0:00 Today we are going to talk about the note app which most people only understand as a basic noteaker app that is native to Apple's ecosystem as since there are so many alternative like notion obsidian and even revised to a certain extent. The note app never really felt like the first choice for many people as a go-to productivity system. But there's really this whole other side of the story about this powerful yet simple app that people don't really know about. And I'm going to go out on a limb and say it. If you have iPhone, iPad or Mac, Apple Note is probably the best note takingaking app for you. About a months ago, I partially switched my lipo system which used to be in notion to the note app. And I think there are some compelling reason why you should too. Because when you think about it, the biggest problem with your note-taking system is not the lack of features, but it ability to do three things effectively. First is to capture
0:47 insight quickly. Second is organize them in a structure and searchable system and only then push you to take action with focus and mental clarity. So in this video I will show you 10 powerful tips that make Apple notes systematically improve your life. Make it easier, more efficient and better organized. And the final three tips are what ultimately pushed me to switch from notion. Let's get started. Now a lot of people choose a note takingaking system purely on its ability to organize stuff which is undoubtedly important and we will talk about in a bit. But there's something that's even more essential than organization. Of course, I'm talking about an effective capturing system. Most app on the market actually excels at organization because it's easier to look a part with fancy dashboard, a complicated database. But they often fall short on quick capture, the
1:32 critical moment when an idea flashes in your mind and you need to save it before it vanishes forever. So the first three tips are all about quick capture. Starting with various ways of bringing up Apple notes on all your Apple devices very quickly. So tip number one, we begin with quick note function. To bring up on the iPhone, you can just swipe it down and bring up control center and add control and search for note for quick access. You can also put it on a widget on your lock screen or you can have this on the quick access button at the corner. This becomes incredibly useful when browsing the website. For example, if you are reading some interesting article with one quick gesture, you bring up the note and it automatically captures the website you are viewing and you can just write your comment underneath it, which is very convenient. And on an iPad is even easier. You can
2:18 just swipe up from a corner and trigger quick note. All you need to do is go to settings and search for multitasking and gestures, turn on swipe fingers from corner and map it to the left corner. I'm right-handed, so swiping upward towards the right feels very natural. worry if you have a Apple Pencil, even when the screen is off, you can just tap the lock screen and start writing. And in the latest OS, Apple has seriously upgraded handwriting recognition and not only recognize whatever you are writing, but sometimes they even pify it to make it more legible. For someone who has terrible handwriting like myself, this feature is really a lifesaver. A Mac user aren't left behind either. Simply map note to one of the hot corner. Whenever your cursor touches that corner, your quick note will appear instantly. To configure that, go to setting, search for hot corner and
3:04 shortcuts and assign the function to your preferred corner. Regardless which Apple devices you are using, there are fascinating additional features like graphing mass equations or use handwriting calculator that automatically copy result to your clipboard. And finally, if you don't want QuickNote to keep burning up your previous note repetitively, turn off always resume previous note in the note setting. This will bring up a fresh note every single time, which is my personal preference, but the choice is entirely yours. So that's how you trigger the note app. But in 2025, people don't just take notes by writing stuff down. They want to record important conversation or lectures, transcribe the audio files, and maybe even have the AI tools to summarize them. Before Apple's latest update, I used to pay for an app called Just Press Record. But now everything I ever need is built right into the note
3:49 app. So let me give you a real world example. Just other day, my kid got sick and I took him to the doctors. The doctor went into a detailed explanation about viral infections, proper medical dosing, warning signs to watch out for, and when we should come back for a follow-up. Well, I don't know about you, but I mean, there's no way I can remember what the guy just said. So, naturally, I need to take notes when he speaks. So, later I get home, my wife asked me, I don't look like an idiot. So, what I did that day is I simply tap this shortcut on my phone screen to start recording the conversation as a voicemail. This triggers the recording function on my phone. When it finishes, I just tap the screen again and a second later, both the audio and transcription will be automatically saved in my note app. There are tons of thirdparty app that can do that, but none so seamlessly integrated into the iPhone and completely for free. And you're probably wondering where can I get that button
4:35 that is actually a shortcut that I made. And to set it up is surprisingly very easy. You just follow the command sequence I have displayed here. Or if you're completely new to shortcut, you can just go to the description of this video and copy that shortcut for yourself and applied it accordingly. And since I've done all the technical setup for you, now is probably a good time to click that like button. And this powerful recording feature isn't limited to the facetoface conversation. If you are on call, you can tap this button to save and transcribe your phone conversation or FaceTime calls into the dedicated note folder. Just remember that everyone on this phone call will receive an automatic verbal notice that this call is being recorded. So always use this with a proper consent. The note app can actually capture picture and paper document using just your camera. I used to have this terrible habit of taking picture of important document
