Why I No Longer Use Notebooks To Organise My Day

Two years ago I had a problem remembering where the hell I saved useful information. 

I juggled three notebooks.

One for daily operations, one for goals and one for business ideas.

Then there were dozens of scattered post-its on my desk.

And sooooo many apps with lists and tasks. 

Oh… And let’s not forget the dozens of tabs open on my computer (wait, I still do this bit…).

But years earlier, it wasn’t like this. 

I used one pocket notebook religiously. 

Born from being on the cafe or restaurant floor and always having 3 pens and a pocket notebook on hand, I grew to love note-taking.

Wait, why three pens you ask?

Yep, one to keep, one to lose and one to give away. That's the rule in hospitality.

Oh, if I had a dollar for every pen I lost…

Anyway, note-taking was critical to remember everything while on your feet.

But as my business got bigger, I spent more time between computers and meetings. 

It made sense to start using digital apps more but I still used notebooks too.

I started struggling to remember where I had saved all of the ideas.

In the end, it’d go something like this…

I’d be deep in work. Operations notebook by my side. 

Then a momentary lapse in focus led to 42 minutes of life-altering Youtube university I’m not supposed to be watching but can’t stop. 

Then SNAP! 

I’d kick my own arse and say get back to work, quickly highlight it and save the link.

Somewhere…

Three days later, I’d grab my favourite 2 pm double shot flat white and prepare to indulge my eyeballs on that game-changing, life-altering piece of information.

Except. “F it! 

Where the hell did I save it?”

In a whirlwind, I’d be tearing apart notebooks, post-its, apps, and website bookmarks for half an hour before giving up, wasting a bunch of time and drinking a lukewarm double shot flat white with those greyish bubbles lingering on the top. Screaming (F)YUUUUCK!

I remember thinking, surely there’s an app for this…

One place for all things like my old pocket notebook from years ago

A digital second brain!

Turns out there is such a thing. 

And for the last 12 months, I’ve been testing three of them.

Today, I want to share them with you and how I’ve used them.

1. Trello

I freaken love this app for scheduling my week. 
But it's also a great one to capture ideas.

First, I created a board for daily action with a column for each day of the week.

Then I added a column on the left as an Ideas Log.

This means when you open the phone app, it's the first column that appears and you can quickly jot an idea down before you lose it. 

The app is super fast and dead simple to use which makes it a great replacement for my pocket notebook.

Then I added other columns for saving websites, thoughts and resources to return to later.

But it’s all useless until you build systems and habits around using it.

So each Sunday I drag any ideas I want to work on from the Ideas Log across to the day I want to explore them. The rest remain there for later. 

This helps me prioritise what to work on. 

Pro tip: Use voice-to-text to type out longer notes and reminders rapidly. 

2. Notion

This one's a beast. 

Maybe too big and too intimidating for most people because it's highly customisable. 

But don’t let that stop you. There are hundreds of brilliant templates out there to help you optimise it quickly.

Don’t waste your time designing things from scratch.

I currently use Notion for business plans, saving data for the future, content planning and lots of personal tracking.

Even though I’m using Trello more, I can see myself switching or at least using Notion more in the future. 

It’s powerful and versatile.

Plus I’d like to simplify to one platform eventually.

3. Roam Research

I got onto Roam because I wanted to journal, take notes and record ideas all in one place.

I know what you're thinking... A beautiful leather notebook right?
 

Yes, but I wanted it to be searchable. No more flicking back through notebooks!

Roam Research is brilliant for that. 

It's a networked thought app that lets you link ideas using [[brackets]].

Every day a new blank page loads with one single dot point and the date.

 It’s super intimidating at first.

The platform’s default forces you to write in dot-point form which is why I love it so much. 

You don’t feel like you’ve got to sit down and smash out a whole page of notes. 

And the search function helps to find [[keywords]].

I use Roam like a digital diary.
 

Mostly on my computer because the app is a little slow to load (and I’m massively impatient with technology).

It's been an excellent app.

That's it!

Three incredibly powerful apps that have transformed my journaling.

I hope these apps bring you as much value as they've delivered to me.