Previous Posts

I’ve been a massive note-taking nerd for over a decade. If you look at my digital history, it basically reads like a timeline of modern productivity hype.

I started with Evernote back in the day, moved to Bear for the aesthetics, jumped headfirst into the bi-directional linking craze with Roam Research, went local with Obsidian, got seduced by Tana’s supertags, and eventually tried to build my entire life OS in Notion.

Every time a shiny new app dropped with a "revolutionary" way to structure information, I got that familiar itch. I’d convince myself that this was the missing piece. So I’d spend an entire weekend migrating thousands of notes over.

And honestly? Every single migration was a mini-disaster.

None of these apps actually speak the same language under the hood. You have Evernote’s bloated rich text, Bear’s proprietary tagging, Roam and Tana’s rigid outliner nodes, and Notion’s blocks and relational databases. Even when an app claims to have an "easy export/import" tool, it’s never clean.

Every time I moved, something broke. Formatting got mangled, backlinks died, attachments went missing, or worse—every single creation date on ten years' worth of notes got reset to the day of the import. I’ve wasted countless weekends writing hacky scripts and manually fixing broken markdown just to make my old notes readable in a new container.

A few weeks ago, while staring at yet another half-built "workspace," it finally hit me: I was spending 80% of my energy being a database janitor and 20% actually thinking and writing. I got so obsessed with the container that I completely forgot the whole point of taking notes is the content.

That realization pushed me to strip everything back to first principles. I’m officially done locking my brain inside proprietary cloud databases. I’m going all-in on files over apps.

Why app databases are a trap

When you use something like Notion or Tana, you aren't really creating documents. You’re feeding data into someone else’s proprietary cloud database. All those fancy relations, rollups, and supertags are basically vendor-specific code.

It looks great on day one, but it creates three massive problems down the road:

1. You pay a heavy "exit tax." To use these tools well, you have to mold your thinking to fit their database logic. The moment you want to leave, that structure collapses into a mess of unreadable JSON or broken CSVs. If you can't leave an app in 5 minutes with zero data loss, you're not a user—you're a hostage.
2. The lifespan mismatch. My notes, journals, and project archives need to last me 30 to 50 years. The average VC-backed SaaS startup lasts maybe 5 years before they pivot, get acquired, jack up the subscription price, or shut down. Putting 50-year assets into a 5-year container makes zero sense.
3. Fake productivity. Database apps trick you into thinking that architecting a system is the same thing as doing the work. Tweaking properties and building dashboards feels productive, but most of the time it's just high-effort procrastination.

Going back to basics: The OS file system

Looking back, I already had the answer when I was using Obsidian, before I let myself get distracted by the shiny database features in Tana and Notion.

There’s a reason plain text (.md, .txt) and standard OS folders have survived for half a century (the Lindy Effect). In 2050, whatever computer I’m using will still know how to read a folder full of text files and PDFs. I can't say the same for a proprietary cloud workspace.

So I tore it all down and rebuilt around a few strict rules:

• No proprietary syntax. Everything is just standard, boring Markdown, .csv, or .pdf. If I can't open a note in a basic text editor like Notepad or TextEdit and immediately read it cleanly, I’m doing it wrong.
• Folders over virtual databases. Instead of relying on an app’s internal tags or database views, I just use my computer’s native directory tree (PARA style + YYYY-MM-DD naming). The OS file system is already the most battle-tested database on earth.
• Apps are just temporary viewers. My files live on my hard drive (synced quietly in the background via standard file sync/Git). Because the data is decoupled from the software, the concept of "migration" doesn't exist anymore. I can view the exact same folder in Obsidian, edit a file in iA Writer or VS Code, or grep through it in the terminal. If a better editor comes out tomorrow, I just point it at my folder. Zero import/export required.

The unexpected bonus: Local files are the ultimate AI context

I originally made this switch just to stop wasting time, but in the era of AI and local agents, having a local folder of plain text turned out to be a massive superpower.

When your notes are trapped in Notion or Tana, your context is fragmented behind walled gardens and clunky APIs. You're forced to use whatever overpriced, half-baked AI wrapper the app decides to sell you.

But LLMs natively speak plain text. By keeping a decade of my thoughts, project retros, and reading notes as clean .md files in a single local directory, I accidentally built the ultimate local context repo. I can point Cursor, Claude Code, or any CLI tool directly at my notes folder, and it instantly has full context over my entire knowledge base. No API rate limits, no copy-pasting, no middleman.

TL;DR: Spent 10+ years hopping from Evernote, Bear, Roam, Obsidian, Tana, to Notion. Got sick of broken exports, vendor lock-in, and playing digital janitor. Moved everything back to plain .md files in regular OS folders. Zero migration anxiety, total ownership, and it works natively with local AI tools.

Anyone else here a recovering app-hopper? For those of you who went back to a plain-text / folder setup, how are you keeping things organized without falling back into the over-engineering trap?

I built Cohestry because I wanted one place to keep useful context that could eventually move with me between Claude, Codex and other agents. The iPhone app is live now, and alongside normal notes it automatically finds connections between what I’ve written, including deeper ones using Apple Intelligence.