5:21 receipt and papers only to never find them again in my overflow photo album. And if you're like me, you're going to love this next trick. Open a footnote. Make sure it's not a quick note. Taps attachment icon and then select scan a document. And the app automatically brightens your image, perfectly squares the corners, and preserve your document with remarkable clarity. all neatly organized within your notes where you can write clear description of what this document is and what's it intended for. And for those of us with less than perfect eyesight, I'm hard pressed on this scan document to bring up a magnifying glass making small text instantly readable without squinting really really hard. One important distinction to remember if there are really two type of notes when it comes to the note app. There's the note note and there's quick note. They enable different subtle functionalities but
6:07 Apple is not doing a good job explaining the difference. So for now just trust me you will need both. Apart using a quick note on your iPhone. This document scanning function is not actually available. That's why I said earlier to use a note note on your iPhone and leave a quick note on your iPad and Mac. And as you can probably guessed as you're going on about your day, you get a lot of random notes in your default folder that cannot go on forever. So let's talk about how we can organize this notes with what I call an ITA system. Now when it comes to organization there's tons of sophisticated system out there but writer Carroll's bullet journal David Ellen's get things done take a 40 secondond brain and academic zcast method and over the years I've tried all of them but the problem is I wasn't a very disciplined and organized person so despite my best intention I kept gravitating back to the basics what I
6:52 discovered through trials and errors was the more complicated your system is the more time you will spend moving things around and trying to maintain it I call this an organization overhead pad because it's like your own productivity tax which you want to avoid at all cost. So it stand for inbox tag and archive. This remarkable simple approach has transformed my productivity over the past two months. At its core there are only two folder in my entire Apple note setup. One is called inbox and the other one called archive. And that's it. No complicated nesting folder structure, no elaborate naming conventions and just two folders. That's all you need. As I go on about my day, I just populate my index by capturing notes from various sources using the quick capture measure as we discussed. The only caveat is that there's this folder called note which
7:38 you can't really get rid of and everything is saved to that folder by default. It's not a dealbreaker. I just often take the extra step and move things to inbox as often as I can. Then at the end of each day or every weekend if I were super busy, I process all those note by tagging all of them and links the most valuable ones. one of my six home notes which represent my core area of interest family health career friend my mind and YouTube once I've done those I simply move all these note to the archive folder and essentially forget about them but that doesn't really mean they are gone first for those note earned a place in my home note those are special they contain inside worth developing further so I will revisit them where I have dedicated time for those area of my life instead of hunting for them using complicated
8:23 folder now I can just click whatever link I put them in my home loss And for all the other notes in my archive, a simple tag search instantly bring them back wherever I need to see them again. For instance, why clicks a YouTube tag, it immediately surface all the video idea I've captured over the past two months without me having to remember where I store them. This process is incredibly intuitive because it mimics how our brain naturally work. You don't need to maintain complex folder hierarchy or remember which folder contains what and you definitely don't need the superhuman discipline required by most productivity system. Instead, I just maintain these five to six notes on my homepage representing the area of life that matters most to me right now. Everything else get archived but remain instantly retrievable through tags. This approach is not just easy, it's generally very liberating coming from a
9:09 notion user for a long time. Tagging in Apple Note is refreshingly very straightforward. Simply tap a hashtag followed by your category name. The beauty is that you don't really need to reinvent the view every single time. Apple Note keep an a convenient list of your existing tag right here on the sidebar, making it very easy for you to consistently apply the same tag across related notes. When you want to find something later, just click the tag once to see everything with the tag. Click the same tag the second time and note will show you everything it doesn't have that tag. Perfect for discovering something that you might overlooked. For searches you perform regularly, you can create a smart folder by click new folder at the bottom of your sidebar and setting up your search criteria. From this point forward, whenever you click this folder, it will automatically display all relevant nodes matching your criteria, no matter when they were
9:54 created. I'm not currently using smart folder, but it's useful to know it's here. Just remember the core principle of this ITA system. Once you tag your note, immediately move them to the archive so your inbox stay empty. The fastest way to do this is to select multiple nodes with just two fingers and drag them. I move everything to the archive in one swift motion. It literally just take two seconds. Now whenever I encounter something that is really valuable and impact my six area of interest, I take additional step by linking that note, I'll go directly to my home note and add a link using the double greater sign keyboard shortcut. This will create a permanent connection to that content within my home note. Similarly, if I'm out working and a interesting video idea strikes, I capture it with my voice memo shortcut and later when I'm home, I tag that note and create a link within my YouTube home
10:42 note. And later when I develop this video ideas through different production stage, I can move this link around within my YouTube home note to visualize my progress along the production pipeline. This approach really offer numerous benefits. First, your home screen remains incredibly clean and it will stay consistently organized regardless how many nodes you accumulate. And second, you gain a visual overview of your entire life at a glance. You can quickly assess which area are receiving adequate attention and which might be lagging. For example, looking at my own note, I can see that I'm making solid progress with YouTube content, but my Japanese language learning clearly needs more attention based on how few recent notes I've linked there. This provide a gentle reminder to redirect some energy towards that goal. And finally, what you ultimate create is something that look like this with information organized not by rigid folders, but by minimal
