few tags that I use to make sure that I'll be able to find things I dump in my daily page regularly. One of these is Which is any idea I have for content. I then pair that tag with a content type tag like By using this combo I can easily find content ideas again when I'm ready to start writing.

Queries. I use queries to quickly search combinations of tags that i need to find quickly. For instance when I want to find all my essay ideas I have a query that finds and but not the tag I can easily scroll through and find something to write about.

BONUS 🎉 Templates. If you really want to skyrocket how quickly you can get things into your capture systems, set up templates that automatically add the tags you need, so you don't have to think about it and can focus on the ideas.

By using these three pillars I can quickly & easily dump everything into my daily page quickly, forget about it and know that it will be there later when I need it.

Liked thIS? Then You Might Like My SPARK Newsletter...

My best content in your inbox each Sunday.
Learn How To Build Your Unique Personal Knowledge & Share It With The World

Join 1200+ other creators building a magnificent obsession around their their unique ideas.
Or Keep Browsing More Posts Like This...

My Powerful Note-Taking Workflow That Turns Information Into Insight ⚡️

Peek behind the scenes into my workflow for taking notes from articles I read using Matter and turning them into real insights & knowledge.
Read post

How To Keep A Full Writing Inbox (That Serves You Inspiration Everyday)

My Writing Inbox is one inbox I prefer full not empty
Read post

The Four Stages Of Building Knowledge

Ideas take time to emerge. I rarely go from a new spark idea to a fully formed thesis in one spark writing session. They need time to soak & marinate. Often over days, weeks or even months.
Read post

How to Build a Spark Writing Practice That Will Ignite Your Creativity

I've been building what I now call my Spark Writing habit for the past 3 years. I'm not sure I've explained this before, but It's actually what set me on the path of becoming a creator and writing online. The more I built knowledge privately, the more I wanted to share publicly.
Read post

How To Swap Your Blank Screen For A Content Bank Overflowing With Ideas

Even after 10+ years as a content marketer, I still hate that moment at the start of the week when I’m staring down the barrel of a blank screen, wondering what to post.So I swapped a blank screen for a 🏦 Content Bank full of ideas.
Read post

6,000 Thoughts a Day: Why A Capture Habit is Crucial for Content Creators

Capturing ideas is the single most important thing I do as a creator everyday.It's a cornerstone habit that cascades into every part of my content creation. When I sit down to 'do content' I don't have to spend any time brainstorming ideas. I have more than enough ideas to work with because I've captured them beforehand.
Read post