43 Folders

Back to Work

Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.

Join us via RSS, iTunes, or at 5by5.tv.

”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Undergraduate note taking applications

I'm about to start my undergraduate career and I'm at a loss when it comes to a solid note taking application. I use OmniOutliner Pro all the time for various tasks and love it, but I'm not sure how it would do for a full fledged note taking application.

I find VoodooPad intriguing because of it's inherent ability to crossreference wiki style. This would probably help me immensely because I tend to have a ton of random thoughts/ideas and have poor organizational-fu. However, I have doubts about it's scalability. Will it become cumbersome when I add a lot of notes?

I've briefly looked at Journler and DevonThink also and find them both to be a little overkill for my needs. I use quicksilver for file tagging and smartfolders to organize my files and I don't really need a program to do that for me.

Finally, I'm a computer science and Japanese double major. Should I keep my notes separate, or even use two separate programs?

Basically what I'm asking for are some recommendations for note-taking applications that would fit my situation (double major, poor organizational skills, tendency to explore many interesting subjects on my own). I need a repository for all of my thoughts and notes but it has to be good for inputting data also, not just for organization and searching. Any tips not related to software recommendations would also be welcome. Thanks.

TOPICS: Mac OS X
tychoish's picture

I think it really...

I think it really depends a lot on the kinds of classes you're in and the way you take notes on that information.

I've started to think that it makes more sense to *avoid* using separate files to organize information, rather than to divide your notes into lots of files. Develop some sort of mark up and have longer files: let search do the work for you.

Over-thinking things, particularly in the note taking stage can really drag you down. It might be worhtwhile to see how you take notes by hand, and figuring out what works for you best based on that....

cheers,
tycho

 
EXPLORE 43Folders THE GOOD STUFF

Popular
Today

Popular
Classics

An Oblique Strategy:
Honor thy error as a hidden intention


STAY IN THE LOOP:

Subscribe with Google Reader

Subscribe on Netvibes

Add to Technorati Favorites

Subscribe on Pageflakes

Add RSS feed

The Podcast Feed

Cranking

Merlin used to crank. He’s not cranking any more.

This is an essay about family, priorities, and Shakey’s Pizza, and it’s probably the best thing he’s written. »

Scared Shitless

Merlin’s scared. You’re scared. Everybody is scared.

This is the video of Merlin’s keynote at Webstock 2011. The one where he cried. You should watch it. »