This is mostly in response to the most recent MPU in which Stephen Hackett and David Sparks discussed how to collect information for writing projects. They said that DevonThink does not ‘spark joy’ and I get that but I’m using it more and more because of the kinds of media one can collect: pictures, bookmarks, music, clutter free copies of web articles. One can also start writing projects within the program. The synching with DT3 and the iOS apps has been first rate.
That said, I still use Evernote as my personal encyclopedia: How-tos, Manuals, Medical information. Pocket is the quick repository for articles that I might find interesting but need to think about before filing away in one of the other two. I have an OmniFocus task to curate all every two weeks. . which I can usually do while watching TV. Cumbersome? Perhaps, but it works for me. (I also use Reeder as an RSS feed)
Hear, hear!
The right system is the one that works for you.
To which I’d add: the best system is the one that grows with you, too.
I’m as guilty as any when it comes to spending time optimizing how I work instead of actually working. A shift I’m trying to make is to be more iterative—try things out and make changes as it occurs to me.
“Building the plane as we fly it” is obviously risky, but no one is actually flying, here. “Evolve with your own ecosystem” is probably a more apt metaphor.
I recently started sticking everything into Notion.
It isn’t the ace in the hole that a lot of Notion users seem to think it is, but it is a really simple way to organise various parts of my brain and also has useful sharing features.
I’m glad to hear the Devon Think is working for you! It’s a program that I wanted to get behind, but just couldn’t get it into my workflow.
I love scrivener and it could in my humble opinion beat out all other apps in this domain if only two things occurred.
-
they allow the end user to reconfigure the app and disable some features. The app is very powerful but also cluttered if you aren’t using most features. The app is meant purely for writing so one locked in feature is the manuscript folder cannot be deleted. Which means you’re stuck with that ugly folder even if you just want to use a scrivener project for instruction manuals.
-
syncing across devices was improved. Right now it locks files on devices and makes copies of projects since it doesn’t know if you made changes on the other device,
After so much time playing with different tools to get the job done, post iOS 13 I have ended up on default apps like Reminders and Notes. I have been a Todoist user for years, and have used OmniFocus in the past as well. Part of the reason is the Apple lock-in where you can’t change defaults, but the apps have improved a lot and do enough for me. (“for me” being key words). Also I spend so much time on iOS and the Watch where Reminders just works well enough. One other positive is that I like Fantastical, and since it uses the apple reminders database it is another check mark for the product.
As for Notes, I also use Drafts a lot. The watch app is a place where I collect my thoughts and then just send them where they should go.
I love Scrivener too. .Haven’t used it lately.
Drafts is definitely part of my work flow. Most projects start there. I like different apps for different work aspects. I put lesson plans into Notability. Would like to switch to Good Notes but I haven’t had the head space to learn that.
This topic is very much on my mind. I’ve been using Bear notes for a couple of years, I love it as a note taking and writing app, but with its linear nature and use of tags for structure, I find that things get forgotten about.
I’ve been playing around with Notion for the past few weeks and despite a few annoying quirks I’m thinking it might be a great tool for building a second brain/personal wiki.
I have used Evernote for years, and I believe it’s very strong. Drafts can grow as a very notes collection repo.
Finally, this is the right advise:
And as @ryanjamurphy just said:
If you have a system that works for you, stick with it and Get Things Done.
Less philosophical advice: make a feature list (or search one up) compare that to a desired workflow. What addresses your needs best? Which features that are available, that you don’t use, that might improve your workflow? Does it spark joy for you (DEVONthink sparks joy in me - though its a feature set that mostly sparks joy, not necessarily the aesthetic)? The app that most fits your needs, but doesn’t leave out critical workflow pieces is the best choice - even though, likely, it is not the perfect choice. I did this with my notes app decision recently —
Tiago Forte gives a good example for how he determines the perfect app for his philosophy of a Second Brain — seen here: The Essential Requirements for Choosing a Notes App.
Variety of features tends to hit more boxes, but its about your feature set.
For me, DEVONthink is too powerful, too effective, too reliable, to let go. I have only stopped using it for note taking. I use it for every other ‘typical’ use-case in regards to everything buckets.
On another note, Evernote is still great - just doesn’t do some critical features for me. Keep It is a aesthetically pleasing option, but sync is not reliable across devices. Etc. Etc. Etc.
This is my primary use for it as well. Because of it’s great OCR capability, it’s the perfect place to store things. I use it now more than I have in the past with my work because of this one feature.
This might be a bit controversial but… the podcasts represent just one(ish) view and IMHO have an undertone of preferred apps that are sponsored. Yep, over the years I listened to the show it seems to have gotten rather commercial. Hence, i don’t listen to them anymore and just come here for the discussion.
Now, on note taking and info gathering; there are so many apps and techniques out there - this simply reflects the wide variety of workflows that are used by ever so many folks. Some workflows are simple and require only simple tools, others more involved and require a more capable tool(s).
DevonThink for me ‘sparks joy’ every dang time I use it. It is reliable, moldable to many jobs and continues to suprise me what can be done with it.
Ugh. I have a feeling I may end up returning to DevonThink in early 2020. If that happens, I‘ll be more aggressive about customizing it.
DevonThink does OCR too. Part of the reason I say it’s better Evernote than Evernote.
However, Evernote is better on multi platform support. If you need that, DT is not for you.
What do you use for note taking?
I think that MPU has been very careful to point out their sponsors and when they discuss a product of one. In this particular case, David convinced Stephen to stay with Apple Notes. I do agree about DT3–I’m in the process of learning about indexing which adds an entire other layer.
Currently I am using Roam (which is in Beta) from roamresearch.com for long term notes, goal planning, and my zettlekasten. For short-term and draft notes I use Bear app. For “family stuff” we use Evernote.
I go back and forth on this topic… I’ve used Evernote since 2008 or 2009 and have dabbled with other things in the meanwhile. It seems like the one best place to keep a digital filing cabinet with easy export should I ever want to jump ship.
OneNote was a serious contender for a while when I spent a while with a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and dedicated myself to handwritten notes as much as possible - but I’ve returned back to Evernote - with a bit of GoodNotes 5 and Apple Notes when I jumped back in to the Apple ecosystem whole-heartedly (with MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, etc…)
For me, this is DEVONthink’s killer feature. My files are frequently referred to in scripts, or they are source code that shouldn’t be moved. With indexing, I can keep my files where they need to be, and have them in the DEVONthink database for search, AI, etc. I’m not aware of another program that supports indexing/aliasing.