Pick a Notes App: Your Notetaking Style (Part 1)

Takeaways

• 📝 Consider your goals and note-taking needs when choosing a digital notes app.
• 🔎 Look at the culture of the note-taking app, including the company and community, to ensure it aligns with your style.
• 🛠️ Select an app with features that best support the work you want to do.
• 🌟 Building a 'second brain' involves a personalized system to organize your digital life and unlock creative potential.
• 👤 Identify your note-taking archetype: architect, gardener, librarian, or student, to find the most suitable app.
• 🏗️ The 'architect' seeks structure and customization in their note-taking system.
• 🌱 The 'gardener' thrives on creativity and making spontaneous connections between ideas.
• 📚 The 'librarian' is focused on collecting and categorizing information for retrieval and study.
• 🎓 The 'student' archetype values ease of use and flexibility in note-taking for short-term goals.
• 🔑 Notion is popular among architects for its customizable and dynamic note organization.
• 🌐 Apps like Rome Research and Obsidian are great for gardeners, offering organic growth of content and insights.
• 📘 Evernote is the choice for librarians, excelling in collecting and organizing information from various sources.
• 🍎 For students, simpler apps like Apple Notes, Google Keep, Notability, and Simplenote are recommended for their straightforward features.

Q & A

What are the three steps to choosing a digital notes app according to the video?

The three steps are: 1) Consider your goals and note-taking needs, 2) Look at the note-taking app's culture, the company that makes it, and the community around the product to see if it aligns with your style, 3) Pick a note-taking tool with features that best enable you to do the work that matters most to you.

How does the video suggest identifying your note-taking style?

The video suggests identifying your note-taking style by considering the three archetypes: the architect, the gardener, and the librarian, and seeing which resonates most with you.

What does the 'architect' archetype in note-taking represent?

The 'architect' archetype represents note-takers who long for structure and a clear system to organize every facet of their life, seeking a high level of customization that blends practicality, function, and aesthetics.

What is the 'gardener' archetype in the context of note-taking?

The 'gardener' archetype refers to note-takers who enjoy wandering, dreaming, imagining, and making spontaneous creative leaps. They aim to cultivate new ideas, cross-pollinate concepts, and create novel connections.

What characteristics define the 'librarian' archetype in note-taking?

The 'librarian' archetype is defined by a deep desire to find useful or interesting information, capture it, and retrieve and study it as needed. Librarians often have a project orientation and approach note-taking with a practical relationship to information.

Which note-taking app is recommended for the 'architect' archetype in the video?

For the 'architect' archetype, Notion is recommended as it allows creating personal dashboards and offers tagging, categorizing, and dynamic sorting and updating of information.

What are the two apps mentioned for the 'gardener' archetype?

For the 'gardener' archetype, the two apps mentioned are Roam Research and Obsidian, both of which focus on creating new connections between disparate pieces of knowledge.

Which app is the speaker's personal daily driver and why?

Evernote is the speaker's personal daily driver because it is recognized for being the best in class at collecting information from various sources, is quick, accessible across devices, and is a dependable platform for modern knowledge work.

What is the fourth archetype that doesn't fit the traditional mold according to the video?

The fourth archetype is the 'student', who doesn't have a strong bent towards any of the three traditional archetypes and values ease of use, quick access, and practical note-taking for managing various aspects of life without going too deep into any one area.

Which apps are suggested for the 'student' archetype in the video?

For the 'student' archetype, the apps suggested are Apple Notes, Google Keep, Notability, and Simplenote, which are simpler, more paired down in features, and allow for quick, flexible note-taking.

What is the purpose of the video series mentioned in the script?

The purpose of the video series is to guide viewers on how to pick the best digital notes app for themselves, breaking down the most useful and effective note apps on the market, examining their features and use cases, and showcasing the most popular apps used by students.