My 2026 Note-Taking Workflow
I think about note-taking more than I probably should. I’m thinking about it right now, actually. 😅
It started as a way to understand myself better: to track how my mind worked, what I cared about, where I was going. Somewhere along the way, it became a time machine. I can look back six months, a year, and see myself thinking. Sometimes I cringe at what I wrote. Sometimes I surprise myself with wisdom I’ve since forgotten.
I didn’t expect any of this. I didn’t sit down and design a workflow. It just… happened.
In January, I bought a pack of blank little square papers. Non-sticky, white, nothing fancy. I thought I’d use them for doodling. Like during meetings while half-listening 😁 .
But then a grocery list ended up on one. And some todo items on another. And before long, I was sketching diagrams, mapping out project architectures, jotting down random thoughts across these small white pages.
They kind of took over.
Now I keep three or four squares spread across my desk, each holding a different topic. When something comes to mind, I jump to the right one, write it down, move on. One square for project ideas. Another for a blog draft. A third for whatever’s rattling around.
The square format forces me to be concise: there’s only so much space. And having multiple squares open means I can switch contexts without losing the thread.
It’s simple. It shouldn’t work this well. But it does.
At the end of each day, I go through my squares one by one. It feels like viewing old photographs, each one a small window into what I was thinking earlier.
I regroup similar topics. If something needs more, I flip the square over and keep writing on the back. Tasks get marked done. And when a square is fully processed (completed, digitized, no longer needed), I scrunch it up and drop it in a transparent jar.
The jar idea came from Laurie Herault’s article about sticky notes and feedback loops. There’s something satisfying about watching thoughts become artifacts. The jar fills up. I see how much I’ve processed. It’s a small thing, but it matters.
Google Gemini digitizes my handwritten notes. It’s free, it’s capable, and the process is simple:
Photo. Send. Get text.
Analog becomes digital. Messy becomes searchable. Most of the time, that digitized text ends up in Logseq, where it connects to everything else.
I’m also testing other models on OpenRouter, experimenting for something I’m building. But Gemini handles the job for now.
Here’s what I’ve learned: handwriting is thinking. The pen slows me down, and in that slowness, understanding emerges. AI just ensures I don’t lose what I write. The notes live twice: once on paper where hand meets thought, once digital where search and connection happen.
My current stack is nothing special:
Square papers: for raw capture. One topic per square, spread across my desk.
Logseq: for networked thinking, daily journaling, tracking people. My old banner plugin resurfaces quotes randomly, which keeps old insights alive.
Emacs (Org Mode): just org-clock-in and org-clock-out. My pomodoro timer, time-blocker, work tracker.
Google Gemini: for digitizing handwriting.
So naturally, I’m building something to bring it all together.
Yes, I know.
Yet another PKM app.
The squares work. The ritual gives closure. The tools hold what matters. But I can’t help wanting something that brings it all together: notes, schedule, time. A tool that resurfaces old notes and, more importantly, the connections between them.
Proactive insights. Notes that talk back. Patterns I’m too close to see.
The technology exists. I know how to build it.
I just need the time.
If this sounds interesting, stick around. I’ll be writing about the journey.