Organizing the Creative Chaos: Note-taking Must Haves

So you don't lose your mind...

As a creator, keeping organized notes is essential to keep from losing your mind resources.

Where do you keep track of all those helpful sites, articles, reference images, your to-do list, inspiration, and ideas to revisit?

Notebooks are great for journaling or jotting down ideas before they float away to the memory dump, but they’re not ideal for things like calendar events or copying links.

Memory dump from Inside Out

As far as free note-taking sites, you have options—Microsoft OneNote (part of Microsoft 365 online), Notion, Trello, and Google Forms (part of Google Docs)—to name some of the better-known programs.

Some other notable programs compiled from your comments in response to my note here on Substack include Obsidian, NotebookLM, and Novlr.

I can’t break down all of these in one post, so I’ll compare the two I’ve personally used.

OneNote vs. Notion

I’ll compare how I use notes on these two sites (free versions only).

Also note that while both automatically save to the cloud, it’s not a bad idea to keep backups of your most important work (for instances such as a cat walking over your keyboard and deleting information that you don’t catch for a significant time, rendering “undo” useless—ask me how I know this).

The overlap:

Both

• Automatically save to the cloud with the online version so you don’t lose any work (theoretically).

• Are fairly easy to use.

• Are available in the app store for your phone.

• Organize notes into pages to easily find what you’re looking for.

• Allow for collaboration with others.

• While they both technically offer dictation, this feature is not part of either app’s online version. For OneNote, that means buying the desktop app. For Notion, that means using your device’s dictation tool on the desktop or phone app.

Microsoft OneNote

Strengths:

• The online version is free.

• Color-coded sections make organization easy on the eye.

Drawbacks:

• The online version is missing some important features that the desktop (paid) version has.

• No templates (online).

• To-do lists and managing events become more manual (you can add a to-do check box from tags, but it’s not laid out in a nice calendar).

Use:

OneNote is straightforward and easy to use. Once you start a notebook, you can create sections and then pages within the sections.

This is a real screenshot of my OneNote (I created a sample page so I wouldn’t have to share my real notes).

You’ll see I have my sections labeled and then pages named within that section. You can type or copy and paste links, articles, or images. It’s really as simple as that.

One downside is that I have to physically click on my “To-Do” section and then manage the tasks as a list instead of having them under a specific calendar day.

Notion

Strengths:

• Extensive free features

• The to-do list brings up a weekly calendar view to easily keep track of progress each day.

• Access to templates

• The desktop version is also free

Drawbacks:

• I couldn’t copy and paste images from my OneNote over to Notion and had to take screenshots to move them (other images seemed to copy fine).

• Pages in the panel are not color-coded and tend to blend together.

Use:

Everything is just called a page in Notion. Pages are shown on the sidebar like sections in OneNote, and new pages can be added and rearranged by clicking and dragging.

Subpages can be added and show up as links within as well as indented below their corresponding page along the sidebar. You can have subpages under subpages.

All the gray along the navigation pane makes it hard to pick out the pages from the subpages. I’ve started adding icons, which replace the generic image of a page and help differentiate your notes (you can also favorite your most-used pages to pull them into their own favorites section).

General Notes page with “Writing Ideas” page added within/below in navigation pane.

So far, this is very similar to OneNote, but where Notion shines is its ability to use templates and tools such as “Weekly To-do List” and “Project Planner.”

You’ll notice the link under the weekly planner to a custom page I added that I call “Floating Tasks.” This is where I put ongoing tasks or future projects I want to keep in mind.

Default view of a new To-do List with my new page, “Floating Tasks,” embedded at the bottom.

Likewise, the project planner lets you see all of your projects at a glance, including a helpful status column. This tool is better for ongoing tasks than the To-do List.

I’ve been using OneNote for years, but I’ve recently been drawn to Notion’s templates and tools.

You can find both free and paid templates for new pages (sometimes just browsing these can spark ideas).

I’m currently enamored by the free daily habits template I’ve discovered. It helps keep me accountable for my writing, reading, and workout goals, and after a quick setup, it’s as easy as a click of a box under each habit.

P.S. If you’re looking for free writing apps, check out LibreOffice (desktop suit), Microsoft 365 (online), or Google Docs for your basic writing needs or Novlr for pairing your writing with goals and tracking writing data.

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Thank you for reading. Hitting that little ❤️ heart at the bottom lets me know which content is the most helpful for you.

Janine Eaby is the author of Beyond the Water’s Edge—a fantasy book series influenced by her faith, love of nature, and desire for adventure. Ideal for fans of portal fantasies to other worlds, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I am not affiliated with any of these programs. Use at your own discretion and always follow all terms and agreements.