We’ve all spent nights tossing and turning in bed. Sometimes the reason is that you want to get on with the day as quickly as possible. Because you have such interesting ideas and thoughts that you want to put them into action before you forget. They keep you awake. You want to talk about them and put them into words.
We all think that some ideas can be great, especially at moments like this. We are exposed to so much information, both important and unimportant, during the day that our brains cannot process or remember it all. What is special about ideas is that they come to us in great detail in that moment, and they can continue to do so as we think about them. The best thing we can do at such moments is to write them down.
Whoever we are — whatever our age, gender, station in life or mood — we all have ideas. Many of them are even useless. But that is what makes them so beautiful. As I have mentioned in my previous articles, and as you know very well, practice is everything. This also applies to idea gymnastics. We are going to throw out a lot of ideas so that later we can sort out which ones are useful or funny and ridiculous.
In such cases, there are some programs and applications that you can use on your PC or smartphone. Of course, there is a mobile version of every note-taking application to make it more portable. I want to talk about the three that I use all the time.
Evernote
It is a very well-known application that I have been using for a long time. It is simple and effective to use. Since note-taking is a simple and immediate reflex, I think the application you use should not be too complicated. We should be able to do it in the moment. Of course, it is possible to make changes to make what is written on the note page more understandable. I prefer numerical sorting or listing, and sometimes I use check boxes to track my progress on whatever the note is about.
I have been using it regularly since May 2017. It has been an assistant in many moments of my life where I take all kinds of notes. Shoutout to dark mode users.
Evernote Mobile Applicatiom — Image by Author
Notion
Again, this is an application I have been using for at least 6 years. I use it mostly on my laptop to be honest. Because it is more versatile than Evernote. Especially if you are an office worker or want to keep your notes in different styles, it has a more effective structure. The last update introduced a lot of drafts. These are generally planned, programmed work and development designs that you can track, as well as project work, to-do lists, product tracking, Kanban tables, Gantt charts, etc. It offers many different and functional options such as project work, to-do list, product tracking, Kanban table, Gantt chart. You can download these templates and edit them yourself or create different styles of layouts from scratch.
There’s also AI content generation in a variety of styles — limited monthly and upgradeable for a fee. I found it useful but didn’t use it much. I generally used it to keep track of my own work, update my processes and take notes. There are also icons that you can make a bit more aesthetic by adding visuals.
Notion Application Templates Page — Image by Author
Daylio
I don’t know how well known this application is, but you can only use it on your smartphone. I had looked for and used a lot of habit tracking apps in the past, but they were all similar to each other or didn’t offer the usage I wanted. Finally, I chose Daylio and have been using it regularly every day since the end of 2017. Since then, I haven’t missed a single record and I have to say that I’m proud of that. Although you can take notes, Daylio is more like a digital diary.
Keep track of your mood and activities throughout the day by writing, adding photos or simply using icons. You can also record audio. The interface is very nice and useful. I bought the premium feature to support this application, but of course you can use it without buying it. It sends notifications about daily logs, your records are automatically backed up and your application can be made visually more attractive with different colours and icons that you can choose. In terms of gamification, there are achievement as you progress.
There is also good news for lovers of detail and statistics. The application keeps a versatile statistical breakdown. You can make comparisons with previous ones, analyse the points that affect your mood performance on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. The day I don’t keep my daily mood log, I really feel incomplete.
Daylio Yearly Statistics Page— Image by Author
Note-taking is a necessity. Such programmes and applications are like a bag or a companion that carries the data in our brain. It feels strange not to use them when you can take notes routinely, aesthetically, aurally or regularly. Since I benefit from each in its own way, I cannot see one as superior to the other. Apart from these, are there any applications that you currently use and like?
Comments