What are some note essentials?
🗒️ KNOW what a Note-System IS FOR.
1️⃣ Create a SINGLE SPACE for notes… or you will lose things.
🗃️ KEEP IT ORGANIZED… the antithesis is also a recipe for losing things.
💎 Know WHAT TO KEEP… otherwise it will get cluttered.
What is a Note-System 🗒️
We’ve all gone through a Post-it phase in our organizational journey…
To be fair you can make a notes app do a lot of things… but just because you COULD make it do a bunch of things, doesn’t mean you SHOULD…
For example, you could use notes for TASKS, but you wouldn’t 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, but…
You would have to write out your schedule fully.
You wouldn’t get integrated event reminders.
And you wouldn’t 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 1️⃣
Pretty straightforward… if you keep information in multiple spaces, then you’re bound to forget where those things are stored, and you won’t 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 you’re going to find that you’ll want more organizational tools than what is offered in a standard notes app; that’s okay! It’s better to start using a system and then migrate it when needed (I did this a little over a year ago, and it wasn’t bad at all… it also gave me another opportunity to do some “spring cleaning” in the process 😄).
Keep it Organized 🗃️
Notes organization is super easy! It’s just going to take you some time to sort through things if you have 300+ notes that have stacked up over time (Don’t try to do it in one sitting - Schedule chunks of time to sort top-to-bottom and eventually you’ll 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 don’t need anymore.
Needed Folders
If you’re organizing a basic notes app, here’s what you need:
Inbox - 1 Folder - Notes will start here, but it’s just a temporary holding spot until the get sorted or deleted.
In Apple Notes you’ll have one initial folder called “Notes” that you can’t remove… or rename unfortunately… use that as your inbox.
When you first establish an “inbox system” 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 “to zero.”
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 don’t really want to keep cluttering your other folders (We’ll look at this distinction some more in the next section).
Know What to Keep 💎
Is it helpful, will you reference it again, do you need to share it with someone else? This really is intuitive… 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!
🗑️ Deleted… after staying in your inbox for a short period of time.
📂 Kept in an appropriately labeled folder for safekeeping.
🗄️ Archived… just in case you need something from it in the future.
EXAMPLES
Lists of drinks for an office coffee run
🗑️ Stays in your inbox until you complete the coffee run, then you delete it.
Quickly jotted down notes from a meeting or phone call
🗑️/📂 Depending on the content, it’s either deleted after you do something with the info, or it is kept for future reference.
Outline of essential steps for particular processes
📂 Keep in appropriate folder (is this a home recipe, a work system, a personal tool?).
A picture of a tool, manual, reference resource
📂 Keep in appropriate folder and thereby remove the need of keeping it in your photo app… you should only have fun memories there 📸😎!
List of items borrowed by others from you
📂 Keep in a folder (home, personal?) and now you’ll have an ongoing system to use! Now you’ll never lose track of who has that book or movie you gave out 😄.
A short script you created for a work presentation
🗄️ Drop in the archive folder. It’s probably too specific to put in a folder for immediate future use… but you MIGHT need it, or specific elements, in the future.
🌟 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 KING… and you’ll end up needing it if you want to take your Note-System to the next level (as seen in my 🎬 BEHIND THE SCENES section below).
Notion
All Hail THE King
A dynamic Notes App that allows you to not only build out “folders” (called Pages) but create a living information system. It’s like Evernote but on steroids 💪🏼
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 part… it’s free!
🎬 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 you’ve noticed that’s the purpose of this initial “Anatomy of…” series). BUT it’s also because it’s connected to a tool/topic that we MUST visit later…
🧠 SECOND BRAIN 🧠
I actually use my Second Brain to draft out this newsletter! And according to my SB I’m not going to talk about it here until sometime after the start of the New Year… 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!
