Why I Still Use Apple Notes

My list of reasons for using Apple Notes isn't very long. In many ways I think Apple Notes is an inferior app, especially when comparing it to alternatives like Notion, Obsidian, and the like. There is one thing that keeps me using it, however. Simplicity.

Organization is a death sentence for spontaneity. Tools like Notion have me questioning my note placement before I've written a single word, killing the idea before it's had a moment to begin. I've lost track of ideas due to a distracting home screen ("Oh, I should check my email"), or navigating a Notion sidebar ("Where's the archive again?"), or generating the title of the very note I'm starting to write.

Therefore, I value flow over all else. Nothing is more important than getting the idea into some storage mechanism as fast as humanly possible. Expedience is the same reason I don't carry a paper notebook and a pen, despite preferring writing by hand to tapping on a piece of glass. When inspiration strikes and I need to jot down an idea right now nothing beats Apple Notes. Pop open the app, hit the lower-right corner, type type type.

Every month or so I'll peruse my notes and organize them into better, more permanent places. 90% of the time that means deleting the note. I'm not very sentimental^[1]. The remaining 10% is moved into a GitHub README if it's a project idea or drafted into a proper blog post (markdown + git). This whole categorization phase is a moment of catharsis and feels wholly productive.

I've always been turned off by the term "second brain". Despite what productivity gurus say I don't think my simple notes will ever amount to some magnum opus of material, studied by historians in the distant future. Nor do I think there's much value in the nitpicky categorization that makes up a zettelkasten. I believe those who spend the majority of their time organizing notes and staring at their Obsidian graph view are fooling themselves into thinking they're more productive. Sure, it's pretty. But is my writing any better?

Productivity software preys upon novelty. New apps tout new approaches that will always catch me in the allure of efficiency. Let this ode to Apple Notes serve as a reminder that sometimes simple is better.