Google Keep, because it works on my Pixel Watch, which is the only way (so far) I can use it at the exact moment when I actually need it and not have my ADHD brain forget it halfway through.

Orgzly is my favourite note app. I use that and sync to a folder which I can then sync with Syncthing to my desktop and have versioning there.

More important. Than taking notes is what are you gonna do with them. This conditions how, where, and with what you take notes.

If you’re never gonna look at them again and just generally use it to think, brainstorm, or remember things better. Then it doesn’t matter where, just use whatever is immediately available to you.

If it needs to be later referenced, shared, archived or processed into finished products for personal projects or work, there are several options. Note taking apps, text editing software, plugins for different editors. Each will do things different and will link differently to different work pipelines.

My current pipeline is notes either on the phone or on a notepad. Then I clean and process said notes on OneNote (don’t judge, work pays for it and it is the only one available). Where they are more structured, tagged, detailed, hyperlinked or whatever else it takes. That’s where I also take notes for meetings or training and study sessions.

Finally, I use those notes for writing reports, minutes, and presentations. Which are then sent to the actual institutional archive.

Me and all my colleagues erase old notes once they’re no longer relevant for data protection, so we don’t use the archive features of ONote. But the encrypted sharing and sync is very useful for collaboration and to save your work in case of hardware failure.

On my personal life I have permanent places of data storage, and take notes with whatever I happen to have at hand. Samsung notes, paper, notepads, whatever. Data always end up either being deleted or sent to a more permanent place. Just like with cameras, the best tool is the one you have at hand when you need it.

OneNote for work. Usually for meeting notes to help me transfer to Action items in to the task management software. I also use it to keep a record of my conversations with team members.

I also use it as a temporary location for information while performing work. I later transfer those into the details section of the task management software.

Apple Notes for personal. App is also installed on my personal laptop. It’s simple to share Notes with my partner.

It’s been years since I was in school… but yes, on a notepad with different emphasis for different things.

1. In general, summarize what the prof. is saying.

2. If they’re talking about something from the book, note it with a ⭐

3. If they say “this is important” mark it with an ❕

4. If they write it on the board or project it, undeine that.

emacs orgmode (+ mobile app) is incredibly powerful if you want something local and extensible.

The capabilities are insane, it can do TODO’s, scheduling, time-tracking, filtered agendas y lots more.

I have it synced with my iphone (the app i use is “beorg”, but on android a popular one is “orgzly”) and it kinda blows my mind

Barrier of entry for emacs is a bit high sadly

I recently got a tablet with pen support and have this same question. I’m specifically looking for something that’s on Android and Windows/web. So far, I’ve been using OneNote but I wish it had standard folders instead of notebooks and pages.

Notepad++

I keep one long “logfile” and sometimes a few extra files per special topic.

I use Standard Notes and Logseq

Standard Notes mostly for personal use, build a knowledge base where I can set categories to each not without rushing.

Logseq for professional use. I often join meetings with lots of people discussing topics for different projects. With Logseq, I can easily write down notes and add tags to easily correlate people, project, topic, status. I don’t need to think which category to save that note, just write on the Journal page and add the tags. Easy! The advanced queries is an amazing featured, I can easily create queries to summarise status of each project and who is working on it. With that in mind, I can easily send status reports to the stakeholder with just one click.

Both are private and don’t belong to any of the big tech. Standard notes was acquired by Proton (from ProtonMail), and it is E2EE. Logseq uses local storage, but its possible to sync (can be quite tricky).

• | [Subject]

• | [important parts about the subject] | • [elaborate on important parts] | ex [example text of the subject

With the | being the boarder of the notebook paper and the bulk of the text being some form of shorthand that reminds me of the information. Example:

• Lemmy

• social network
• user name anonymous
• has mods • users complain about mods • flying squid? •probably humans
• lots of memes • *beans" • don’t use 🙂
• hates reddit

If you don’t feel like you need to take notes, then I wouldn’t worry about it. Once you leave school, there’s not necessarily a need for it. For me they are generally just reminders, like you stated.

