A note-taking app is supposed to streamline and organize the process of taking notes. But given there are so many notes apps out there, and I love trying them all, it starts becoming counterproductive because it can leave you more overwhelmed than organized. What finally worked for me wasn’t an elaborate PKM setup, but a super simple stack of tools for creating my notes, synthesizing them, and then syncing them. Here’s the minimalist setup I’ve been working with…

Why did I narrow down my note-taking stack?

I’ve been hoarding note-taking and productivity apps

Before I get into the tools I’m using, I’d like to touch on the benefits of working with a boring setup. I’ve tried so many note-taking apps at this point, and many of them are quite appealing because they usually have at least one feature that makes me want to keep using it. There are simple apps like FocusWriter that work great for focused writing, but a productivity suite like Notion is also really attractive for all the management tools you get with it.

The problem is that I end up with dozens of note takers on my computer, but with none of them being a dedicated note-taking space. So my notes get scattered all over. Having only a handful of dedicated note tools ensures I know exactly where to go looking for my notes, plus they’re all neatly stored in the same places.

The apps I use for note-taking

It’s a pretty simple stack

First up is Windows Notepad. It’s one of the most boring apps I’ve ever used, and I wouldn’t have it any other way - there’s a lot to love about its minimalist interface and functions. There are barely any menus, and everything I need is within reach. It’s a hybrid in that it supports Markdown, plain text, and rich text, though I mainly use it as a plain text editor. Exporting, importing, and updating my notes is also dead simple.

I use Apple Notes to take notes on my phone. There’s nothing much to say here other than it’s simple and convenient. It’s a rich text editor, but I prefer my notes in plain text. So I save them to my Files app which automatically converts them to txt files, which I then pop over to my desktop using Snapdrop.

Lately, I started using NotebookLM as a notes app. I don’t consider NotebookLM a notes app, at least not in the traditional sense, though some would probably disagree. Either way, it’s a great tool for quickly summarizing my longer notes or retrieving key points that I just don’t have the time or patience to scan for manually. NotebookLM has become an integral part of my note-taking workflow, and my digital productivity overall.

Lastly but not least - AFFiNE. This app has quickly become my go-to for project and task management, which includes some of my notes. I like writing in AFFiNE directly because it’s such an intuitive interface and I can pop my notes straight into a database, but it also lets you seamlessly export and import your notes. Like Windows Notepad, it’s a rich text and Markdown hybrid, so I can export in either format.

I do still use other note-taking apps, like Obsidian, but these are the four tools I gravitate toward the most because of how simple and useful they are. I could technically get rid of all my other apps, and this little stack would still have everything I need for note-taking, from short lists to elaborate drafts.

Keeping everything synced and backed up

I keep it simple, once again

The only tools I use to keep my work synced across devices and back up are Google Drive and Snapdrop. I have the Google Drive app on my desktop with some of my folders set to sync. The cool thing is that it preserves the folder hierarchy that’s on my desktop. So since I structure them by topic, and then by date within those topics (YY-MM-DD), it gets reflected in my Drive.

Another cool thing about using Google Drive is that I don’t have to manually drop my text files into NotebookLM. It integrates directly with Drive, so I can just search for them right in NotebookLM and add them as sources in seconds. And as I’ve mentioned before, I use Snapdrop to get text files from my phone over to my PC. It actually lets you upload a wide range of files and formats (I also use it to transfer the featured images I take from my iPhone to my Windows PC).

I don’t like overcomplicated workflows

My note-taking stack isn’t flashy by any means, which is exactly how I prefer it. This mix of tools is basic, intuitive, and convenient to use. I can’t be bothered with elaborate dashboards or arduous self-hosting setups. The Windows, Google, and Apple offerings, plus a couple of extras like AFFiNE and SnapDrop, are all I need to create, manage, and sync my notes. I have no intention of putting more effort into managing my note-taking tools, than actually taking notes.