What can you use a note-taking app for? Six examples

Using a note-taking app sounds like something for shopping lists, but you get the most out of it for things with lots of loose ends, such as a project, a series of meetings or a house move. As long as those aren't organised anywhere, you keep track of them in your head, and your head isn't the best memory for that.

Preparing and recording a meeting

Create a folder for each project or team, and a note for each meeting. Give that note three headings: agenda, decisions and actions. Put the actions as a checklist under the last heading, with the name of whoever is picking it up next to each one.

At the next meeting, collapse the agenda and decisions from last time so that only the actions are still open. That way you can see in a few seconds what's been left undone, without scrolling through old notes.

A project with lots of small tasks

Redesigning a website, organising an event, fitting out an office: projects like these are made up of tasks with subtasks. In OttaNote, a checklist can go as deep as you like. Under "Website" there's "Copy", under that "About us" and "Contact", and under those whatever still needs doing on each page.

When a whole task is done, Ctrl+click (⌘+click on a Mac) to tick off the entire block in one go, subtasks and all. If you want to remember later everything you've done, one click saves the ticked-off lines to a separate note in the same folder. That gives you a project log straight away.

Writing a presentation or speech

Start with the structure: list the sections as headings and jot a few keywords under each one. If the order isn't right, move a whole section with the mouse or keyboard, along with everything under it.

If you come across a useful bit of text on a website along the way, paste it into your note. OttaNote asks whether you want to convert it to headings and lists, or keep it as plain text.

Knowledge you'd otherwise lose

How to pull that one report out of the system, which supplier is for what, what you agreed with that client last time: that kind of knowledge often lives only in your head or in an old email. Put it in a folder called "How it works", with one note per topic.

Type [[ to create a link to another note, and in the linked note you'll see which notes refer to it. That way you build up a small manual, for yourself or for the colleague who covers for you when you're on holiday.

A house move or renovation

A house move is one long list of lists: what needs to come with you, what still needs sorting out, which cupboard parts belong to which cupboard. Create a folder with a note for each room, and a checklist in each note.

Take a photo of the cupboard's screws before you take it apart, or of the paint colour on the tin, and drag that photo into the note. When you put it back together or need to buy more, you'll have it to hand.

At home: family, health and holidays

At home, too, there are things you'd rather not have to remember. A medication schedule with the times, the questions you want to ask the doctor, gift ideas you come up with over the year, or a holiday packing list you reuse every year.

A packing list is a good example of a checklist you keep: after the holiday, untick everything with one click, and it's ready for next year. More examples, from a sowing calendar to a boat log, are on the Examples page.

How to get started

Pick one thing from this list that's currently in your head, in your email or on scraps of paper, and put it in a folder. You don't have to move everything over at once. For an overview of what else the app can do, see What it does.

OttaNote works in the browser, and on Windows also as an app that works offline. You can start for free with 50 notes. Create a free account and try it with your next meeting. A tip: take a moment to read through the sample notes too.