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You read that right — for the past two months, I’ve been relying on a single Google Keep note to keep my life pointing in the right direction. It might seem an incredibly far-fetched idea, and believe me, I thought so too, but reducing my core productivity app stack down to one source has been a boon for this tinker-happy writer.
As someone who previously relied on an entire crew of Android apps to hoist my sails, I realized just how much time I spent juggling various solutions for my chores, work to-dos, personal activities, long-term goals, and sundry.
I needed a new, more focused approach to help me focus on the actual tasks rather than on creating the perfect platform to track them. And that’s where my one Keep note comes in.
I have a fascination with finding specific solutions to specific problems. As someone who writes about apps for a living, I can say this attitude obviously has its benefits. The more I encounter these novel products, the more I want to integrate them into my existing productivity flow. This means that my digital life can grow increasingly cluttered due to the churn of constantly changing services, the adoption of new apps, or the complete revision of my workflow.
The solution was clear: I needed a single port of call where I could unload all my mental cargo throughout the day. Sure, I’d need to supplement it with other tertiary services, but ultimately this would be my daily gateway. The solution was Google Keep.
While there are a slew of note apps that would fit this particular niche — Obsidian, Notion, OneNote, SimpleNote, Notesnook, and beyond — Google Keep is omnipresent across my devices; it’s always open somewhere, which makes it the best solution to my digital clutter problem.
I’ll have it open next to my budget sheet and my personal Gmail while I’m working. After I wake up and before I go to bed, I’ll address the note on my phone. Any phone I pick up, I can open that specific Keep note. If need be, I can even pull it up on my Galaxy Watch.
Along with Keep’s ubiquity and ease of access, I also appreciate its minimal formatting options that force me to focus on recording rather than editing. It’s just enough to bring order to my thoughts, but not enough to lead me astray.
As for the key question: why do I lean on one note when Keep can harbor many? Well, I’ve discovered that keeping all relevant data in one silo, rather than scattered across multiple venues, keeps me focused and immediately informed about pertinent information. I do have separate notes for other information, but these details aren’t mission-critical.
So what does my “Daily Life Notes” note actually entail?
Largely inspired by brain dumping — the practice of writing down everything and anything that’s in one’s mind at any time — I write practically everything on this note whenever I can or whenever I remember something. This approach has helped me overcome the organizational roadblock of forgetting items and events I should remember.
Then, instead of migrating this information to more purpose-built apps, I organize it right on the note itself. Actionable tasks get placed into the dedicated “Tasks” section. Other less important details are either deleted, moved to another note, or relegated to the bottom.
Back to the heart of the note, the tasks section, I keep dedicated sections for Recurring tasks, tasks due that month, and tasks due within the next week. Below these sections, I keep a running list of tasks due on weekdays, ordered by day.
Monday always sits at the top of this list, and since I’m writing this article on Wednesday, August 12, the Monday section is now dated August 17. I’ll backfill any tasks due next week into these days as the week progresses. In this sense, I’m always a week ahead. Tasks not completed on their day, or those deferred, are moved to the relevant tasks section. This arrangement saves me from constantly shuffling entries around, which, again, clears mental clutter and the time required for editing.
You can see a visual example of my note’s layout below.
But what do I actually write in these sections? Well, anything and everything!
Fixtures tend to include dinner plans — this gives me a heads-up on whether I’m cooking or we’re enjoying leftovers — chores, work-related tasks, personal notes, anything my fiancée mentioned that I need to remember, when she gets home from work, any events or trips we’ve planned, and other items of interest. When I mean anything and everything, I genuinely mean it.
Below the dates, I add an Undated Tasks section, which serves as an overflow for activities I need to remember but that are highly contextual or aren’t necessarily prioritized.
Below the Tasks section, I include more themed brain dump information. For instance, my car is going in for its second service later this month. I’ve started a list of items that I’d like the mechanics to check. After the service, I’ll remove this section, migrate it to a separate note, or perhaps replace it with a list of future road trip ideas.
I’m also planning more iron-rich meals for my family, which I now house in a dedicated section beneath my car service details. This includes some brainstormed meal combos and foods that are rich in the mineral. Although this isn’t my primary source of cooking inspiration, it does help to guide me in a relevant direction when I’m buying groceries or meal planning.
Research ideas, any interesting podcasts I want to listen to, workouts I want to try, financial advice or stocks I plan to investigate, and anything else goes on this note. I mean it — everything and anything!
Now, instead of darting between six or seven different apps as was required by my previous workflow, I open a single page within a single app. I know that if every idea is in a single basket, I can’t misplace any, and all I need to do is sift through them. If I need to migrate specific notes, ideas, or events to another app, I can, but it’s no longer a must-do because my productivity flow demands it.
Naturally, using a single broad solution for almost everything does present some problems. It requires a complete adjustment if you’re used to using multiple apps, as I was.
Then there’s the discipline required to keep this system moving, which is more important than with a multi-app approach. As mentioned, if I neglect this note for a day, I’m immediately several steps behind both organizationally and mentally. Thankfully, Google Keep is wonderful for easy management.
Let me touch on the starker issues with this system. As ubiquitous as Google Keep is, it isn’t hugely powerful or feature-rich. Remember, it’s just a note-taking app. It lacks certain creature comforts, like alerts, alarms, and integrations with other platforms, that would make it infinitely more scalable.
I get around this by employing other apps when needed. Importantly, I don’t regard these apps as a part of my one-note system, but rather background players that help me bring further order to the chaos.
These apps are always secondary to Google Keep. Anything on my note that needs to go to these apps will first land on my solitary note. They aren’t necessary, but they certainly do add some redundancy to this setup.
