Confession: I am not the world’s most organized person.  I’m a very messy creative and both my real and virtual surfaces tend to be cluttered.  I’ve learned that I won’t stick with a complicated system or multiple systems.  I need one place to put all the stuff.  To do lists, blog posts, random info I want to save for later, etc.

After a while I noticed that there was one app that I tended to end up using.  Its simplicity was its best feature and now I use it daily.  I use the Apple Notes App.  (I have an Apple Watch/Iphone/Macbook Pro combo so this app syncs between all my devices seamlessly.  If you’re a Microsoft person, OneNote essentially works the same way and they have an app for iPhone as well.)

Because the Notes app just autosaves as I go, and doesn’t act like a traditional document, it’s easy to access my stuff quickly.  It’s also easy to keep organized since I can have folders for notes.  Each folder is a different category!  Additionally, I can view and edit it easily on my phone, unlike traditional documents.

Here are a few examples of how I use the Notes app:

• Drafts of all of my blog posts
• Drafts of most of my Instagram and Facebook captions*
• Lists of blog post topics
• Drafts of travel plans
• To do or shopping lists
• Image shot lists for upcoming shoots
• Email template drafts
• Random thoughts about an upcoming event or promotion
• As a “just get it down on paper” type of journalling
• Business ideas I want to re-visit later
• Brainstorming for projects

*I do not delete notes generally.  Especially my online content (blog posts, Instagram captions.)  It gives me an extra layer of security in case my Instagram feed all of a sudden disappears or my blog backups vanish.  I still have almost all the drafts I’ve written!

In addition to the Notes app I do also have a physical notebook that I use in almost the exact same way as its digital cousin.  Each page is a different thing and I just know that if I wrote something down it’s in my notebook or my Notes app.  Simple, but for me it’s very effective. Here’s a peak inside what I see on the desktop version of the app:

Folders are listed on the left. When I click one, all the notes in that folder pop up and I can see at a glance what each one contains. If I don’t see what I’m looking for right away, I can use the search bar at the top right to find the note quickly. Or to realize that I never wrote down what I thought for sure I had…that too. 😉

And that’s it! Using Notes has greatly simplified things for me – It’s very intentionally uncomplicated and a just a little bit messy. How do you stay organized? Connect with me on Instagram!