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- šļø Anatomy of a Note-System
šļø Anatomy of a Note-System
When is the last time you cleaned out your notes app?

What are some note essentials?
šļø KNOW what a Note-System IS FOR.
1ļøā£ Create a SINGLE SPACE for notesā¦ or you will lose things.
šļø KEEP IT ORGANIZEDā¦ the antithesis is also a recipe for losing things.
š Know WHAT TO KEEPā¦ otherwise it will get cluttered.
What is a Note-System šļø

Weāve all gone through a Post-it phase in our organizational journeyā¦
To be fair you can make a notes app do a lot of thingsā¦ but just because you COULD make it do a bunch of things, doesnāt mean you SHOULDā¦
For example, you could use notes for TASKS, but you wouldnāt get the benefits of a dedicated task manager.
Auto sorting based on task due date.
Integrated task reminders.
Or another example, you could use notes as a CALENDAR, butā¦
You would have to write out your schedule fully.
You wouldnāt get integrated event reminders.
And you wouldnāt be able to share and integrate other calendars and scheduling tools.
So WHAT is the purpose of a notes app?
Tasks belong in Task Managers
Events belong in Calendars
INFORMATION belongs in a Note-System.
Notes are meant to be an extension of your brain, recording important information that can be recalled later, when needed.
Create a Single Space 1ļøā£
Pretty straightforwardā¦ if you keep information in multiple spaces, then youāre bound to forget where those things are stored, and you wonāt be able to find what you need when you need it.
So just pick a notes app and use it well!
If you use your note-system a lot, then youāre going to find that youāll want more organizational tools than what is offered in a standard notes app; thatās okay! Itās better to start using a system and then migrate it when needed (I did this a little over a year ago, and it wasnāt bad at allā¦ it also gave me another opportunity to do some āspring cleaningā in the process š).
Keep it Organized šļø
Notes organization is super easy! Itās just going to take you some time to sort through things if you have 300+ notes that have stacked up over time (Donāt try to do it in one sitting - Schedule chunks of time to sort top-to-bottom and eventually youāll be all done).
Really you just need to create a few folders to sort things, and then be ready to delete a bunch of old items that you donāt need anymore.
Needed Folders
If youāre organizing a basic notes app, hereās what you need:
Inbox - 1 Folder - Notes will start here, but itās just a temporary holding spot until the get sorted or deleted.
In Apple Notes youāll have one initial folder called āNotesā that you canāt removeā¦ or rename unfortunatelyā¦ use that as your inbox.
When you first establish an āinbox systemā it might take some discipline to sort or delete. But really quickly, it ends up being second nature, you instinctively search for opportunity to bring your inbox āto zero.ā
Areas - As many Folders as Needed - This is where items get stored for safekeeping.
Ex: Personal, Work, Recipes, Home Projects, Templates, etc.
Archive - 1 Folder - Where you move things that might provide value down the road, but you donāt really want to keep cluttering your other folders (Weāll look at this distinction some more in the next section).
Know What to Keep š
Is it helpful, will you reference it again, do you need to share it with someone else? This really is intuitiveā¦ the problem is that most people have note-systems where everything gets dumped and nothing gets sorted or deleted.
There will only be 3 End Destinations!
šļø Deletedā¦ after staying in your inbox for a short period of time.
š Kept in an appropriately labeled folder for safekeeping.
šļø Archivedā¦ just in case you need something from it in the future.
EXAMPLES
Lists of drinks for an office coffee run
šļø Stays in your inbox until you complete the coffee run, then you delete it.
Quickly jotted down notes from a meeting or phone call
šļø/š Depending on the content, itās either deleted after you do something with the info, or it is kept for future reference.
Outline of essential steps for particular processes
š Keep in appropriate folder (is this a home recipe, a work system, a personal tool?).
A picture of a tool, manual, reference resource
š Keep in appropriate folder and thereby remove the need of keeping it in your photo appā¦ you should only have fun memories there šøš!
List of items borrowed by others from you
š Keep in a folder (home, personal?) and now youāll have an ongoing system to use! Now youāll never lose track of who has that book or movie you gave out š.
A short script you created for a work presentation
šļø Drop in the archive folder. Itās probably too specific to put in a folder for immediate future useā¦ but you MIGHT need it, or specific elements, in the future.
š TOP PICKS
Those who are new to note-systems really should start using Apple Notes or another native Notes App. The best Notes App is the one you USE!
But there is one Notes App that is THE KINGā¦ and youāll end up needing it if you want to take your Note-System to the next level (as seen in my š¬ BEHIND THE SCENES section below).
Notion

All Hail THE King
A dynamic Notes App that allows you to not only build out āfoldersā (called Pages) but create a living information system. Itās like Evernote but on steroids šŖš¼
Create Databases to easily sort and retrieve information.
Embed files, create hyperlinks, make a living database that is well integrated with your world.
Create excellent shared spaces and collaborate easily with teams.
AI integrated
Check Notion out Here / The best partā¦ itās free!
š¬ BEHIND THE SCENES
Naturally, I needed to cover a Note-System because it is one of the basic tools that everyone needs to leverage properly (Maybe youāve noticed thatās the purpose of this initial āAnatomy ofā¦ā series). BUT itās also because itās connected to a tool/topic that we MUST visit laterā¦
š§ SECOND BRAIN š§
I actually use my Second Brain to draft out this newsletter! And according to my SB Iām not going to talk about it here until sometime after the start of the New Yearā¦ and that seem so far away to not share something that is SO HELPFUL. So my consolation prize is sharing two videos for those who would like to dive into the concept themselves!
