Over the past 25-odd years I've used text files, Moleskine notebooks I carried with me everywhere and lately just iCloud notes. My main problems turned out to be not the preservation of such ideas, but not actually bothering to write them down often and lack of discipline at revisiting them later. Judging from past "successes", getting to work on good ideas immediately has worked best for me.
Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
81–90 of 285 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#82I use todoist, I have one project that contains my random creative thoughts. i review them and remove those i think are useless from time to time.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#83I use 2Do with a keyboard shortcut for a new task set to Ctrl+Alt+Cmd+T, so I can instantly note anything down and forget about it. That lands into an inbox I can process later.
If it's an actionable thing I then categorize and schedule it, but I also have a large 'Maybe' list for unwieldy project ideas (52 items and counting).
For random daily or project notes I use a small shell script (and Dock application, via Automator) that creates a daily file and opens the containing folder in an editor:
touch "~/notes/$(date +%Y%m%d).txt"
$EDITOR ~/notes 1>&2 2>/dev/null &
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#84I (and am sure many here) have been in the same situation. I have tried physical books (which I'm still biased towards), OneNote (my next favourite, especially on tablets with stylus), txt files, wiki etc. Ultimately what I realised is that it is all useless if I don't have a periodic review session for these ideas. So, what I am doing these days (not with much success due to lack of discipline) is to have 2 or 3 dif…
Oh, man, you just have written my exact thoughts!
I also have a problem revisiting my notes, ideas, etc. I was thinking about creating a note-taking app with reminder. I know, that there is a whole world of note apps as well as reminder apps, but i wanted to have specific tool. Also, what is the point to be a programmer if you don’t create things for yourself, right?)
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#85I used to use Yahoo Notes for this. When they shut it down I created my own web app for this, and now it is available to anyone: https://circles.app
Features: Notes can be accessed from any web browser. Web site is mobile friendly. You can share notes with others. You can encrypt notes. And the most important feature: You can download all your notes by clicking "Download all" and you get a .zip file with plain text files (with line breaks compatible with your OS).
Other features: You can save links to random websites, you can create lists, store some files and so on.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#86Nobody else mentioned it which really surprises me but I use Google Keep. Allows you to organise cards, colour code then, pin them and share them across devices. Anyone else use this? I find it's simple and restricted UI reduces distraction; just you and the idea. Also good for check lists, links and reminders.
I use Keep for everything. I just wish it 1) wasn't owned by Google and 2) started up faster.
It lets me create searchable yet unstructured notes, lists, and photos. It's unbeatable in terms of simplicity and functionality.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#87Google Keep works
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#88Physical notebooks started working for me when I started using them for daily planning, which I did by buying a silly $5 stamp of off AliExpress: [link redacted] On NYE I went through my books of 2018 and it was a great experience -- both reiterating all the things I've actually accomplished and refreshing various thoughts and ideas that I had stored and sort of let go. https://www.instagram.com/p/BsDWesbnkDI/
+1 for physical notebooks. I still do this. I still make notes on my laptop but most everything is still on paper! It gives me something to show my kids someday.
I'm sure this won't be the case for everyone but something about being on the computer all the time, using it for official work tasks and so many personal mundane tasks seems to take away from my seriousness and memory retention when I'm trying to do creative organization outside of work time (since work stuff is by nature more structured and stratified into departments and projects it sorta helps to organize itself before I have to really put thought into it).
That's where I find using a physical notebook better.
Sometime I do is write everything out in pencil first and then I make sure to re-read it. That gives me a chance to make quick changes / fixes and then more importantly it allows me to go back with a pen when I'm done to write over / highlight headings, keywords, key snippets, and key bullet points while also being able to add things like stars next to important items, arrows to connected items, and other things that I possibly forgot to jot down or couldn't finish once I have the clarity of the entire ordeal's organization jotted down in one place.
This helps me commit things to memory much better and something about having a hand written hard copy feels like I actually did some "official work" on a side project / personal organization / preparation project.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#89I write them. I carry around a good quality physical notebook and a couple of pens that I particularly like, and make an effort to spend some time writing every day so that it's a habit.
My notebook is A4 and sits alongside my laptop: if I have my laptop, I have my notebook.
I find the act of physically writing things down is really important for my process.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#90I use simplenote it updates instantly on all my devices, I can send links while browsing. I find it very usefull and don't miss notebooks and scrap of papers at all.