Posts tagged with “Note-taking”

My new notetaking system: Don't take notes →

"None if it really matters, though."

Aside from this blog, I've mostly given up on digital note taking.

I'm at a computer enough each day for work that the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of a screen, even if it is to write or take notes.

I love the idea of taking notes of everything I am reading, but again this requires more time in front of a screen and to what end?

Aside from a daily journaling habit that I began six months ago, which I plan to share some thoughts on, an intermittent reflective writing practice that I participate when I visit my local coffee shop, and a new daily notes practice for my paid work— I've mostly given up on note taking.

It's not worth the time, effort, or headspace. I would rather be living life than thinking about how I'm going to write about living life.

His notebooks were a balm against the howl of the internet. He did not understand how the world had become so interlinked, how all its information could live on a screen. It felt like an optical illusion, a bit of cheap sleight-of-hand. Information was supposed to be earned through effort, luck, and scribbling into your notepad. It required engagement, and my father craved the human contact needed to get it. The sales clerks would check their stock and make calls to other locations for a linen drum lampshade or a pair of loafers with tassels. He’d eventually find the item but would not purchase it, deciding he didn’t need it after all.

Desire Is a Demon, James A. Reeves

Fussing with Notes

I think I'm finally done fussing over digital notes and writing apps.

Like Jack, I've tried every note-taking and organizing app under the sun, but none of them seem to stick. 1 I got lost in the endless customization of Obsidian. I loved TiddlyWiki, but the default markup language and finicky saving functions drove me nuts. I thought Logseq would be the one, but I couldn’t get my head around its linking protocols or outlining structure—and iCloud syncing for these apps is painfully slow and cumbersome. 2

Back in the early days, around 2007-2012, I was all about plain text files using nvAlt. Those were simpler times. The portability, the lack of distractions—it was a perfect system when I only had to worry about personal devices like my MacBook and iPhone. But as time went on, my setup became multi-platform: iPhone, MacMini server, Linux personal laptop, Windows for work. This complexity pushed me to search for a single, cross-platform app that would give me a consistent experience everywhere I worked.

That app doesn’t exist. Go ahead, try to prove me wrong—you won’t.

So, it feels inevitable that I return to what I know works: Markdown-flavored text files.

No more fussing. No more bloated apps.

Just text files and two simple tools—1Writer on iOS and QOwnNotes everywhere else.

I’m done. I’m spent.

It’s time to stop fussing and get back to writing. Time to come home, back to simple systems that allow my time and energy to be spent where they matter most.

  1. Unlike Jack, I’ve avoided Emacs completely—too overwhelming with its syntax. My goal is to reduce reliance on closed systems, not get sucked into another one.

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  2. iCloud is the most unreliable syncing service I’ve ever used. Even Microsoft OneDrive is a step ahead.

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I think I'm finally done with fussing over digital notes and writing apps.

Like Jack, I've tried ever note taking/organizing app under the sun and none of them seem to stick. I think a return to nothing but Markdown flavoured text files is inevitable.

Time to return home, back to the simple systems that allow for my time and energy to be focused where they are needed most.

I expand on these thoughts in my October 10, 2024 post, Fussing with Notes.