The Reason#
A few days ago, there was a trending topic on X about the service outage of the Chinese note-taking service Yuque, which left many X users unable to access their notes and forced work to a halt. This incident prompted me to reflect. As a heavy user of Notion, I once considered going all-in on a single note-taking system. However, this event made me realize the fragility of cloud-based note systems, which carry high risks of data loss and service interruption.
I decided to reorganize and deconstruct my note system, splitting it into two parts: one for cloud notes and one for local notes. The cloud note system primarily builds various systematic databases for convenient multi-platform access. The local note system is mainly used for recording personal creations.
Cloud Note System#
Currently, I use Notion as my cloud note system. Its role is to host various systematic databases, making them easy to access and organize. I have divided it into two parts:
- Work: Restructured work pages using the P.A.R.A. method, consolidating work-related content for easy searching and referencing. Additionally, OKRs are used for goal planning.
- Life: Includes assets, life logs, magazine collections, architecture guides, travel, reading, family management, and more. It represents my perspective on the world.
Collected information is placed in the work page, processed uniformly, and then integrated into the note system. (No longer allowing directly dumping collected content into the note system without transformation, as it holds no value for me unprocessed.)
Local Note System#
The local note system is my personal creation system, serving as the foundation for my creative work. It is still organized using the P.A.R.A. method, but its content is entirely authored by me, with no collected material. Its purpose is to document my creations, including:
- Inbox: All drafts are placed here, awaiting writing.
- Personal Creations: Including writing, photography, painting, design, reading notes, etc.
- Work Creations: Including various creative work projects, such as AIGC, GameDev, XR-Dev, etc.
- Theory Organization: Understanding and perspectives on certain theories after study.
Fleeting Notes#
Fleeting notes are records of daily life inspirations and serve as the source of my creations. Currently, I use Apple’s built-in Notes app. I once tried flomo but found it too complex.
Creation Path#
- Find inspiration for creation from fleeting notes or the inbox.
- Locate the relevant topic in the local note system and begin creating.
- After completing the creation, organize the content into the cloud note system to form a complete knowledge framework.
Maintenance of the Local Note System#
Using GitHub for synchronization hosting and version management, VS Code for editing, and GitHub Copilot for assisted creation.
Expansion of the Cloud Note System#
Notion’s database functionality is incredibly powerful and can serve as the backend data management for websites. I use it to manage data for my personal blog and the “Architecture Guide” website. Through Notion’s API and website rendering frameworks, a website can be quickly deployed.
- Website Management: Notion + Popsy
- Blog Management: Notion + Vercel + NotionNext
Less is More#
We are currently in an explosive period of artificial intelligence technology. The idea of storing note content like a digital packrat is no longer applicable. However, current AI models have yet to prove capable of generating new knowledge. How to leverage AI models to make note content more valuable is a topic worthy of further attention.
Knowledge is like the starry sky. Using AI models allows us to explore the cosmos better. The star charts for the journey of exploration still need to be drawn by ourselves. Record the most important thoughts with the most concise language, allowing knowledge from various disciplines to resonate and help me better understand the world.
💡 Thank you for reading! Feel free to share this article or write to me to exchange ideas.
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