The Only App I Need to Stay Organized: A Deep Dive into My LifeOS

Summary

In this video, Shu introduces Amplenote, a versatile life management app that consolidates tasks, notes, schedules, and bookmarks into one tool. He highlights its customization features, the ability to create and manage todos, and the convenience of snoozing and rescheduling tasks. Shu also appreciates the app's scheduling mode, which integrates with external calendars and offers a visual overview of daily tasks. Additionally, he discusses the benefits of bookmark management and setting up automation to save links seamlessly across devices. Shu's enthusiasm for Amplenote as a comprehensive productivity tool is evident, urging viewers to try it out.

Takeaways

• 😀 Shu introduces 'lifeOS', an all-in-one app for organizing notes, tasks, schedules, and bookmarks, which he uses instead of Todoist, Evernote, Google Calendar, and Pocket.
• 🔄 Shu appreciates the ability to quickly create todos directly from his notes in Amplenote, a feature not commonly found in other note-taking apps.
• 🛠 The customization options in Amplenote for tasks are extensive, allowing users to set duration, priority, urgency, and frequency, all with keyboard shortcuts for efficiency.
• 📂 Shu highlights the convenience of moving todos to relevant notes or the Inbox for context and organization, and the option to snooze less important tasks to focus on high-priority ones.
• 🗓 Shu uses the task list in Amplenote to filter and sort tasks by various criteria, such as 'today's todos', 'high-value', or 'task score', which helps in managing daily tasks effectively.
• 📅 The scheduling mode in Amplenote allows Shu to visualize his day, drag tasks to specific time slots, and color-code them for easy identification of task types.
• 📲 Mobile app integration ensures that Shu can check his schedule anytime and anywhere, aiding in constant productivity and accessibility.
• 🔗 Shu saves bookmarks in Amplenote, which can be linked to notes or tasks, providing context and easy access to related content.
• 🔄 Shu recommends setting up an automation with Raindrop and IFTTT to save bookmarks to Amplenote, overcoming the limitation of the mobile app's bookmark saving feature.
• 📈 Shu enjoys the visual representation of his knowledge base through the graph view in Amplenote, which helps in exploring connections between notes and bookmarks.
• 🌟 Shu emphasizes the impressive development pace of Amplenote by a small team and considers it one of the best productivity apps, encouraging others to try it out.

Q & A

What is Shu's primary tool for organizing his notes, tasks, schedules, and bookmarks?

Shu uses Amplenote as his primary tool for organizing all his notes, tasks, schedules, and bookmarks.

Why did Shu switch from using Todoist, Evernote, Google Calendar, and Pocket to using Amplenote?

Shu switched to Amplenote because it consolidates all the functionalities of Todoist, Evernote, Google Calendar, and Pocket into one tool, making it more efficient for him to manage different aspects of his life.

What feature of Amplenote allows Shu to quickly create todos from his thoughts?

Amplenote allows Shu to create todos quickly by brain-dumping his thoughts into a note and then converting them into todo items.

How does Shu handle the customization of tasks in Amplenote?

Shu can customize tasks in Amplenote by setting the duration, priority, urgency, frequency, and snooze duration using keyboard shortcuts.

What does Shu do with tasks that are not immediately important in Amplenote?

Shu snoozes the tasks that are less important at the moment so he can focus on the more important ones.

How does Shu manage his daily tasks in Amplenote?

Shu uses the task list feature in Amplenote, where he can filter tasks by today's todos, high-value ones, or specific projects, and he often uses the default 'today's filter'.

What is Shu's approach to keeping his task list manageable?

Shu believes in keeping his tasks to less than 10 to ensure they are achievable.

How does Shu use the scheduling mode in Amplenote to visualize his day?

Shu uses the scheduling mode to drag tasks to specific time slots in the calendar, change durations, and color-code tasks for easy visual identification.

What is Shu's method for saving bookmarks in Amplenote and how does it benefit him?

Shu saves bookmarks directly in Amplenote, which allows him to create notes and tasks with links to specific bookmarks, providing context and easy access to the information.

How does Shu integrate his bookmarks from Raindrop into Amplenote?

