Tools of the Trade: Note Taking Apps

Goal: Write More

One of my goals for the New Year is to write more. Not just here on Steemit, but I want to write more as a part of my daily process of Getting Things Done and developing my ideas.

I have long been a fan of wikis (like wikipedia) and have used them for organizational use. I'd like to go a bit simpler and just look at Note Taking applications.

What do you use?

If you write regularly, do you use a Note Taking app? If so, what do you use?

Right now I am testing two web based applications that allow notes to be stored locally and encrypted.

• Standard Notes
• Laverna

I really like the philosophy behind Standard Notes. Their blog is excellent and I love the values expressed. It's super fast and keeps things simple.

However, I do want to use MarkDown in my notes and that is an option as an extension in the paid version of Standard Notes (Standard Notes accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment and Laverna accepts Bitcoin and Litecoin donations).

MarkDown is built into Laverna by default and you don't have to add it as an extension. So while it is a bit slower than Standard Notes and feels slightly clunky in some aspects, I think that I will be using Laverna because of how it integrates MarkDown.

How I'll Use These Apps

Writing is something that I am fairly good at, but haven't practiced nearly enough. About a year ago, I began the process of doing daily writing and was making good progress, but then I stopped. Life got in the way and I didn't continue with the discipline.

Writing is a discipline.

You have to train yourself to do it regularly and to do it well. It is my goal to use a Note Taking app, as well as other tools like good old pencil and paper, to write about nearly everything.

Encryption is Important

I have fully embraced the Crypto-Lifestyle. It's a mixture of being transparent, like here on Steemit, and knowing when to keep things secure. Not all of my ideas need to be published, or at least not right away. Sometimes you need to work on things without having to worry about what people will think of them. Some of my notes may have passwords in them or financial numbers. These shouldn't be accessible and measures should be taken to keep them safe. Just like you keep your private key to your crytpo safe.

Both Standard Notes and Laverna allow you to encrypt your notes. Most wikis do not have that feature.

Writing to Learn

I'd like to figure out how to make notes that will help me in the process of learning to be a better programmer. I've started learning Vue.js and I will write about it some here on Steemit, but I'd like to write about my learning process in note form. A lot of that will be just for me to be able to go back to later and doesn't need to be a published Steemit post.

Of course, I may take parts of my notes and develop them into Steemit posts.

A Continued Discipline

In summary, I'd like to get better at writing about everything. Both writing to be published and writing to improve my own thinking and processes. This takes effort and doesn't come easily. I hope to share with you in a few months that I've been successful at using writing as a tool to make my life better.

-- @matthewdavid