Google Keep, because it works on my Pixel Watch, which is the only way (so far) I can use it at the exact moment when I actually need it and not have my ADHD brain forget it halfway through.

Orgzly is my favourite note app. I use that and sync to a folder which I can then sync with Syncthing to my desktop and have versioning there.

Obsidian, which saves notes in markdown, synced with syncthing across my devices.

I’m far along in my PhD so I’d say I have 9 plus years of good note taking experience. My current method has three parts. I take memos of every random thought either in my notebook by hand or in the memos app selfhosted. Anything worth while I write in my notes application trilium and add enough tags that I can connect my ideas.

It might be helpful to note how I did my PhD prelims notes for reading 80 books then being tested on them. I wrote stream of consciousness notes and citations as I read them made myself 2 page standardized summaries per book. This is helpful because I first go back to the summary and if that isn’t enough the SOC notes and if that isn’t enough reread the book.

Ever since I setup a caldav server I’ve been good about doing reminders now that my phone and computer are connected on this. One for family and one for work.

I recently watched a video on using a notebook or journal in which the speaker said we often never finish a notebook because we make up rules and don’t live up to them then never finish using the notebook. Recently I’ve taken this to heart and write everything in one book. Random thoughts, to dos, diary. All there.

I’ve also started keeping documentation notes for my research, servers, and life. Good to learn something fun or important and write it down.

I am very adamant about my notes being privately hosted on my servers or handwritten.

the good old notepad,

That’s my preference.

Is it like complicated things or simple ones?

It is both. I take very detailed and heavily linked notes (through my own PKMS based on index cards) and I also use notebooks for quick notes on the go notes. Have been doing so for years. BTW, there is a community related to Note-taking/Personal Knowledge Management: [email protected]

I don’t use it to remember things (well, yes it helps with that too, but it’s not the main purpose) I use it to help me think and create new ideas/associations between existing ideas, infos, whatever.

More info on ‘my’ note-taking system (it’s not mine by any mean): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten

Edit: published too early an unfinished post, sorry ;)

i’m you, OP. i use quillpad on my android device

More important. Than taking notes is what are you gonna do with them. This conditions how, where, and with what you take notes.

If you’re never gonna look at them again and just generally use it to think, brainstorm, or remember things better. Then it doesn’t matter where, just use whatever is immediately available to you.

If it needs to be later referenced, shared, archived or processed into finished products for personal projects or work, there are several options. Note taking apps, text editing software, plugins for different editors. Each will do things different and will link differently to different work pipelines.

My current pipeline is notes either on the phone or on a notepad. Then I clean and process said notes on OneNote (don’t judge, work pays for it and it is the only one available). Where they are more structured, tagged, detailed, hyperlinked or whatever else it takes. That’s where I also take notes for meetings or training and study sessions.

Finally, I use those notes for writing reports, minutes, and presentations. Which are then sent to the actual institutional archive.

Me and all my colleagues erase old notes once they’re no longer relevant for data protection, so we don’t use the archive features of ONote. But the encrypted sharing and sync is very useful for collaboration and to save your work in case of hardware failure.

On my personal life I have permanent places of data storage, and take notes with whatever I happen to have at hand. Samsung notes, paper, notepads, whatever. Data always end up either being deleted or sent to a more permanent place. Just like with cameras, the best tool is the one you have at hand when you need it.

I recently got a tablet with pen support and have this same question. I’m specifically looking for something that’s on Android and Windows/web. So far, I’ve been using OneNote but I wish it had standard folders instead of notebooks and pages.

depends:

research projects: there’s one folder on disk, dump everything there (including notes.txt file) and make regular backups (via git).

for regular, mundane tasks: either write it on a text file on my android device’s file explorer, or write myself a message in telegram.

I hand write them first and then organize important stuff in Obsidian for future reference. Writing stuff down helps me remember it. I carry a pocket notebook and use one page for a weekly todo list and the other for general notes.

I use https://silverbullet.md/ have been loving it so far

Obsidian is what I use. I used Joplin and Simplenote in the past.

I’m using Obsidian on Android and on Linux and sync my notes with Nextcloud. Nextcloud also has its on note taking app but I prefer Obsidian. I also love the canvas feature. I also love the fact that the files in Obsidian are Markdown files. You can still edit them with any text editor if needed.

OneNote for work. Usually for meeting notes to help me transfer to Action items in to the task management software. I also use it to keep a record of my conversations with team members.

I also use it as a temporary location for information while performing work. I later transfer those into the details section of the task management software.

Apple Notes for personal. App is also installed on my personal laptop. It’s simple to share Notes with my partner.

I’m afraid of getting locked into anything so I do all my notes in raw markdown and organize it with vscode. I tried all sorts of things before I settled on this way but I’ve never looked back. Simplicity is king.

Standard Notes. It’s like Google Keep but without Google.

If I need to remember something I either take a note or add it to my calendar. Otherwise I wont.