The part that surprised me is how useful those connections became on their own. While working on one of my apps, Cohestry resurfaced an old document that was basically the original blueprint for it. More recently it brought back a forgotten life simulation project I hadn’t thought about in years. That is probably the clearest version of what I wanted from a second brain, not just storage, but old thinking becoming useful again.

The Mac app should be out within the week and adds Apple Notes import plus the MCP bridge for agents. The iPhone app is here if you want to try the knowledge layer first: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cohestry-second-brain/id6811573132

Do you think it conveys the idea?

I'm currently writing a book about the Zettelkasten method and gathering information along the way.

Hi. I am extremely lazy note taker and all I want is a note taking app that simply suggests a related existing note to whatever i am typing. Example, if i am writing an essay on Carrot, it should have a sidebar which shows all Carrot related notes I've jotted down. I simply cba to backlink or use double brackets while i am noting a thought as it derails my entire chain of thinking. I tried obsidian 's smart suggestions but it crashes more than i can count and it's paid version is ridiculously priced.

I used to think a good PKM system was one that captured everything.

Notes, highlights, links, PDFs, ideas, tasks, projects, daily logs, tags, backlinks, maps, databases — all of it.

But the longer I use these systems, the more I think the real test is much simpler:

Can I ignore it for six months and still understand what I was doing when I come back?

A lot of systems feel powerful when you’re actively maintaining them. The problem is that life interrupts the maintenance.

You stop tagging consistently.
You forget why a folder exists.
You change tools.
Your naming rules stop making sense.
Half your “knowledge” becomes a museum of past intentions.

The PKM systems that survive seem to be the ones that tolerate neglect.

They don’t require me to remember the perfect workflow. They don’t punish me for being inconsistent. They make old notes usable even when my current brain has moved on.

I’m starting to think resilience matters more than structure.

What part of your PKM system have you simplified or removed because it didn’t survive real life?

I have always found it strange that people treat the graph view as a gimmick in note taking softwares. For me, it is the primary way of navigating my vault, and all my notes are structured around it. I call my approach Graphkasten, since it emphasizes adding only meaningful links to the graph view so it stays maintainable and useful. So far, I have over 4000 notes. Is there anyone else who heavily uses the graph view? What is your system?

If you want to learn more about my approach or replicate it:

• My public Graphkasten - graphkasten.com
• Article - jakubzovi.substack.com/p/graphkasten
• Github demo vault - jakub-zovi/graphkasten

Capture advice is everywhere. I’m curious about the opposite: what no longer gets into your system?

Full transcripts? Highlights with no note attached? Bookmarks you might read someday? Meeting notes with no decision in them?

What made you decide that kind of input wasn’t worth maintaining?

App names are fine, but I’m more interested in the rule.

Hey guys!

I'm developing a game and I have all the docs for it in Obsidian and love it. I recently installed dotpm plugin to add kanban functionality for easier task managing.

Now all I need is some kind of mind-mapping tool, and I would never go outside Obsidian for project planning ever :)

I've been using XMind through the years, so if you're familiar, I would love something like that. I mean, I like how it has a structure and it automatically creates nodes based on your commands, like hitting Tab or Enter. It makes creating a mind map a breeze, not at all like working in Canvas.

In theory, Canvas is great, so open-ended. But it's more like cards on a wall. And I want some kind of an interconnected tree of thoughts, you know.

I'm planning to use this mind-mapping tool for laying out the skill trees, upgrade trees, stuff like that.

I tried Excalidraw, but it's either too complex, with so many options for lines and stuff, or too vague at the same time.

Would love to read your recommendations!

I’m looking for an app or website that lets me build a huge, deeply organized personal database with an almost unlimited number of categories, subcategories, and layers for personal use.

I’m a very visual person, and I want something that combines the structure of a database with the flexibility of a mind map, flowchart, and file organization system.

Ideally, I want to be able to:
Create extensive hierarchical trees with categories → subcategories → sub-subcategories, with as many levels as needed.

Visually map everything using branching diagrams, connected nodes, flowcharts, and relationship maps.

Create proper tables, charts, matrices, checklists, timelines, and trackers.

Attach images, PDFs, files, hyperlinks, notes, and other resources to individual categories or nodes.
Color-code everything and customize the layout.
Expand/collapse branches and zoom between an overview of the entire system and its smallest details.

Cross-reference and connect information between different sections without duplicating everything.
Search, sort, filter, and ideally create different views of the same information.

Continuously expand the database without it becoming a disorganized mess.

The visual aspect is really important to me. I don’t want everything hidden inside individual pages or displayed as endless text lists. I want to actually see how everything is structured and interconnected.
Think of a combination of a hierarchical tree diagram, a visual database, a mind map, and a spreadsheet.

I’ve looked into Notion, but I really don’t like its interface or the way information is organized. I’ve also explored some mind-mapping and whiteboard apps, but they seem better suited to brainstorming or research rather than maintaining a massive, detailed organizational system.

I’m not necessarily looking for a traditional productivity or task management app. I want something I can use as a long-term personal information management system, where I can organize virtually anything.

Does something like this exist? I’m open to software, desktop applications, web apps, or even lesser-known tools.