11:28 relationship between ideas. But there's one final tips when it comes to the ITA system, which is prioritization. As you can see on my screen, there's always one priority note floating at the top of my note homepage. Currently is my health note. Well, I mention of interest. I recognize that they can all be equally important simultaneously. For example, my doctor recently informed me about a mild liver issue that require more consistent exercise and better resting habit. So, in response, I pinned my health note to the top position of this note and intentionally populated with more health related content. So instead, I recommend directing approximately 80% of your available energy towards just one priority area while maintaining minimal progress in the others. To enforce this focus, I consistently ping a single note to the top of my list as a
12:14 visual reminder of my current life priority. Now, one of the priorities anyone should focus on is to continuously learning practical skills. The best way to do that is by using Brilliant, who's kindly sponsoring this video. Brilliant is a fantastic online platform that is absolutely the best way to learn math and data science or computer science or many other subjects. They've got thousands of lessons on all different topics organizing into different courses which you can take on your own pace at whatever skill level you're at right now. Brilliant actually customize those content to fit your needs so you can work at your own level. My personal favorite courses on Brilliant are the computer science ones. My undergrad degree was in engineering and my programming level was never my strong suit. With Brilliant, I was able to brush up my coding skills with just 30 minutes a day. We all live a busy lifestyle. That's why I really appreciate the efficiency Brilliance
12:59 platform brings. These courses are a great way to build a foundation in coding, get experience with real world applications, and learn to think like a programmer. I personally think learning every day is one of the most important things you can do, especially if you care about productivity and keeping your mind sharp. If any of that sounds good and you like to try out everything Brilliant has to offer completely for free, then head over by visiting brilliant.org/camz org/camz or click the link in the video description and that will give you a completely 30-day free trial and you'll get 20% off the annual premium subscription. Thank you so much Brilliant for sponsoring this video. Now, the remaining four tips are all about transforming your captured and organized note into concrete actions because ultimately a note-taking system is only valuable if it helps you to actually do something with your ideas. Which bring us to tip number seven which is to use this trifecta of apps for
13:46 Apple ecosystem because the synergy between notab reminder and calendar is actually pretty powerful. So for example whenever you capture idea that requires an action you can drag a note swipe up from the reminder and drop it inside the reminder app. This note will automatically become a line item in your to-do list. This actually work both ways. If you drop the to-do list into a note actually become bulle point note. This seamless connection means that you never have to manually recopy information from one app to another. One final elegant touch in the ecosystem. Whenever you create a reminder from the note, a small note icon appear beside the task in your reminder list. Tapping the icon immediately return you to the original note uh to further edit the reference. Going full circle between your ideas and your actions. Now tip
14:33 number eight is connect your Apple notes with your calendar app. Now I understand time blocking is one of the most effective productivity strategy used by working professionals. This is why I like how integrated Apple notes and calendar are. When you create a time block in your calendar app, you will notice that there's a dedicated note section designed to detail what this calendar event is about. So rather than manually retyping information you've already captured elsewhere, you can simply drag an existing note directly into this field. Instantly transfer all the rich contacts into your calendar event. Will you schedule time for for example the YouTube video planning is it instantly include my complete brainstorming notes with a link to search reference material and previous ideas I've worked on. So you really transform a generic time block into a full contextualized work session. Now tip number nine address a crucial aspect
15:19 of more than productivity collaboration with others. We are not evolved into a substantial project like writing a script for a YouTube video. You often need input from collaborators to enhance the final product. To invite others to collaborate on a note, simply add them as collaborator through the share menu. Once connected, you can use the add symbol followed by a person's name and tag them with specific instruction or questions. Also, when you tag a collaborator, they receive a immediate notification on their phone that function instantly like a text message. Your collaborator can response and contribute directly within the notes, maintaining a single source of truth for your project. Now, I agree this feel like a bare minimal of a collaboration software. There's definitely better options. But if you already have an old note that you've been working on for quite a while and you want to bring
16:05 someone in, it's actually quite convenient to just invite collaborator to work on Apple Note together. And there you have it. If you are open to embrace Apple's native app as an integrated system rather than an isolated tools, I encourage you to experiment with this approach of mine. It's a way of organizing your life in a simple but productive way. You might develop entirely different workflow for personal project, work assignment, or creative endeavors. The choice is really entirely yours. I mean, after all this time, I'm definitely surprised I've been sleeping on this powerful app for so long. And if you're surprised too, do find the time to try it out and make sure you download my shortcuts. They're completely free. Do try it out. And if you find this video helpful, I'm currently collecting donation in form of like and subscribe. Make sure you let me know if there's anything I can do to improve my future video quality. I'm still learning YouTube after almost a year of making videos. So any suggestion
16:51 is welcome so I can make better video for you guys. Thank you so much for sticking to the end. Happy note takingaking and I will see you in the next one.
