Looks like the winner (?) is OmniOutliner. I, too, bought it but never used it since outlining features elsewhere were actually more convenient. Looks lovely, though.
My journaling is inspired by Isaac Asimov, who mainly used his to track events and facts. I use Day One to track location check-ins, like FourSquare for one person - me. Today’s main entry is a list of chores I got done.
Lately I’ve been putting photos in there as well.
Todoist. I thought I was missing something for years, so I bit the bullet and paid for the app. I’ve only used max 3 times.
I’m the head of 2 departments in a museum, so you would think this would be the perfect app for my busy work life, but I just can’t get in the habit of using it.
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Have you seen Tiago Forte’s web class “getting stuff done?” You might check it out. I think it’s worth the $50 and part of it is he walks you through Todoist and Things and how to use them for GTD. It’s good stuff. Until I did that class I couldn’t figure out either app. Now I live by Things.
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I use it regularly, but must be honest that I am stuck in using the readily-provided templates – since I find any attempts to play around with formatting/styles to be highly convoluted.
Probably just how my brain works, but find it surprisingly unintuitive… I clearly need to spend time with the manual again!
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Mindnode. I’ve used the Mindnode for iOS for a personal project and I loved it. Afterward, I couldn’t find other uses for it. I know it’s a very powerful app that can help me plan but I guess I’m really not into mind mapping.
OmniOutliner. While I’m using it (rarely) I think “why am I doing this – I already own Excel”.
Another +1 for OmniOutliner. I was able to upgrade to the latest iOS version for free some time ago and I think I’ve probably used it two or three times. As others have said, there are many other apps that do the same job, either quickly (nvALT, any Markdown editor), or, in my case, OneNote.
Another app for me is probably Ulysses. I use it occasionally but if it wasn’t for the Setapp subscription I wouldn’t bother with it. For quick MD documents, I still use Byword which I have set as the default MD editor in nvALT and DEVONthink.
Day One, however, is starting to get more use after originally getting it a couple of years ago. Having entries come up “On this day 1 year ago”, etc., has raised a smile and a chuckle on more than one occasion which is where some of the value lies for me anyway. Consequently, I’m starting to put more and more into it now; photos (what I cooked/ate for dinner, etc.), where I went, what I thought, what I did. Some days have maybe only one entry, some other days have four or five. Looking forward to logging my holiday next month.
OmniOutliner is definitely NOT on my unused apps list. I run much of my life & projects using it. I find the outline metaphor by far the best way of managing information that doesn’t lend itself to a simple, uniform structure, and OmniOutliner implements that metaphor in more usable way than anything else I’ve found.
I use Excel for very simple types of lists, but can’t imagine using it for the more complex types of working and reference notes I use to manage my work and personal projects.
I include confidential client information in my outlines, which rules out OneNote. (With OmniOutliner, I can keep the outlines safely on an encrypted disk image. The last I checked, OneNote’s security features were very lightweight.) Furthermore, I find OneNote’s outlining capabilities much clumsier.
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Mindnode — use it to capture and organize brainstorms Sit down and rapidly list our ideas on a specific topic.
I also use Mindnode as a first cut on planning a project — especially when I’m not sure of my ground. It has a synergistic effect of one set of ideas stimulating others.
Both strategies require practice. Both can be done on a white board and colored pens.
Mitch, one of MPU’s guests used a similar strategy to Asimov’s and yours. It seems like a useful technique. It never became part of my routine routinely.
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I was using Day One until it lost two entries on the Mac on two separate occasions. As soon as I clicked done, the entry disappeared. Annoying.
Another one for me is Bear. It’s absolutely gorgeous but I just don’t use it.
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Agenda. The idea is great and there are mac and iOS versions. Never use it though.
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It occurred to me I could compile a list here just looking through my Applications folder for apps I’ve installed but no longer use:
2Do, Acorn, Adguard, Agenda, BBedit, Bear, Byword, Cardhop, Duet, Electric-Pork, Fluid, Free Ruler, HoudahSpot, Mailplane, Marked 2, MindNode 5, MsgFiler, MultiMarkdown, Napkin, nvALT, Opera,Paste, Piezo, Pixelmator, Pocket, Reeder, Remember the Milk, Scrivener, Second Life, Simplenote, Skitch, Spotify, Storm it, Synkmark, Taskpaper, TextWrangler, Things, Todoist, Ulysses, WiFi Explorer, WordPress, Workflywy, and Wunderlist.
I think I need a 12-step program. Wonder if there’s an app for that…
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There is, but you’d eventually quit using it. 
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Hear you… I set up a little used folder on my iPad and drag every app that matches that description there (and some that do not).Using this system cuts though the should I or shouldn’t I. If I make a wrong choice I send the rescue party to move the app to a place of honor.
I try stuff out. Too much stuff? Moving clutter helps me to trash it later.
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Seeing such a long list has me wondering what apps DO you use? 
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Let’s see - open right now:
Google Chrome, Preview, SwiftText, 1Password, CleanMyMac, DevonThink Pro Office, Folding Text, Friends+Me, Keyboard Maestro, Microsoft Teams, Monosnap, OmniFocus, Photos, Safari, TextExpander, Tweetbot. And that reminds me - I need to open up Skype for Business in case anybody wants to contact me there.
I am a many-years omnioutliner user. Maybe that’s why I am an omnioutliner user today, I don’t know. It’s purpose has narrowed a little now that I am a DevonThink user and with MindNode on my list of apps. But omnioutliner is truly a workhorse that won’t go away.
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