In recent days and weeks, I have presented several tools for digital note-taking:
Each tool has its advantages and disadvantages. In this post, I will show my personal setup, and in the following post, I will once again draw a comparison between the apps and various usage scenarios.
So, here’s my setup, which I have put together under one very important condition: I’m at home in the Mac world, but I sleep better knowing my documents are also accessible on a PC.
Notion
My most important tool for documenting notes and my knowledge in general is Notion. Notion is essentially a web app and thus at home on all platforms. There are native apps for Mac, Windows, and mobile devices, making Notion usable offline as well.
Notion helps me maintain my knowledge in a structured form sustainably with various functions:
- The basic format is Markdown.
- The storage of notes is based on Pages and Bases.
- Content can be easily exported, either via direct web sharing or via standard formats such as CSV, Markdown, HTML.
- The web clipper is getting better and better and helps me collect topics.
- I can create links between notes and thus make important cross-references between my thoughts.
- I can rearrange, structure, and consolidate my notes at any time.
Apple Notes
On Apple devices, Apple Notes is indispensable. Apple Notes ideally complements my Notion setup. Especially when it comes to writing down or saving a thought as quickly and easily as possible.
- Apple Notes is deeply integrated into the system and is always ready to use with just one click.
- The QuickNotes function on the iPad is ingenious and often helps me offload a thought without losing focus in a conversation or during research.
- Apple Notes, in combination with the Pencil, is indispensable for hand-drawn sketches – a function that Notion unfortunately lacks.
- Occasionally, I like to make handwritten notes. For this, I will only use Apple Notes from iOS 14 onwards. At the moment, I still sometimes need to use Goodnotes for this.
Also: Evernote
For the last 10 years, I’ve been using Evernote. A tool that I still greatly appreciate, but which, compared to Notion, still withholds a few important functions from me.
I’m curious to see how Evernote transforms itself. I think we’ll find out how it continues this fall (and I’ll report on it here in the blog, of course). Even in 2020, Evernote still has these advantages:
- The web clipper is unbeatable.
- The keyword / tagging system is unmatched.
- The Spotlight and Google integration is not offered by any other tool yet.
Currently, I still have about 1000 notes in Evernote, which I will gradually migrate to Notion. But there’s no hurry, as they are still well kept in Evernote.