Shu uses an automation through IFTTT that sends bookmarks from Raindrop to his Amplenote account automatically when saved.

What does Shu appreciate about the development of Amplenote?

Shu appreciates the rapid improvements made to Amplenote by its small development team and considers it one of the best productivity apps.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Life Organization with Amplenote

Shu introduces his preferred life management tool, Amplenote, which consolidates note-taking, task management, scheduling, and bookmarking into a single application. He contrasts this with his previous use of multiple apps for each purpose, such as Todoist, Evernote, Google Calendar, and Pocket. Shu appreciates the customization options in Amplenote, which allow for setting task duration, priority, urgency, and snooze duration, all accessible via keyboard shortcuts. He also highlights the ability to move tasks into relevant notes for contextual organization and the app's focus features, which help manage distractions by prioritizing important tasks. Shu demonstrates how to use the task list to filter and sort tasks by various criteria, including a 'task score' algorithm that ranks tasks based on priority and other factors.

05:01

🗓 Scheduling and Bookmark Management with Amplenote

In the second paragraph, Shu discusses the scheduling mode in Amplenote, which allows for a visual representation of the day's tasks and their timing. He explains how tasks can be dragged into specific time slots and color-coded for easy identification. Shu also mentions the integration with external calendars and the convenience of receiving notifications for task start times. He touches on his strategy for managing bookmarks within Amplenote, emphasizing the utility of linking bookmarks to tasks and notes for context. Shu shares his method for saving bookmarks using Raindrop and automating their transfer to Amplenote via IFTTT, ensuring a seamless workflow across devices. He concludes by expressing his admiration for Amplenote's rapid development and its status as his favorite productivity app, encouraging viewers to try it out.

Keywords

💡lifeOS

The term 'lifeOS' refers to a hypothetical operating system for one's life, indicating a comprehensive tool that integrates various functionalities to manage different aspects of an individual's daily activities. In the video, Shu describes using a single app that serves as a 'lifeOS' to organize notes, tasks, schedules, and bookmarks, which would typically require multiple apps.

💡Amplenote

Amplenote is the specific app mentioned in the script that Shu uses as his 'lifeOS'. It is a productivity tool that allows users to create and manage todos, notes, and bookmarks within a single interface. Shu highlights its ability to quickly create todos from notes and its customization features as key aspects of its appeal.

💡todo items

Todo items are tasks or actions that need to be completed, often listed in a to-do list. In the context of the video, Shu discusses how he uses Amplenote to convert thoughts and ideas into actionable todo items, emphasizing the app's ability to quickly create these tasks from his notes.

💡customization

Customization refers to the ability to modify or adapt a product or service to suit individual preferences or needs. Shu appreciates the high level of customization in Amplenote, which allows him to set task duration, priority, urgency, and frequency, enhancing his productivity by tailoring the app to his workflow.

💡snooze

To 'snooze' in the context of task management means to postpone or delay the start time of a task or reminder. Shu uses this feature in Amplenote to temporarily hide less important tasks, allowing him to focus on higher-priority items and manage his workload more effectively.

💡task list

A task list is a compilation of tasks or actions that need to be completed, often organized by priority, deadline, or category. Shu mentions using the task list in Amplenote to filter and sort his todos by various criteria, such as 'today's todos' or 'high-value ones', to prioritize his daily activities.

💡scheduling mode

Scheduling mode is a feature in Amplenote that allows users to assign specific time slots to tasks within a calendar view. Shu finds this feature useful for visualizing his day and ensuring he knows exactly what he needs to do and when, providing a clear overview of his schedule.

💡bookmarks

Bookmarks are saved links or references to web pages or other resources for later access. Shu uses Amplenote to store bookmarks alongside his notes and tasks, allowing him to create a comprehensive knowledge base that integrates his reading material with his tasks and notes.

💡automation

Automation refers to the process of making a system or process operate automatically. Shu mentions setting up an automation using IFTTT to save bookmarks from Raindrop to Amplenote, streamlining his process of saving and organizing links across devices.