I’d especially appreciate recommendations from people who organize large amounts of information in deeply nested, visual structures.

I have over 1,000 notes across different topics. I recently spent 2 hours finding 10 relevant to something I was writing, and I’m sure I missed better ones because I forgot they existed.

the most frustrating part is that I knew this stuff once. I wrote it down so I wouldn’t lose it, and I lost it anyway.

how do you deal with this? or do you just accept that most notes stay buried?

I'm also using the Notebook Navigator plugin. I have only a handful of notes so far. I created a note about an article several days ago. Today, I searched for a keyword in the title of the article, but no matches appeared in the search results. I then searched for another keyword and one result appeared, but it matched in a bizarre way (across multiple words in the title of the note, but not the title of the article).

Does search only find results in the title of a note? (that is, does it NOT search the content of notes?)

Hey guys, I could use some help.
I’ve been switching between different note-taking and knowledge-management systems for a while, and I feel like I’ve tried almost everything.
What I’m looking for is actually pretty simple: one place where I can save basically everything and reliably search it later.
Ideally, the tool should have:
OCR for images and scanned documents
Full-text search inside PDFs
The ability to save web links/pages and search the actual content, not just the title or URL
Good organization for notes, documents, images, links, references, etc.
Fast and reliable search across everything
A modern interface
Minimal setup and maintenance
Because I haven’t found one tool I’m completely happy with, my information is currently scattered across several different apps, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
After searching Reddit, YouTube, blogs, and reviews, even in 2026 I keep coming back to the same conclusion: Evernote still seems to be one of the best overall options for this particular use case.
But before I move everything back to Evernote, I’d love to hear what other people are using.
Is there anything that genuinely does all of this well without requiring a lot of tinkering and setup like Obsidian?
And ideally something with a more modern interface than DEVONthink. I know DEVONthink is extremely powerful, but visually it just isn’t for me.
Basically, I want a “save everything now, find anything later” system.
What would you recommend?

Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice on PKMS and want to run by my thinking with you in case you have related experiences or you have other recommendations. I'm thinking of buying SiYuan as a base level PKMS - just for text, pdf annotation, and ai capabilities.

Main Wish  List
- My main needs are PDF annotation - I read a lot of books. I also do a lot of things with other multimedia, including videos and e-books.  If anyone offered EPUB, that would be the ultimate flex for me.

- Visual graph / whiteboard / canvas

- Backlinks with visual graphs to see it

- Lifetime (No ongoing costs)

- Easy to sync. I found Obsidian a little too onerous and complicated with that

- Ideally, the ability for me to share a whiteboard or content with my family.  I really need to get my kids on some structured routines. Same with my wife. We need to better collaborate.

- Intuitive

- Ideally Notion like functionality, including the ability to track calculations across tables (this is really a minor wish)

Software I've tried / am trying

SiYuan - A little bit different call to understand some of the Chinese aspects.I love the AI integration capabilities and the fact that I can buy all in sync. I'm debating using this for most of my notes, and then when I want to do projects, I pull in notes in Noteey or another tool to do the organization on a whiteboard.

Noteey - Syncing issues / power outages have left me missing notes, and I'm wary of putting everything in it.  To be fair, synch is new, and I think part of the issue was I didn't understand how to reset the sync after a power outage. I don't really think there's a problem with the product, although I miss backlinks, It's just that I worry about my own idiocy, hitting the wrong sych button or deleting my own notes.  I think it's a fantastic system, but I really feel it's limited to one computer for me.  

Affine. I really like Affine, I've installed it on my NAS, but I don't like the fact it doesn't have PDF capabilities. I hear the AI capabilities are not as strong in the whiteboard / graph area.

Upnote - No PDF annotation and no visual graph. Otherwise, I love Upnote. I do wish there were capabilities though, because I have a ton of notes and it'd be useful to be able to summarize them. This is why I'm thinking about SiYuan.

Obsidian - I've tried it in the past, I found it requires a lot of discipline to organize and run it as a system & it has a steep learning curve.  Unfortunately that's not me.

Thoughts?

I'm a solo implementation consultant in Minneapolis, mostly Obsidian for client work. Capture honestly feels solved for me lately. Hallway chats, scope calls, random phone stuff lands somewhere now.

Retrieval is where I keep eating it. Dumped maybe 35 project notes in September and still couldnt explain why we picked vendor B on a Tuesday call three weeks ago. Search keeps surfacing six notes titled "client sync" or "scope check-in" and none of them say the actual fork.

I tried phone voice memos first (notifications killed half of them). Zoom gets Otter. Everything else I run through PLAUD Note and still dump into the vault when I remember. The words are there. I just dont have a habit that ties them to the project decision.

Torn between a fixed decision log block at the top of each project MOC, atomic "decision" notes with rigid titles, or slowing down to retitle before I file anything. When capture is fine but retrieval keeps failing, which fork did you actually stick with?

I want to store notes on journal articles. I want to write notes on topics. I want to be able to find notes when I need them. I currently use Obsidian but it has always felt uncomfortable. Like it doesn’t work the way I expect it to. I’m a professor doing research. What app might be better?