Master Project Notes: where do you keep them?

Ariadne Marques

Registered
There is one item of my GTD system that I've always struggled with: what is the best place to keep my MPN's. I like to plan and keep notes and have an inventory of my past projects. I've been using Evernote to do that for years with relative consistency but recently I tried using Onenote and Word 365 (I have an Office 365 subscription).
One thing that I like on my system is to have a link to the MPN on my tasks/projects manager app. I've had that with Todoist, and more recently with Nirvana HQ. The downside is that sometimes the links don't behave the same when I'm on my desktop or mobile:
  • For some reason, links to a OneNote note never opens correctly on iOS, so I knew it would not work for me.
  • Evernote works well on the iOS (if I use the html link on Nirvana). On my desktop, the link will open Evernote Web, which is not ideal for me (I still prefer Evenote desktop).
  • If I use Office 365 I can use the online share link to add it to Nirvana, which opens the Word app on iOS and the Office web on my desktop, which is okay.
What are your experiences with Master Project Notes? Am I complicating things? Does it matter where to keep them?
 

Mateusz

Registered
I use exactly the same approach but a different tool.
Now my digital tool for support materials and reference items is Notion and I am pretty satisfied with it.

I used to use Evernote for many years but it is not as flexible as Notion is.
If you like the Evernote desktop app than you can use classic-style notes links. This kind of links open in desktop apps (when installed) and also works on mobile.
 

Oogiem

Registered
There is one item of my GTD system that I've always struggled with: what is the best place to keep my MPN's.
I use DEVONThink. Has both iOS and Desktop versions, very powerful search and can either index document sin another location or you can import them. However, unlike Evernote, it doesn't keep your data hostage nor rely on any cloud service for access.
 

Ariadne Marques

Registered
I use exactly the same approach but a different tool.
Now my digital tool for support materials and reference items is Notion and I am pretty satisfied with it.

I used to use Evernote for many years but it is not as flexible as Notion is.
If you like the Evernote desktop app than you can use classic-style notes links. This kind of links open in desktop apps (when installed) and also works on mobile.

I tried Notion a while ago and although it's extremely powerful I found myself feeling some "friction" every time I needed to capture something in it. Deep inside I still prefer Evernote because of the ease of capture and simplicity.
And talking about Evernote, if I use the classic note link (the one that starts with "evernote:///view/...") on Nirvana HQ, the link doesn't work on the iOS app. It doesn't recognize the address as a link, so I'm using the normal note link ("https://www.evernote.com/shard...") so that I can open my MPN's while on my phone if needed.
The downside is that on my desktop (Windows 10) the link will open Evernote Web instead of the desktop, but I think I can live with it.
 

Mateusz

Registered
It is strange. I am sure it worked for me on my iPhone with iOS 12 at that time.
Maybe if something is really important you can include both type of links? When I was using Evernote I had an account in TaskClone service. When I included a task within Evernote note that service sent the task into my task manager app including both type of links(to the note) within a comment.
 

Ariadne Marques

Registered
It is strange. I am sure it worked for me on my iPhone with iOS 12 at that time.
Maybe if something is really important you can include both type of links? When I was using Evernote I had an account in TaskClone service. When I included a task within Evernote note that service sent the task into my task manager app including both type of links(to the note) within a comment.
I've recently upgrades to iOS 13, I wonder if that might have caused the "evernote:///view.." to stop working. For now, I'll add both type of links like you suggested. Thanks!
 

Ariadne Marques

Registered
Just an update, I gave Notion a try again and I've moved all my MPN's and references from Evernote (and into Notion).
After I understood the power of Notion's databases I can't look back! For example, I used to have my work project notes on Evernote, and then a separate Excel spreadsheet to track active projects, their value, their total construction area, start/finish dates, etc. I would have to manually extract this information from my notes into the Excel spreadsheet and now with Notion it's just a database where I can filter and sort all this information the way I want.

I use exactly the same approach but a different tool.
Now my digital tool for support materials and reference items is Notion and I am pretty satisfied with it.

I used to use Evernote for many years but it is not as flexible as Notion is.
If you like the Evernote desktop app than you can use classic-style notes links. This kind of links open in desktop apps (when installed) and also works on mobile.
 
Notion is indeed amazing. I've been playing around with it for a couple of months. I even tried to build a GTD system in it, which can be done and people have done it, but it just was too clunky for me. But for reference and project support it is great. I know that you can also embed: Nirvana, Nozbe and Tick Tick very nicely within a Notion page
 

OF user

Registered
Ariadne, I find all of the software mentioned as excellent, especially evernote and devon think. The latter allows you to keep your data off the cloud. One thing you might want to read about is Tiago Forte's PARA system (google it). It is a system designed around synchronizing your projects with your areas of focus, with your references, and next actions. The system complements GTD and only presents an alternative file structure system. I have seen tekkies write Apple Scripts allowing programs like Omnifocus to automatically assign projects to the software after it has assigned files to references and/or areas of focus.
 
Top