I need a better way of organising my notes, to-dos and tasks. I have crap all over the place at the moment, so if you have a system, I'd love to know what it is.
https://kevquirk.com/blog/how-do-you-take-notes
@kev If you are in a microsoft shop, like me, and have no way of installing apps, like me - you are a bit stuck. I use MS Todo and OneNote. OneNote isn't great - but having everything in the same place is useful. Todo is fine because I can flag items in outlook and have them appear there as todo items. I only set dates when I actually need to / plan to do them so it isn't overwhelming.
I've been down the rabbit hole of 'systems' many times and binned all of them eventually. I've found the most important thing for me is having designated places where I know stuff will be and sticking with it (to avoid the 'oh god, where did I put that'). Good filesystem structure helps too.
I also find that I don't actually need to remember as much stuff as I think I do. I reckon 50% of my todo list never gets done, because it felt important at the time (by me or someone else), but actually wasn't.
GTD is tried and tested if you do want a proper system. Most of the productivity influencers (can't believe they are a thing) are doing variations of this. The book is a decent read.
@kev I’m facing a similar issue. So far, the most effective solution I’ve found is the Drafts app. However, it has two limitations: it’s only available on Apple devices and it doesn’t support images.
For long term notes, I created a custom Drafts action that publishes notes directly to our Confluence instance.
@kev I have a folder of markdown files (with subfolders mainly for archiving) which syncs between all my devices. Everything I enter goes into a file named with today’s date, then I move stuff out into separate files if needed. I try to review the last week’s notes toward the end of the week, and find this helps me not lose stuff (too often).
(Fun and constructive to describe without going into app choices!)
(Todos often in too, but I do use a separate todo app as well.)
@kev It seems what you need is solid syncing. There are many possibilities but what I would do in your case is switching to file-based apps, preferably markdown and syncing the .md files. Since you didn’t ask for apps/software I let the rest for you to choose.
@jamie we are a Microsoft shop. We're in the process of moving to O365 and I don't have MS To-Do yet. I'm hoping we get it at some point.
@kev Simplenote is really helpful for me. I have it synced to my phone, laptop and can access in my browser.
That's for short notes (shopping list, and x letter, writing ideas, etc.).
If it's longer projects I just use a bog standard Trello board. Most important for me is that everything is synced.
@kev If you’re struggling with OneNote and it’s clunkiness Loop is worth a look if it’s enabled on your account. I use that for work based notes and it has the option of adding tasks in as well. System wise I use GTD but am still trying to work out a notes method that works for me.
@kev I had most of your issues, but I simply moved to sending notes and todos per mail to myself so I have everything in my inbox. When I am done with a task, the mail goes to the proper folder so I can find it again later. Works for me…
@kev SUCH a personal thing. But I’ve come to love the constraints of Rocketbooks (wipe-clean notebooks) as a primary note taking and daily planning tool.
Wrote about it here: https://rosswintle.uk/2025/01/rocketbooks-and-my-settled-productivity-system/
@kev question, have you ever had a system that worked for you in the past? (I previously worked as a professional organizer working with business people on their productivity systems and managing information.) Is the problem finding a system now with your current constraints on what you can install where; or is the problem finding a workable system to manage notes and tasks, period?
@jamie Being a Microsoft shop also depends on licensing levels that you are using. I prefer to use a self-service store and allow approved applications only.
Also like users not to have admin rights to devices
An Excel sheet can make a scrum board. It is just three buckets.
@kev Currently using Obsidian with their webclipper which allows me to fairly easily take notes on desktop or mobile. A Keyboard Maestro shortcut allows for tasks to be quickly added to TickTick, with a link to the Obsidian note. The TickTick inbox can be triaged on desktop/mobile.
My “system” isn’t perfect by far, and I need to improve it, but for now it is functional, and I appear to lose less
@kev what OS do you use on desktop and mobile and can you sync the two? If you can't install apps you will need to use something builtin. In the apple ecosystem https://www.myforevernotes.com/ seems to be a good approach.
For task management in general I still feel #gtd is a good system. For notes and references the PARA method makes sense to me. I think the main GTD-inspired advice is that you need to not only write things down but regularly process them to find them again.
@kev As you specifically ask for a method and not tooling, the answer is quite simple.
You need a system that offers:
- read/write/capture on notebook
- read/write/capture on mobile
- sync/merge to one combined data set
- fulfill mid-term or long-term requirements of you
For more details, we'd need to have a chat. 😉
@kev if I was you I'd use Obsidian as a software because it's very flexible and works great both on desktop and mobile.
But then you'll have to implement your systems.
I personally crafted all my todo's and notes around the PARA method, which is a great framework that works for any digital environment basically, even cloud files.
Implementing PARA in Obsidian is pretty straightforward then.
Btw, I moved from Obsidian to Logseq but now completely to Emacs and org-mode.
@kev Okay so let me tell you about my system.
I keep work notes in org files. I have some separate org files for projects, sometimes they live in the same directory and are git committed. I also keep separate notes on my phone, these are the throwaway ones like what to buy from the supermarket. If i find myself out of reach of my work laptop and I need to take a note on my phone, that actually happens to be something very important that I need to transfer then i do it manually.I’ve done it once
@kev
I tend to be messy with my file organising so Im probably not great to offer advice.
You may remember I previously recommended #Cryptpad, which granted is not quite what you're after however it requires no installation and it has plenty of office functions within it.
I also remembered something from way back that could help with organising. It's based on the Dewey Decimal System which is used by libraries for organising books.
https://johnnydecimal.com
@kev I tried multiple productivity system recommendation but i was not happy with them. (In work I'm all-in Microsoft but at home I also like to use apple). My android phone nice integrates with windows but i don't see it wise to login my personal account on my work computer...
So I ended to use 2 systems which works for me (for now)...
In work i use OneNote + Todo, One note is not my fav but it works and i like that i can mark emails which then go to Todo Apps so i can move them from my inbox..
In my country probably everyone i know (my family counts in too) have google account, so my personal notes goes to Keep and tasks to ... Tasks (also marking email works) and it is easy to share them with my family members or friends if i need.
So that's my note taking process, not ideal but when i tried others application (i wanted to use only one per kind) but it added me just a more frustration and i had much more chaos when i mixed personal and work stuff together.
@kev Do you have Git installed on your work device? If so, maybe my note taking system can work for you: https://ilyess.cc/posts/my-new-note-taking-setup/