The majority of my notes are placed in Google Keep. I know that Lemmy hates Google, but it’s really convenient for me…since they are online I can access them from any device. And the app version sometimes comes pre-installed on my devices anyway.

If I only need to remember one simple, time sensitive item…then yes I often use a reminder app to notify me like you do too.

But here are some scenarios where I take notes in my notes app:

1. Grocery lists. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to the store for only like 1 or 2 items and completely forgot to buy what I came in for lol

2. Requests at work. Often, a task that is requested of me will be done over a landline phone. So I pull out my cell phone and take a quick note of the task to help me remember and make sure it is done correctly

3. Semi-ordered lists of multiple tasks I intend to do. For example, suppose I am expecting family to come over one weekend. I’ll have various notes that help remind me what I need to do and when. Things like different types of cleaning tasks, getting snacks, etc.

In my home, I also have a handwritten notepad of passwords to my accounts written in a cryptic partially pictogram cypher lol. If someone manages to find and figure them out, have fun with those accounts lol.

At work, I also often write notes directly onto my workbench itself in pencil! My workbench is a contaminated space, so I don’t necessarily have my phone out. I use my phone to take notes while talking on the nom-conatimated landline. But at my workbench itself I write directly onto my workspace lmao. It probably looks a bit unprofessional, but I don’t think it stands out too much and is easy to erase when done! The first time someone showed me that you could easily do this, my mind was blown lol. At work, I write workbench notes all the time lmao.

Couple different kinds of notes, but I think this covers most of my use cases

I use google keep for small reminders, things I want to look up later, grocery lists to share with my wife, etc.

I keep a couple field notes notebooks around in my car and bag for things I want to make a physical note of, especially things I need to sketch out (I am no artist by any stretch of the imagination but I’m a capable DIYer and I sometimes need to sketch out the thing I’m building/fixing) while I’m out and about before I forget about them. I like the size of them, and the dot grid lends itself well to the kind of notes and sketches I use them for.

I also have some sketches of the rooms in my house in those books, list of some furniture dimensions, so when I’m out shopping with my wife and she asks “do you think this will fit in our dining room?” I can tell her definitively yes or no.

It also has a list of the bulbs, tires, wiper blades, air filters, etc. that our cars use, so I can reference them quickly while out shopping, it’s quicker to just flip to the back page of my little notebook than to try to look it up on my phone from the aisle at AutoZone or Walmart.

I also have a rite in the rain notebook I keep with my tools, it’s fairly rugged and waterproof, mostly ends up getting used for scribbling down a list of stuff I need to get from the hardware store in the middle of a project. Went with that one because I’m pretty likely to be using it when I’m wet or dirty, outside in the mud, under a leaking sink, etc. while I’m halfway through a project.

I keep another one of those with my camping supplies.

I have a pad of graph paper at my workbench, I like it for sketching things out, same as I like the dot grid in the field notes books, but this one doesn’t have to travel around with me or pull double duty for written notes, so I could go bigger and cheaper

We also did our kitchen cabinets in blackboard paint, so my wife and I can leave notes to each other on there, mostly reminders to empty the dishwasher and such.

Obsidian

I have a work phone and a personal phone. If I’m in the field I will text work related things to my work phone. Sometimes I’ll take a picture of things I need to remember to do instead of taking a note, these can end up in either phone. I have a notepad at my desk that I’ll take notes on if I’m at my desk. If I’m walking into a meeting I’ll take blank sheets of printer paper and write on those, sometimes I’ll take a picture of these notes after the meeting. I have a work account with one note that I use sometimes and a personal account on obsidian that I use mostly for taking notes on whatever I’m reading or ideas for projects. At the end of every week I’ll look through all my pictures, notes, pictures of notes, etc. and make a list of stuff I need to do next week.

It’s a mess.

I use https://silverbullet.md/ have been loving it so far