I've tried every note-taking system imaginable. Notion, Evernote, Roam Research, Obsidian, plain text files, paper notebooks, voice memos. For about two weeks each, I was convinced this was the system that would finally organize my brain. Then the system would become unmanageable, I'd stop using it, and I'd lose access to everything I'd put in it. The solution wasn't a better system. It was understanding what notes are actually for.
Notes are not for capturing everything. They're for processing what you're thinking about so you can find it later when you need it. The problem with most note-taking systems is that they optimize for capture without optimizing for retrieval. You end up with enormous archives of information you never look at again, which defeats the entire purpose.
The Principle of Necessary Imperfection
You don't need to capture everything. You need to capture the things that are genuinely useful to you. The test I use for any note is simple: would I search for this later? If the answer is no, I don't write it down. If the answer is yes, I write it in enough detail that I'll understand it when I come back to it in six months.
The second principle is that notes should be written for your future self, who won't remember the context you're writing in. A note that says "interesting article on focus" is useless six months later. A note that says "Cal Newport's Deep Work argument: shallow work fills available time, so you need to deliberately schedule deep work blocks" gives your future self enough to understand and use the information.
How I Actually Take Notes Now
What works for me is simpler than any app: a daily note in a plain text file, organized by date. Each day gets a few bullets on what I learned, what I'm thinking about, and any decisions I made. Once a week, I review the week's notes and extract anything that might be useful later into topic-specific notes. Once a month, I review those topic notes.
This system is simple enough that I actually use it. The value isn't in the sophistication of the system—it's in the habit of processing what I'm thinking about so I can find it later. The best note-taking system is the one you'll actually use consistently.
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