best outliner you use? (2018)

Posted by Dr Andus
Apr 13, 2018 at 09:57 PM

Looks like this thread has turned into our usual annual review, so I’ll add my reflections then.

I haven’t started using any new software or service in the past year. If anything, I have been using fewer, though my usage pattern has changed.

My most frequently used outliners are WorkFlowy and Gingko. I use these two on a daily basis. Besides being great outliners, the main reason behind it is the fact that they’re online, so I can use them across various devices, and also because I can have them automatically open in a Chrome tab (and most of the time I have multiple tabs with them open), so they also work well as reminders of the various projects and categories of tasks I work on.

On my Chromebooks I do most of my plain text writing in Caret, and on Windows I use an old version of NoteTab for snippets, and WriteMonkey v. 2.7 for longer pieces.

ConnectedText is still my main notes database, but I use it less often now for other types of organising, as I only turn on my Windows laptop if I really have to; otherwise I much prefer to work online on one of my Chromebooks.

For handwritten notes I’m still using Boogie Board Sync.

So it looks like I’ve cured my CRIMP as far as software are concerned. I’m a lot more interested now in trying out new organisational processes and tool chains with stuff I already have (in fact that’s another reason why I like WorkFlowy and Gingko, because they are so pliable towards new uses), or adding in analogue bits, such as whiteboards or paper index cards.

But I still salivate after cool new hardware that I can’t afford, such as the Google Pixelbook, or the other Chromebooks with stylus support that are starting to come out, or various monochrome note-taking devices that have been mentioned recently on this forum.