
Whereas gushing over Notion, Evernote, and different fancy apps, we’ve forgotten the goldmine silently sleeping on our iPhones.
This goldmine is simple to make use of, syncs together with your Mac, isn’t bloated with fluff, and has unimaginable versatility.
Sure, it’s the default Notes app. (Maintain your dismissive guffaw until the tip of this text.)
Listed here are 5 highly effective use circumstances of the Notes app:
1. Construct your idea-capture command middle
Concepts are right now’s forex — and tomorrow’s lifeblood. Because the late French author Viktor Hugo put it: “There’s one factor stronger than all of the armies on the earth, and that’s an concept whose time has come.”
Concepts aren’t just for creatives or innovators, although.
Good concepts can enhance your workflow, make you happier, add to your pockets, and elevate your life. However until captured, useful concepts get misplaced — in our head’s deluge of 70,000+ day by day ideas.
Right here’s preserve your concepts protected with Notes:
- Create 3 folders — one to your brainchildren, one for exterior concepts, and the final for refined concepts.
- Dump brain-igniting tweets, highlighted textual content, and even complete articles into the exterior folder.
- Dump any random concepts that fireplace up your mind into the brainchildren folder. Trivial or not, it doesn’t matter. For iOS 16+, you may create “fast” notes on the fly.
- Each week, riff by these folders, refine the concepts, make them actionable — and transfer them to the Refined folder.
One of the best half? You probably have a Mac, Notes are synced together with your iPhone robotically, so it’s simple to streamline them.
I do know this feels like rather a lot, however it’s excessive ROI work — particularly should you create on the web. This concept-capture system is how I write 5 articles, 2 newsletters, 20 tweets, and a pair of threads each week — with out ever working into author’s block.
Ralph Waldo Emerson as soon as quipped, “The thoughts, as soon as stretched by a brand new concept, by no means returns to its unique dimensions.”
By no means cease stretching your thoughts.
2. Simplify your exercise monitoring
Monitoring your exercises is one of the best ways to progressively overload — which analysis has confirmed important for long-term muscle and power progress.
However most monitoring apps are inflexible and cluttered with ineffective options.
That’s the place Notes’ minimal Person Interface (UI) shines:
- Create a brand new folder — and create particular person notes to your routine’s totally different exercises. For my modified model of PHUL’s 4-day routine, it appears like this:
- If you hit the fitness center, beneath every train identify, jot down rows of “X reps with Y weight” for every set.
- With each new exercise, replace the identical in your notes.
For working, swimming, calisthenics, or every other athletic endeavor, you may observe equally.
P.S. Screenshot or duplicate the notes the primary time you jot down your numbers. You may then look again each few months to see how briskly you’re progressing.
3. A secure-enough credentials vault
Solely your iPhone passcode protects your plain public notes.
Add an additional layer of safety to your delicate notes by locking them:
- Go to Settings → Notes → Password → Use Customized Password → (Elective) Allow Face ID → Set a powerful password → Save.
- Now again in Notes, create a brand new “Creds” folder.
- Transfer in your delicate notes and lock all of them — each time you exit the app, they’ll be locked.
- Pin those you most steadily entry to the highest.
Whereas this isn’t as safe as password managers, the iPhone passcode + notice password creates 2 layers of safety.
Plus, your credentials aren’t on the mercy of some third-party app — extra vulnerable to hacker assaults than your inconspicuous little iPhone. Additionally, who is aware of to whom all these apps promote your knowledge?
4. Mixture and segregate your varied to-dos
Lengthy gone are fridge post-it notes — save paper and trouble by going digital:
- Create a To-Do folder.
- Create and pin place-holder notes equivalent to “Residence To-Dos,” “Private To-Dos,” and “Grocery record.” Tailor this to your particular use circumstances.
- Dump objects as and once they come to thoughts — use the guidelines characteristic for higher monitoring.
- Guarantee unchecked To-Dos float to the highest by turning on sorting — go to Settings → Notes → Type Checked Gadgets → choose Robotically.
- Convert them into reminders in the event that they’re time essential.
Each weekend, evaluate all of your To-dos, filter out checked ones, and plan the week forward. You may repeat this day by day as nicely.
5. A streamlined approach to set reminders
I can’t recall what shirt I wore yesterday.
Remembering cross-timezone Zoom name timings and my mom’s infinite grocery record is past inconceivable. Thank goodness for the Reminders app!
Even higher, you may convert notes into reminders:
- Select the notice you want to set a reminder for.
- Hit the highest proper Share button.
- Select “Ship Copy” within the menu dropdown — after which choose Reminders.
- Edit the Reminder particulars if you want. Click on Add, and also you’re good to go.
You may equally even convert elements of a notice right into a reminder — helpful for To-Do lists with objects throughout timelines.
You’re left with a easy 3-step Reminder-setting system:
- Create a folder to retailer potential reminders.
- On the fly, jot commitments, ToDos, scheduled calls, and occasion notifications.
- On the finish of every day, empty the notes into the related reminders.
Together with your close to and expensive reminders set, you’re free to deal with brain-intensive duties.
Putting in 100 totally different “productiveness” purposes isn’t productive — it’s pro-distractive.
The less complicated your units, the extra targeted you’ll be. Aside from advanced use circumstances like deep analysis and data compilation, “second brains” like Obsidian and Roam make no sense.
The straightforward and highly effective Notes app suffices for 90% of normal use.
Are you a Notes fan as nicely? Any nifty options, use circumstances, or hacks I’ve missed? I’d like to know.
Neeramitra Reddy is a author and editor of In Health And In Well being, Wholistique, and MANXIMIZE.
This text was initially revealed at Medium. Reprinted with permission from the creator.