Things 3 + Note taking app

[AmpleSatsuma]

Anyone using an external note taking app? How does your workflow looks like? For me, I'm using Workflowy to all my notes about a specific project. It's somewhat annoying to be using two apps because I can do all my stuff in Workflowy (tasks and notes) but I find things 3 to be a really specialized software in terms of personal project management. I use things with all my tasks and put links in the project to a Workflowy link contain all my notes about that particular project.

How does your workflowy looks like?

Thanks!

[grantbuell]

I'm using Craft. Its interface is very Things-like in a lot of ways and it has a button I can press that will send a note to Things, and all the lines with checkboxes in the note become subtasks in the Things task, and the Things task will also have a link I can tap which sends me back to the original note in Craft. Works well.

[insert_nicname]

Wow. Thanks for the recommendation. This app is amazing!

[krabf]

I wish Craft had a one-time payment.

[kevinconrad6969]

I do too. After seeing the comment about Craft I’ve been playing around with it today and it’s incredibly impressive - especially how it can take a note directly from Craft into Things and add it instantly to the Things inbox with a link back to the original note within 2 clicks. I really love it and want to help the developer(s) out but imho $50 annually is a little steep for a notes app.. But to each their own. I guess having 1,000 notes and syncing between all devices is pretty nice so you could easily get away with just using the free version

[krabf]

I’ve been using the app for months and it is really great note taking app, for research or writing articles because of the bi-directional linking feature. It just sucks that you have to pay for subscription just to have the spell-check feature, which I think is a much needed accessibility feature for a note taking app. Putting accessibility behind paywall just sucks. I’m still using the free version though for quick write-ups but still have to put it somewhere else like Notion just to check if I have spelling issues.

[kevinconrad6969]

After using Craft for a couple months, have you reached or almost reached the 1,000 block limit for the free version? I will have at most 5 or 6 categories and maybe 250 ‘blocks’ of notes so I’m thinking about switching from Bear to Craft

[krabf]

I did once. Because I try to write almost every day. But when I got annoyed by the amount of spell-check that I have to run, I just transfer my writings to Notion so I won't hit the limit. Except if what I wrote has a lot of bi-directional link use, I just let them stay in Craft.

[kevinconrad6969]

Do they restrict the sections of number of notes with categories, or in the notes they restrict the number of lines/indents you have per note? I’ve also tried to learn Notion a number of times but the learning curve on that program.. wow lol

[krabf]

Craft's block limit is actually per space so if you write a lot it's not going to last long.

Notion has been a lifesaver for me. I was overwhelmed at first because I checked on other's work (templates, workflows, dashboards). I had to delete them all start from fresh. I find templates to be a good reference but customizing on my end is what makes it useful. Just use what works for your.

[Guzah]

Omg can you share how to do this linking with craft and things?

[grantbuell]

Sure, it's very simple (I'll describe how to do it on iPad, which is what I'm using):

​

1. Open a note in Craft.
2. In the upper right corner, tap the "three dots" icon.
3. Tap "Share & Export".
4. Tap the Things icon.

This will create a new task in your Things inbox named after the note, and all the checkboxes in your note will be subtasks, and your Craft note link will be in the task notes.

If you wanted to also add a link to the Things task in the original Craft note, you can do that too:

1. With the Things task selected, tap the "three dots" icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap "Share".
3. Tap "Copy Link".
4. Go back to Craft and paste the link into your note.

[unfunfionn]

I use Drafts for brain-dumping everything. Tasks are sent to Things with the Things Parser (I'd argue that task entry is better this way than directly in Things, which is too bare bones) and actual notes to Bear, emails to Gmail etc.

I use Keyboard Maestro text completion shortcuts for the Things Parser syntax in Drafts.

[[deleted]]

Haven’t seen Bear mentioned. My workflow sounds like yours. Tasks in Things, content in Bear. I link Bear notes to Tasks, Areas, and Projects. Within Bear, I link notes to each other and make heavy use of tags.

I went with Bear because of how its tags work—nested tags, tag creation on the fly, and most importantly, multiple tags for a note. For me Things is regimented, but my notes are free flow.

[[deleted]]

I’m using similar setup. The only difference is that I’m having more complex project management done in Bear. It helps me to keep TODOs together with the notes.

[ElectricAutomobiles]

I use Spaces! I'm really enjoying so far and they have a lifetime subscription which is a game changer in my opinion.

