11 Great Tools for Organizing All of Your Notes

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What tool or application do you recommend for organizing all of your notes? We asked 11 members of the Young Entrepreneur Council to share.

Besides Evernote, what tool or application do you recommend for organizing all of your notes and why?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. EditMe

Fenella KimEditMe is a Wiki where I can organize all my notes; I can also share my notes with my team, constantly edit the notes and leave comments. It also has a history log that shows who made the most recent change.

– Fenella Kim, Reliance Star Payment Services

2. A Note Pad

Gregory RaizI’ve tried all the tech apps to take notes and track to-dos. The problem with all of them is that they run on the world’s most interesting devices, the phone and the computer. You may think that’s a good thing, but the problem with your phone and your computer is that they will very often suck you into someone else’s priorities. Write your own notes without Wi-Fi and without distractions.

– Gregory Raiz, Raizlabs

3. Workflowy

Doreen BlochWorkflowy is my all-time favorite tool for organizing notes. The application works seamlessly on desktop and mobile, even in offline mode, so it’s ready to use anytime I need. The design is elegantly simple and enables you to organize and share lists packed with notes. Workflowy’s tagline is “Organize your brain” and it really does empower you with that capability.

– Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

4. Asana

Micah JohnsonWe already use Asana for organizing our tasks, and recently we’ve also been using to organize new client and new hire notes. It keeps everything in a searchable database and allows you to share notes with whomever might need them by adding them as a follower.

– Micah Johnson, GoFanbase, Inc.

5. Microsoft OneNote

Cody McLainIf I’m not using or sharing Google Docs, I’m using OneNote. It works the exact same way as Google Docs in that I can access my notes, files, documents etc. across various platforms — from my computer to my tablet and my phone. I can also scan in documents and just keep track of everything in a nice and neat fashion. If there’s ever a ban on Google Docs, this will be my savior.

– Cody McLainSupportNinja

6. A Pen and Spiral Notebook

Cedric HodgemanI’ve tried out many organizer software tools out there, but I always come back to my pen and notebook. I don’t have to worry about online security or it syncing across all my devices, and when I’m trekking through the Amazon or am in a tuk-tuk in Southeast Asia, I know I can take out my pen and notebook and they won’t break, fail to connect to the Internet or attract a thief’s attention.

– Cedric Hodgeman, UBELONG

7. OmniOutliner

Vik PatelI’m a big fan of outliners. I use Evernote as my “everything bucket,” but for notes and other structured information I always use OmniOutliner, which is an exquisitely configurable application and the most advanced outliner I’ve come across. I particularly appreciate that it’s available on the Mac and iOS, so my notes are available wherever I am.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

8. Trello or Todoist

Adam SteeleDepending on what kind of note it is, these two pieces of software have my back in the office, and when I am mobile. Bigger tasks that require more detail and organization go into Trello. Everything else, in Todoist. I am already using Trello to manage my business, so why not everything else? Likewise with Todoist. It doesn’t hurt that they are free, too!

– Adam Steele, The Magistrate

9. Bullet Journaling

Christopher SwenorEven with all the apps and tools out there, nothing beats the simple but effective method of bullet journaling. Our entire team uses this method so it makes all of our notes compatible and uniform. Plus, if digital notes are needed, it is really easily converted.

– Christopher Swenor, East Coast Product

10. Podio

Marcela DeVivoWe use Podio to organize notes. Our team has workspaces for different clients or initiatives, and notes are kept within each of those relevant spaces. We also use Podio Magic as a way to add items directly from Chrome into Podio, thus saving additional time when it comes to adding notes to the corresponding workspaces or apps. Through Podio, we can also add comments and track projects and tasks.

– Marcela DeVivoHomeselfe

11. Google Keep

Blair ThomasGoogle Keep is an absolute charm. It’s fast, intuitive, and is available on the web, Chrome, and on Android and iOS mobile devices. It allows you to quickly add notes, lists, and reminders, create labels for organization and search, and even share notes with team members or personal contacts. You can easily drag and drop the order of your notes and change the way you view your notes on the fly.

– Blair Thomas, EMerchantBroker

Updated: Feb. 2022

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Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs.