I keep an ongoing text to email chain going on between myself. When I'm not at work I text my personal email and when I am, I email my cell phone number
Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
111–120 of 285 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#112I have three capture baskets.
1. On Computer: Org Mode.
2. On Mobile: Google Keep.
3. When Bullet Journal is around, that.
I do organizing once a week to organize it at one place.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#113I email myself and capture in emacs org-mode. I have an email address that is bound to AWS SES. SES listens for incoming emails and writes them to an S3 bucket. I then have a lambda hook which listens for writes to this bucket and processes the email content. This usually means writing an emacs org-mode record on dropbox. Which is then added to my emacs agenda.
I use org-mode with a keybase git repo. Works on termux too!
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#114Since I use Things for todo management anyway, I tend to write down creative thoughts there as task items under a "miscellaneous" project. Bigger ideas sometimes get promoted into their own projects with several tasks. Things synchronizes between iPhone and macOS so it's pretty convenient for short textual notes. More complicated drawings and plans I put in Google G Suite.
I also use Things and Quiver (note taking) for 2 weeks now and it has grown on me.
I use to write creative thoughts in a text document or Notes on iOS. I never revisited these notes. The most important thing is having a dedicated system that you revisit daily to revise and refine the ideas / tasks.
That meant that the system I used needed to meet these criteria:
1. Accessability: I do my planning throughout the day, in bed, on the train, at work, etc. A physical notebook doesn’t work for me because there was too much friction in getting a notebook and pen out while in bed or on the subway.
2. Synchronization: Working on Mac / iOS. Thorough notes are taken on a laptop while on-the-go notes are needed for quick scribbles.
3. Indexing: Having a proper file system to organize and categorize thoughts. I’ve found that Things works good enough for 90% of notes. For other uses, I supplement it with Quiver for code related notes or food recipes.
4. Thoroughness: Having ability to write quick one-line notes or in-depth notes that sufficiently captures my thought is important.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#115I (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…
I’ve been using a new system for the past few weeks, so I don’t know how well it will stick:
I carry a small spiral-bound memo book with me all the time for short-term notes. In the case of random thoughts, it’s generally just a title.
Every morning, I move everything from the memo book into other systems and tear out the used pages. For ideas, this means putting the title at the top of a blank sheet of paper and free writing until I either run out of things to say or reach the bottom of the page.
About once a week, I file all the new notes in a binder sorted by title and put an index card for each one in a Leitner box for reviewing in the future.
When working through reviews, if I find a note interesting it gets promoted all the way to the front section of the box, and otherwise it gets pushed back one, so that its review cycle gets longer. I also use the review as an opportunity to ensure the note is recorded properly in a topical index.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#116I always keep a stack of index cards with me, bound with a large clip. Every idea gets a blank card, and I don’t feel bad ripping them up. I store them in a box I made, and they’re easy to flip through and sort.
I also have a nice notebook with dotted grid paper that I use when I’m feeling more precise with my thoughts and want to capture them more permanently, or just more elegantly.
Other than that I’ll use TextEdit or Notes.app on the iPhone, but often will transcribe that stuff to a card so I have everything together. Some stuff I’ll leave digital if I know I’ll need to keyword search for it later. But, generally, physical cards are pretty easy for remembering where things are.
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#117I (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…
Thank you srikz!
It is a little surprising to see a handful of recommendation for OneNote. I have never used OneNote before, but will definitely give it a try.
I think one's idea tracking system should cover two parts: fast and slow. The slow part is as you mentioned we should periodically review ideas. For this part, I am almost 100% happy with Github issues/wiki/projects.
For the fast part, like you, I used notebook, IM, Google Keep and a bash script at the same time (whichever that is most handy). I am 90% happy with the process. Given the high frequency of the day I am spending tracking ideas (~10 times per day), I am willing to spend some time to fine tune the practice until I am 99% happy.
The idea I have in mind is to write a IM-like note taking app for iPhone and Mac, which stores plain-text and image in iCloud drive. The app should utilize platform features such as Siri, 3D touch, Mac status bar to enable fastest idea capturing.
This sounds boring to me, but I believe if it is done right, it could be my most efficient zero-effort idea tracking solution on the go. (And review ideas using the plain-text db in iCloud)
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#118I always keep a stack of index cards with me, bound with a large clip. Every idea gets a blank card, and I don’t feel bad ripping them up. I store them in a box I made, and they’re easy to flip through and sort. I also have a nice notebook with dotted grid paper that I use when I’m feeling more precise with my thoughts and want to capture them more permanently, or just more elegantly. Other than that I’ll use TextEdi…
Index cards have been most effective for me too.
On those days when you are wondering what to do next I get them out and go through them. I add notes to some, throw some away. Some I break out into several cards.
There is something about the physical nature of the cards that makes them work better for me than any app I have yet tried
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#119[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How do you keep track of your creative thoughts?
#120I have a locked twitter account for raw unfiltered idea. If you have an idea or a thought tweet it to your self!