Miscellaneous Monday: Notetakers, unite!

[Dave Liao]

📝 What are your favorite tools for note taking?

Could be for work, personal, or anything in-between. Also curious about your analog note taking solutions, doesn't have to be digital.

I'll start! For me:

1. I tried Private Notes for Confluence, but that EAP ended and the feature never was released. Would've been nice if it was released and had Confluence Mobile support... maybe in the future? One can hope.
2. Last year I experimented with an E ink device, but these notes would only sync to the vendor's proprietary database. Late last year the vendor added AI support to the tablet where the notes would be translated to printed text (neat!) but I had already returned it.

Feel free to include a photo or screenshot of your personal solutions!

And curious if your solutions are the same as, or complement the tools and practices you might be practicing when it comes time to reflect.

[John Funk]

Hey @Dave Liao  - Thanks for the post! I still just prefer good ole paper and pen most of the time. 

[Dave Liao]

On long flights I used to carry two sheets of blank paper - I'd scribble down the tasks I'd want to handle after I land, and I'd mind map from those to-dos.

I should probably do it again, it was fun to see how many tasks I could scribble in very really small handwriting. 😂

[Kythera of Anevern]

NOTES! I live or die by note-taking. I always have a Field Notes book and pen on me whenever I leave my cave.

That said, given a choice, I prefer to type my notes. I type exponentially faster than I can write! In a perfect world, I have my iPad and keyboard (if it's not for work and I don't have a work laptop handy).

• If I have access to Wi-Fi, I like to take notes directly in Confluence (no lie!).
  • I maintain a personal Atlassian account with Confluence and Jira. I have a space set up for taking notes! I'm the only user but I keep the privacy locked down pretty tight anyway.
• If I'm not online, I'll type my notes in the Notes app, then copy-paste into Confluence once I'm back online.
• If I'm in a situation where I have my iPad but not my keyboard (I always have my Apple Pencil with my iPad because it's got a slot in my iPad case), I'll take notes freehand in the Freeform app. I prefer Freeform to the Notes app for handwriting because you can set up a dot grid background: 
  • Plus, you can doodle!
  • Freeform has a "copy as text" function for handwritten notes, but it's...not perfect. Still, if it was worth taking notes on, it's worth copying and proofreading those notes later!
• If I do have to take notes with pen and paper, I type them up later if it's information I need long-term.

[Dave Liao]

@Kythera of Anevern - That gargoyle rocks!!

I have a personal Jira & Confluence instance that I use mostly for sandboxing or supporting people on Community. I should probably use it "for real" and get a real sandbox. Ha!

[Kythera of Anevern]

@Dave Liao Thanks! :D And hey, ain't nobody judging how a person uses their private instance! 

Not gonna lie, though, Confluence and Jira legit help me manage my ADHD and keep my life organized. I'm cultivating a series of articles/blog posts about how I do it. But "infinite spare time" and all that...

[Dave Liao]

@Kythera of Anevern - ha, if only Jira had a mascot like Duo (of Duolingo, RIP)

Hmm, I wonder, could Jira's mascot be The Jira Guy?

I'd love an SD version of him popping up on my Jira board. @Rodney Nissen - ReleaseTEAM I'm totally adding this to a feature request board. bahahahaha

[Kythera of Anevern]

@Dave Liao That would be great! As long as they don't become the next Clippy. 😅

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

Gary is a gem!! :) 

[Kythera of Anevern]

@Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy Aww, thank you! Gary is basically a sentient potato, but their heart is in the right place. 

[Lacy Saute]

I'm interested to see what others use for note taking! 👀 I have tried multiple things my own notes (Confluence, Notion, OneNote, Goodnotes, to name a few) and I haven't loved any of them so far.

[Dave Liao]

@Lacy Saute - I'm using Obsidian now and loving it! It's performant, which is a big plus for me. I can find keywords in my ~4,000 notes in often than less than a second. It's crazy.

Fun fact: Before Obsidian I used Evernote. They had webOS and BlackBerry apps back in the day, so my choices were limited. It never was really good, and got super long in the tooth - then they got acquired by a PE firm! :p

[J R]

I like ChatGPT and CoPilot for visualization of the notes but I’m always concerned about the tools making too much sense of my attempts to conceal sensitive company info. 

sometimes I simple revert to pen and paper like @John Funk  :)

[Amanda Barber]

For longevity/long-term notes, I use Google Docs (gasp) or Confluence. For everyday note-taking, I'm definitely a paper/pencil person. I love a good checklist! 

[Bogna Krystian_Deviniti_]

I'm an analog girl at heart, so I prefer using pen and paper. Sticky notes are my favorite, but the downside is that half of my desk is covered in yellow paper 😅

[Amanda Barber]

Haha, same! Although I've been buying fun colors now, so there's a whole rainbow! 🌈

[Barbara Szczesniak]

I use OneNote for things I need to refer to repeatedly, but your post prompted me to look at and delete a couple of my notebooks (I don't really need to have lists of which Jira tickets we refined each week, especially since I stopped going to the meetings for a few months.)

For most work-related notes, I now generally add comments on a Jira ticket or Confluence page.

Otherwise, I have a pad and pen. Since I work from home, I tend to buy a new spiral notebook and pens when they have school supplies on sale each year.

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

Currently, I'm using: 

• Goodnotes on my iPad: I purchase a digital planner every year and log my time, write down priorities and tasks for the day, and use this as my scratchpad throughout the day
• Confluence for any formalized, work-related notes: ie if I attend a webinar and want to share my notes with the team, they get formalized in Confluence
• Notion for any formalized, non-work related notes: ie prep for an upcoming meeting with my wedding planner
• I do usually keep a small notebook and pencils on hand — I have a few scattered across my bags and at the rate that I use them, I think most are half-full and 5+ years old... but good for an emergency or a quick idea. 

In the past, I've used Evernote, Good Drive, and Notability (the best for handwriting on the iPad before the Apple Pencil was released)

Ultimately, the digital knowledge base solution that builds solid iPad/handwriting support alongside the more robust features of an app made for desktop is going to have my heart forever. 

[Kythera of Anevern]

@Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy I've never heard of Goodnotes! I'm going to have to check that out! :D

[Tomislav Tobijas _Koios_]

I've been using Confluence for quite a while now. However, I still didn't find the 'right template' when it comes to meeting notes.

Last week I tried Loom AI for Meetings and as far as it goes, it's a promising feature. I still need to test it a bit more to find out if it can replace writing down notes completely 👀
*it works quite well in Croatian too 💪

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

My favorite is an employee.  Sans that, pen and paper.