There are several principles that have helped me: - Do NOT migrate to new tools, even if they are really shiny and popular - this may end up being a big hurdle you'll regret down the line (looking at you, Notion, Todoist, Google Keep, the list goes on). Just stick to your tools for at least a couple of years before exploring alternatives. - Try search instead of organisation. I used to have elaborate folder structure…
Completely agree here. For better or worse (well, definitely worse), I've noticed that some part of my brain that loves list-making and re-organizing. This leads me to an impulse to be in a never-ending process of migrating from one tool to another, wind at my back with a new motivated epiphany about how to re-organize everything.
Of course, when I say it out loud, it's nonsense, but moment to moment it doesn't feel like that's what I'm doing.
I really love the wiki-style organization but I don't want to depend on a tool with features stuck to that tool. I want something universal, like text.
Right now I'm using Simplenote and its killer linked notes feature, but I fear perhaps I've got a bit of lock-in there too. I at least believe in the ability to easily backup and migrate out of Simplenote, I think it's kinda portable.
But I really think simple principles, like search don't sort, may cut through the unnecessary complexity that my brain loves to produce and administer.