Outliners & Daily Notes

I’ve been considering whether my current DEVONthink daily note is the best system for rapid note taking. Of course there’s nothing wrong with it, other than it being super-basic.

DEVONthink Pros

  • Wikilinking (automatic and manual) to other notes.
  • Integrated into broader DEVONthink Search/See Also system.
  • No-nonsense, no futzing with formatting.

DEVONthink Cons

  • No genuine Markdown editing support.
  • No outlining support
  • Just a plain text document.

I’ve been looking at Dynalist and Workflowy. Yet both cost money and feel kind of clunky - like my hands are flippers. That’s because they are web apps living in the Wild West of UIs - no operating system standards holding them to account.

I still have OmniOutliner Pro, which I’ve toyed with once again. Maybe if I keep the OmniOutliner file simple and focused enough, it will do the job. I’ve paid for the software. It’s available on macOS and iOS.

I think the last time I tried using OmniOutliner, I over-engineered my outline with columns, formatting, etc. If I keep it simple it may work better.

Of course, that also means I lose the integrated DevonThink search.

Continuous CRIMPing1, that’s the name of my game.

  1. CRIMP stands for a make-believe malady called compulsive-reactive information management purchasing. Symptoms include: never being satisfied with your current system of information management; continuously being on the look-out for something newer and better; purchasing every new PIM program you learn about; and secretly hoping you won’t find the perfect PIM, because then you’d have to stop looking for a better one. ↩︎

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