A System for Bringing Notes Back When They Only Keep Piling Up
The Paradox: The More Notes You Have, the Less You Look at Them
The solution is not to organize harder. The key is to reduce categorization to a minimum and design a flow that makes you encounter your notes again.
| Section | Key summary |
|---|---|
| The Paradox: The More Notes You Have, the Less You Look at Them | The solution is not to organize harder |
| Simplify into Three Drawers | Let every note flow into only three drawers |
| 30 Minutes Once a Week: Empty the Inbox | If you cannot throw things away, your inbox will never be empty |
| Force Yourself to Encounter Old Notes | Instead, create a flow that puts one random old note in front of you every morning |
Simplify into Three Drawers
If you split folders into dozens of categories, you get tired just deciding where each note belongs. Let every note flow into only three drawers.
| Drawer | Role | What goes in |
|---|---|---|
| Inbox | Fresh raw material that just came to mind | One-line ideas, links, screenshots |
| 整理 Drawer | Refined once a week | Notes with titles and keywords added |
| Archive | Finished or connected material | Notes actually used in writing, planning, or work |
30 Minutes Once a Week: Empty the Inbox
- Set aside one hour every Saturday morning and open the notes piled up in your inbox one by one from the top.
- Add one line to each note that says, 'I will use this later when I ___.'
- If no use comes to mind, delete it decisively. If you cannot throw things away, your inbox will never be empty.
- Move only the notes with a clear use into the整理 drawer after adding a title and 1-2 keywords.
- When two or more notes in the整理 drawer connect, combine them and move them up to the archive.
For example, if you add the purpose 'use as material for a brunch essay' to a one-line note that says 'cannot focus in meetings,' that note finally becomes useful. Because only notes with a stated use survive, the整理 drawer naturally ends up containing only things you will use.
Force Yourself to Encounter Old Notes
The key to rediscovery is deliberately creating 'chance reunions.' Do not rely on your note app's search feature. Instead, create a flow that puts one random old note in front of you every morning. Search only finds what has already come to mind, but the notes we have truly forgotten are the ones whose search terms do not even occur to us.
- While drinking your morning coffee, open any one note from your archive and skim it for 30 seconds
- Add the month of creation before each note title, such as '24-03,' so older notes stand out
- Make the 1st of every month your fixed day for rereading last month's archive
- If a note you revisit is useless, delete it on the spot to keep the archive light
When you encounter one old note every day and revisit old notes once a month, there comes a moment when a buried idea connects with what you are doing now. That connection is the real reason for keeping notes.