Storing information and notes (Microsoft OneNote)
Before using the tool for taking notes and storing information, answer the question of what you are going to write and store. In addition to Microsoft OneNote, there are Notion, Bear, Agenda and many other applications. Each has their pros and cons, but in the beginning an additional service may be superfluous. Try to start with a simple one, for example, with standard notes in your phone. In any case, I recommend doing the steps below. Since most standard programs have such functions.
1. Check the categorization.
As in the task manager, order and simplicity in records are very important, since it is easy to make a garbage can out of the information storage. I advise you to make as many categories as possible so that you can get to the desired entry without searching. It doesn’t matter how many notes there are in each category. At least one or two. Let them rest there, you don’t work with them every day. The main thing is that you can easily find the record when you need it. When there are a lot of notes, then you will use the search. If it doesn’t work, you can go through the category tree. If you don’t remember where you posted the entry, then the detailed categories will tell you the meaning. Start collecting and storing information, and common sense will lead you to your own storage system if you strive for order.
2. Save pages, not links.
Install the web clipper in the browser and in a couple of clicks you can save the link to the article or the entire text of the article. Valuable articles that I don’t want to lose, I keep not in the form of links, but in full. They are easily found through search, and can be read without the Internet. The link may stop working, and access will be lost forever.
3. Create page templates.
You can create templates for recurring projects, tasks, meetings, checklists, and lists. You created it once and then you can activate it immediately, just to fill it out. All the information that you often use can be recorded so that you can copy it if necessary. Frequent answers to questions, addresses, business cards, letter texts, etc. The worst thing you can do is to re — type the same text several times.
4. Use tags.
Any entries can be tagged and then used for sorting. For example, at work you have many meetings with different departments. You keep all the summaries of meetings in the “Work Meetings” folder. If, for example, you want to find all resumes for marketing meetings, then you can create a “Marketing Meetings” tag and tag each marketing meeting summary with it. When you click on the “Meetings marketing” tag, you will get a list of meetings with marketing without unnecessary actions. The complex structure of folders and tags greatly complicates the storage system, so do not overdo it.
5. Link notes to each other.
If you write a phrase in double square brackets in Microsoft OneNote, it is converted into a link to a page or section. For example, you write a text and realize that you get a large block that can be placed on a separate page. Open the double brackets, write the name of the section, close, done. In your text there is a link to a separate page where you can take out the desired piece. You can also make a link in the text to an already existing page to link entries by meaning or common properties. If you write books or articles, then this will definitely come in handy. This principle underlies the Zettelkasten method for storing ideas and knowledge. This method has helped sociologist Niklas Luhmann to write more than 70 books and 400 articles over 40 years of activity. He kept record cards in boxes according to a special scheme, but today many are trying to transfer the principles of Zettelkasten online. When I was writing the book, I used Zettelkasten. I linked all new entries with similar entries. So, it was easier for me to put the information together and choose the most important thing.
6. Use spoilers and structures.
You can create multi-level attached structures and lists. They can fold and unfold. This allows you to organize the contents of the page when there is a lot of it, and everything does not fit on the screen. For example, you have the text of a speech, and it contains the text of a life story that you can tell if there is time left. You can make a drop-down line “An example from life” and add the text of the story to it. By default, the text will be folded, but when you click on the “Example from life”, the text of the story will expand in your own text. You can create page templates with structures, which will simplify filling and formatting.
7. Use the calculator in the text.
Yep, that’s right, the calculator is in the text! If you are writing a note with numbers, and you need to do calculations with them, then Microsoft OneNote has prepared the cherry on top. You can write “20 + 30 =” in the text, press the space bar, and “50” will appear. Very cool feature. No need to switch to a calculator, and the whole history of calculations is in front of you.
8. Install the widget on your phone.
Any picture, text or link should get into the storage database as a bullet flies out of a cowboy’s pistol. Through the widget, you can immediately take a photo, text or list without logging into the application. The advice is banal, but most people do not use it and every time they unlock their phone out of habit to write a note.
9. Learn the functions and integrations.
It’s rather easy to work with a task manager, but you need to figure out how to deal with note takers like Microsoft OneNote, Notion and Evernote. I have described the functions that I use myself to optimize the work with information, but there are much more of them. For example, you can recognize texts from images or insert videos into recordings. There are even more functions and bundles with Zapier, IFTTT or Integromat services. You can automatically collect publications from social networks, keep a call log, automatically create pages based on a template, and much more. Take time to watch videos about other people’s usage scenarios and service functions that are not obvious from the interface. I am sure you will find useful functions and scenarios for optimization.
