When the list of bookmarks in my browser grows unwieldy, I export them into a file, store it in Evernote, then clear everything expendable from the bookmarks tab. I store everything from receipts and medical-lab test results to audio files and the contents of now-defunct websites. In the past I’ve proselytized for Evernote - a powerful app that remains the closest thing to an auxiliary backup brain outside of science fiction. I just didn't consider the possibility until too late.) (This was not a question of principle, alas. None of the apps were provided to me by the developers but paid for from my own pocket. The observations are personal and unsystematic, and based on running the apps on a MacBook Air and compatible devices. All of the cards held together in one place and subject to whatever degree of organization seems useful.Įach of the apps I’ll describe here each does all or most of those things while also making the index cards available on your phone or tablet as well as your computer. The ideal note-taking app would be something like a stack of digital index cards, suitable for everything from noting an unfamiliar word to recording a multipage brainstorm. But I’ve come to think of Word as a format best suited for preparing texts other people will see - and a nuisance for keeping track of everything else. I’ve experimented with half a dozen or so, hoping to find one that’s perfect for jotting down a thought, citation, quotation or outline.Īll of which you can do in Word or any other word-processing program, for that matter. Over the past year, I’ve searched for a note-taking tool that would be flexible, intuitive, easy to open and convenient to export from - as well as accessible from whatever device I had in hand at a given moment. If there is a 21st-century form of pencil sharpening, it's probably the quest for the perfect note-taking app. If not, the pencils might need a little more sharpening … Whereupon inspiration, or at least concentration, will flow.

This figure of speech (actual pencils need not be involved) subsumes all the concrete preparations needed to have the right tools at hand and fit to the task. Of the available modes of procrastination on a piece of writing, I’ve found the easiest to indulge with a good conscience is the type called pencil sharpening.

Macjournal commonplace book