I went “all in” on Apple Notes in 2018 or 2019. It was my life raft off the titanic that was Evernote. I have been trying to discover the contours of how I use Apple Notes, but I use it for so much the boundary lines are quite fuzzy.
First, I use it for my project planning and “productivity.” My GTD and 12-week-year systems are housed in Apple Notes, for example. (But this category overlaps a bit with other tools.)
Second, I use it for anything that I consider permanent but “quick reference.” (But this category of my Apple Notes is also not a perfectly clear boundary and slightly overlaps a bit with other tools. Specifically, that would be 1Password because I store a lot of things in there that otherwise might go in a note. While I cannot explain the distinction perfectly here, I intuitively know what goes where.)
When I learned Greek, I made my Greek notebook in Apple Notes. Forgot how to parse προσετέθη? Apple Notes to the rescue (verb, aorist, passive, indicative, 3rd person). Need to know what battery goes in my key fob? Apple Notes to the rescue. Need to know how some terminal command works? Apple Notes has my answer. I learned the C programming language and used to write a lot of little programs. I’m no developer, but I never wanted to forget what I learned; so, I put all my language notes in Apple notes.
Third, I use it as THE tool for every ephemeral note that I write. Trial Cross-Examination notes or Summation notes, for example, almost always start and get fleshed out in Apple Notes before moving some place else. Notes from phone calls start here. Ideas for MPU posts start here, as another example. I have scores of quick notes; I love that feature, especially on the iPad. While these notes are ephemeral, in that they could be deleted when the information is moved, they often have remarkable staying power.
Fourth, I am currently working on building a contact management / CRM system in Apple Notes. Detailed information about contacts will be stored in Notes rather than in the note field of Contacts. I’m developing a set of Shortcuts for doing the actual automation pieces of the system.
For me the boundary dividers (although, like I said, is fuzzy) are the following. (1) Apple Notes is not a file system; the file system is the file system. I use the file file system for managing my documents. Does this mean zero documents are stored in Apple Notes. No. It does not. (2) I don’t use Apple Notes for domains in which I have a dedicated database tool. Apple Notes would make a great recipe book, but I use Paprika for that. Apple Notes would make a great travel hub, but I rely on TripIt for that. (3) My library of books (and book notes) articles (and article annotations) and “research” is primarily maintaned in Zotero. From there things end up in Scrivener.
I hardly have a day go by that I’m not rooting around in Apple Notes. I also just like using it a lot. (I do wish you could nest smart folders. That would really make my organization system sing. But I make do. I also wish when you exported notes you could (1) batch export, and (2) export with attachments, like PDFs. That would make a notes a great archiving tool, too.)
So, I guess Apple Notes really did become an extension of my brain.