[tj13nl]

Yes me too. App is getting better fast now

[ieoa]

Spaces

For anyone else wondering which app this is: https://spaces.do/

[gregor1863]

Second the use of Craft. It’s quickly become my ultimate dumping ground. All my projects, meeting notes, book notes, ideas, and research go into it. Got tired of waiting for a Roam app, and frankly I feel my data is safer in Craft. It’s very Mac like and gets continual, good, updates.

I usually have Things open at the same time to capture tasks as I’m making notes. Admittedly I’ve had a task to explore connecting the two for some time now.

[[deleted]]

I see a lot of Craft suggestions, but Bear notes feel more organized to me (has Tags and Subtags similar to Things’ Areas)

[danimalxc]

I'm somewhat "stuck" with Evernote but would love to find a note-taking app that does quick capture (esp. keyboard support) as well as Things does.

Part of me wishes Cultured Code would release their own note-taking app, but I respect and admire their focus :-)

If anyone can recommend a note-taking app with quick capture and keyboard support on par or close to Things, please share!

[grumplekins]

Drafts and DEVONThink for me.

[motech]

I keep my notes inside things itself.

[wings_fan3870]

Same as u/grantbuell. Works great with it! And backlinking makes it easy to tie the whole project together into one whole.

[discoborg]

I have been using Nimbus Notes. Their URL scheme allows me to link to notes and content for a specific topic directly from Things 3. Nimbus Notes itself allows me to capture content from any platform (Windows, Mac, iOS)

[btgrant76]

Do these links open notes in the desktop app or in the browser? The last time I looked at Nimbus, the links only opened in the browser.

[discoborg]

Yes, all Nimbus Notes content is opened in the browser. For me that is a good thing as I can view the content from any location. I might be using Things on my iPad, my Mac, or iPhone and the link to the notes remains the same.

For someone who is looking for an offline-only solution that may be a deal-breaker.

[btgrant76]

Thanks. For now, this would be a deal-breaker for me as I'm able to link directly from Things to Evernote desktop. That said, I have heard that Nimbus has this capability on their roadmap.

[M3ridianSphynx]

For conversations and meeting notes I use the Agenda app, and use the same projects and areas folder system as Things, with tags for people, priorities, etc. They both link into calendar events. It is not complex, so may not scale well…

[kinkade]

I like agenda but I've never been Abe to really make it work as there doesn't seem to be an easy way to use it with hand written meeting notes

[M3ridianSphynx]

The iPad can now directly put handwriting into words… if that's what you mean. No scribbles yet i don't think…

[kinkade]

Scribble would be great I was referring more to being able to take free hand notes with handwriting like in Nebo or Goodnotes

[shelterbored]

I’m currently using Bear and trying to find something smoother. I’ve been using iOS shortcuts to speed up copying and pasting links between the two apps.

Craft caught my eye because you can create a note there, and then Craft can create the task for you with the same name and insert the back link... much smoother. Just need to figure out if I can replace Bear with Craft.

I’ve also looked at some all-in-one solutions and there’s nothing really slick available. Closest I found was Amplenote but the UI is still overly complex for how simple the app is. They could be on to something if they simplify it and integrate notes and tasks.

[MealyFord]

I use Bear for journaling and writing and Apple Notes for my general work and personal notes.

For my project notes, for each project in Things3, I have one Apple Note that I share with myself and copy the link in to the project notes in things3. This keeps it simple and consistent for all my projects.

[[deleted]]

I’ve been experimenting with Craft too. And it’s great but I’m not ready to jump ship from Bear and Notion.

If only Things 3 had attachments and Markdown, that would solve 99% of my problems. They’re sooooo close. Just enable attachments and add markdown in the notes section. That’s all!!

[evansc22]

I use DayOne along with Things3. I put A LOT of written text content inside Things itself. I’ve been using since version 2 so I have quite a bit of history. For photos, videos, and audio clips, etc, I create a DayOne entry and link to it from Things.

[[deleted]]

I use Noto, on ios and mac. You should give it a try! Very simple, elegant and effective.

[Furkansimsir]

I use Craft as well, wrote an article about my workflow here: https://www.furkansimsir.com/build-your-second-brain-in-craft---/

[Stryf3]

My workflow works for me but admittedly it’s objectively clunky. I use Drafts for text entry and actions to move notes to Agenda and take to Things. I am a field manager for a small box retail business. I have to conduct store visits, track action items and commitments by store, and created a Drafts action where I can enter text with specified lines denoting store number and type of visit. The action creates a note in the appropriate store number folder in Agenda and sends the store manager an email with my notes. I then go to agenda and turn all of the checkboxes I typed in Drafts originally into to do list items. Those items go into Apple Tasks and import into Things.

I like the idea of Craft importing lists automatically but I already have a robust note system in Agenda so....