💡productivity apps

Productivity apps are software tools designed to help users manage their time, tasks, and overall workflow more efficiently. Shu considers Amplenote to be one of the best productivity apps due to its comprehensive features and the way it consolidates multiple functionalities into a single platform.

Highlights

Shu introduces lifeOS, an all-in-one tool for organizing notes, tasks, schedules, and bookmarks.

Shu used to use Todoist, Evernote, Google Calendar, and Pocket, but now uses lifeOS for everything.

Amplenote allows creating todos directly from notes, a feature Shu finds highly beneficial.

Amplenote stands out with its high level of task customization, including duration, priority, urgency, and snooze options.

Tasks can be moved to relevant notes for contextual organization in Amplenote.

Snoozing less important tasks helps Shu focus on high-priority items in Amplenote.

Shu prefers using the 'today's filter' to manage daily tasks in Amplenote.

Tasks can be sorted by start time or task score, which considers priority and postponement duration.

Scheduling mode in Amplenote allows visual planning of the day with drag-and-drop tasks into time slots.

Amplenote integrates with external calendars and allows creating meeting notes directly from the app.

Amplenote's mobile app enables on-the-go access to schedules and tasks.

Shu uses filters to manage bookmarks effectively within Amplenote, despite being a digital hoarder.

Bookmarks in Amplenote can be linked to tasks and notes for easy access and context.

Amplenote's graph view allows for a visual exploration of the knowledge base.

Shu recommends setting up an automation with Raindrop and IFTTT to save bookmarks to Amplenote.

Amplenote impresses Shu with its quick improvements and features as a productivity app.

Shu encourages viewers to try out Amplenote and provides a link to a video explaining why it's their favorite tool.

Transcripts

Hey, how are you doing? My name is Shu. This is like my lifeOS. It's where I  

organise my notes, tasks, schedules,  and bookmarks all within one tool. 

I used to use different apps for different  purposes. I used Todoist for tasks,  

Evernote for notes, Google Calendar for  scheduling, and Pocket for bookmarks. But  

ever since I found this app, I ditched them all  and just used this one for everything. Of course,  

it's not perfect, but it does all of these  things really well. And most importantly,  

I love that I can manage these different  aspects of my life with just one app. 

I've reviewed a lot of apps, but I've never  really found a tool that checks all the boxes  

for me. So I'm just going to show you how I  use it, and hopefully you find it helpful.

My most favourite thing about Amplenote is that  I can create todos anywhere quickly. Most of the  

time, my head is full of random things spinning  around, and I just want to get them out so I can  

think clearly. So usually I have a note open in  Amplenote and brain-dump whatever is on my mind,  

which could be as random as a movie I  watched last night, a cool thought I had,  

a conversation I had with my friend, or  something I want to buy. It's typically  

during this process that I think of things I need  to do. So I turned them into todo items. For me,  

I absolutely love that I can dish out todos and  stuff in my head like this. Most todo apps don't  

let you do that, so I'm really happy with it. You might be thinking you can do all that with  

any note-taking app. I know, but  the way Amplenote handles todos  

is better than any other tool I've tried. For starters, the level of customisation it  

offers is great. You can set the duration of  the task, priority, urgency, frequency, how  

long you want to snooze, and so on, with keyboard  shortcuts, so it's super fast. After creating a  

todo, I typically move it to a relevant note. For  instance, if the task is about a certain project,  

I can move it to that project note so I can  see it in context later. If it's a random todo,  

I just send it to the Inbox which is full of  random stuff I need to deal with, which can be  

a tad overwhelming. So what I can do is snooze  the ones that are less important right now so  

I can focus on the ones that are more important.  This is another crucial feature I love about this  

app. Being able to hide the distractions and  focus on the most important stuff is really  

helpful. I have a tonne of tasks in my Amplenote,  but in fact, most of them are snoozed because I  

want to focus on one or a few things at a time. Anyway, after the brain-dump, I can go to the  

task list and see what I need to do today. I can  filter by different things, like today's todos,  

high-value ones, or a specific project. But  I mostly use today's filter, which is set to  

default. If there are some things I don't want to  do today, I can, again, snooze them or reschedule  

them. I think it's always a good idea to keep your  tasks less than 10 to keep it achievable. Also,  

I should mention that you can sort the list by  different things. So if I want to see them in  

order of the starting time, I can pick "start  time". This way, I know what I should do now  

and then what I should do after. But, probably  the best option is to sort them by "task score",  

which is a score given by Amplenote's algorithm.  It takes into account different factors,  

such as your priority, the amount of  time you need to complete the task,  

how long you postponed it, and so on. I like  this a lot because it's great at presenting the  

tasks I should do first at the top of the list. Anyway, now I can start working on my to-dos.

