Suggestions for organizing info in Apple ecosystem
March 7, 2024 4:37 AM Subscribe
I am very good at taking notes in Apple Notes and scanning paper documents to save in Files. I am not so good at organizing them. Suggestions please!
This is not for any particular project, just life. I have most trouble with ongoing things that cross topics. E.g. insurance issues that involve both a doctor/facility and the insurance company, tax docs that involve both a bank and my taxes, items that are related to both my money (mortgage, repairs, property tax) and my home, items that are related to multiple family issues (letters, stories, health info, family trees, historical documents). A lot of these involve multiple phone calls across months. I end up opening a note in Apple Notes to take notes on phone calls, but then I have a bunch of different notes and what do I file them under or how do I tag them so I could just find them again when I want to take more notes on the same issue? Do I save relevant PDFs (bills, EOBs, whatever) in Notes or as PDFs in files? I have all the info, I just can’t easily find it.
I have a mac laptop, an ipad, and an iphone. Everything syncs and I have plenty of I could storage. None of this needs to work on Windows or Android - I’m all Apple.
This is not for any particular project, just life. I have most trouble with ongoing things that cross topics. E.g. insurance issues that involve both a doctor/facility and the insurance company, tax docs that involve both a bank and my taxes, items that are related to both my money (mortgage, repairs, property tax) and my home, items that are related to multiple family issues (letters, stories, health info, family trees, historical documents). A lot of these involve multiple phone calls across months. I end up opening a note in Apple Notes to take notes on phone calls, but then I have a bunch of different notes and what do I file them under or how do I tag them so I could just find them again when I want to take more notes on the same issue? Do I save relevant PDFs (bills, EOBs, whatever) in Notes or as PDFs in files? I have all the info, I just can’t easily find it.
I have a mac laptop, an ipad, and an iphone. Everything syncs and I have plenty of I could storage. None of this needs to work on Windows or Android - I’m all Apple.
In recent weeks as I’ve been learning about Smart Notes and Zettlekasten I’ve become aware of Apple Note’s capability of linking between notes. I’m looking into it to up my note taking (for when I’m again gainfully employed).
While Zettlekasten may be overkill for your needs, the core concept of linking between notes, and an index note may be useful.
posted by nandaro at 5:14 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]
While Zettlekasten may be overkill for your needs, the core concept of linking between notes, and an index note may be useful.
posted by nandaro at 5:14 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]
Spotlight (the native search tool) indexes the contents of PDFs and Notes, etc. Adding tags for concepts that don't appear as text in the document, or putting things in folders by date, is a good idea. Then use Spotlight (command-space) to search for what you need. This is my approach.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 AM on March 7 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:15 AM on March 7 [3 favorites]
Echoing the above! This Instagram reel walks through a few features, including linking and hashtags, and also folders within folders, adding quick notes from the control center, and scanning and searching documents.
posted by charcoals at 7:10 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]
posted by charcoals at 7:10 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]
Two options that I'm trying: Devonthink (mostly for pdf files) and the online service mymind.
posted by dhruva at 9:24 PM on March 9
posted by dhruva at 9:24 PM on March 9
« Older How generic or customized are progressive... | International Travel, burnt out edition Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 4:38 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]