Choosing a digital notes system

Your digital notes system is the part of your PKM system that stores notes that will have enduring value to you. You don't have to use a fancy tool to store notes, though there are many, many fancy tools out there.

Begin by considering your requirements:

  • Will your notes be mostly text, or must your note system have strong support for handling images and other media types?

  • Do you want an “all-in-one” system that integrates notes, calendars, and tasks? Or do you prefer to keep your tasks and calendar separate from your notes system?

  • Do you want a system that makes it easy to publish and share your notes with others?

  • Are you comfortable storing information in the cloud, or would you prefer to keep all your notes locally on your computer?

If you’re starting with PKM, I suggest you start with one of the options under Simple and Free. You don't want to start with a complex notes system and spend time engineering (and likely over-engineering) your solution before you have established a note-taking habit and understand what structure and features you might use.

Simple & free notes applications

Networked-thinking notes applications

Networked thinking applications are centered around bidirectional linking, a quick and easy way to see connections between notes you might otherwise not discover. I recommend Obsidian because of its large community and the available resources for learning it. It has a robust free option with no limits on the number of notes.

For in-depth coverage of Obsidian, I recommend David Spark’s Obsidian Field Guide ($)

Other note-taking systems

A hot category of note-taking systems is those that integrate notes, tasks, and your calendar. These include early movers such as Notion and Coda (with a database focus and optimized for team collaboration) and upstarts such as NotePlan, Capacities, and Reflect Notes, which focus on individual note-taking and action management (calendar, tasks).

If you are interested in more advanced note-taking systems or in alternatives to my suggestions for "Free and Simple" and "Networked Thinking" tools, I suggest you refer to Tool Finder's review page for note-taking applications.