This list alone is mostly enough for  me, but sometimes I feel like having  

a visual of what my day looks like so I know  exactly what I need to do and when. For this,  

the scheduling mode is perfect. I can  drag the tasks to a specific time slot  

in the calendar and change the duration if  I need to. Each task can be colour-coded so  

it's easier to see what types of tasks you  have at a glance. This is really helpful  

also because I get a notification on my phone  when I'm supposed to start working on a task. 

Another benefit of the scheduling mode is  that you can see the meetings that are on  

your external calendars like Google calendar and  Outlook calendar. You can create a meeting note  

easily and join them directly from Amplenote  which saves you from having to switch apps. 

With the mobile app, I can always  check my schedule anytime and anywhere.

Because I'm such a digital hoader, I save  almost all the links that I come across,  

if they are even slightly interesting.  If you see my notes in Amplenote,  

lots of them are bookmarks. It can get very messy,  but I can always use the filters to find my own  

notes easily. The benefit of keeping bookmarks  in this tool is that you can do things like:  

write a note with a link to a specific bookmark  and create a task with a link to a bookmark. 

In the first case, it's very useful to have links  within a note like this because it makes it much  

easier to see the context. If there's something  you want to know more, you can simply jump to  

that link and read or watch the whole thing. The second case is my favourite. Let's say  

that I want to check out a product that I saw  on the web. I can create a task with a link  

to that bookmark. This way, when I see this  task later, I can just click on the link and  

see the product quickly. Then, later, when I  want to write its impression and my thoughts,  

I can again mention the bookmark in the note,  which will make it easier for me to review  

later. Also, if you have an article or a book  you want to read, you can turn it into a task  

with a link to them. Again, it makes it super  easy to get to that article or book later on. 

Another benefit is that you get to visualise the  links between not only your notes but also those  

bookmarks too. I don't do this often,  but if you like using the graph view,  

you can explore your knowledge base  visually, which can be fun and helpful. 

If you want to have all these bookmarks in your  Amplenote like me, you have to set up a simple  

automation. Amplenote has a Chrome extension  that lets you save links, but its mobile app  

supports saving a bookmark only as a task.  Therefore, you need to use a different app  

in order to do that on both your computer and your  mobile. I use Raindrop because it's super cheap. 

The automation is basically that, when you save  an item to Raindrop either on your mobile or  

computer, it sends it to Amplenote automatically.  It's very easy to make. I made the automation  

already so you can use it right away. It's in  the description below. You just need to sign up  

for IFTTT if you haven't already. Then connect  your Raindrop account and your email account,  

which can be Gmail, Outlook, etc. Once they  are connected, you need your Amplenote email  

address. You can find that from any note.  Just click on the three dots to find "copy  

email-to-note address". Then just paste it in any  note. It's going to look like a long combination  

of letters and numbers like this. This is just  a fake one, so don't try to use it. Then delete  

the second half of the email address from the  "~". That's your Amplenote email address. Now  

just copy and paste that into IFTTT, and it's  ready to be used. Test it once to see if it  

works. When you save something to Raindrop,  it should also show up in your Amplenote.

The last one needed a bit of tinkering, but other  than that, I love how well it works just right  

out of the box as a kind of everything app. If  you want to learn more about Amplenote and why  

it's my favourite tool, check out this video. the way they are improving Amplenote quickly  

as a small team is really impressive.  Not many people are talking about it,  

but I think it's one of the best productivity  apps. You should definitely try it out. 

Alright, thank you so much for  watching this video till the  

end. I really appreciate it and your  support. See you in the next video!