✳️ Notes: Devices, Tools, Reading, Computer & Internet tricks.

Best way to learn

• To learn or remember something effectively, try teaching it to someone else. As commonly attributed to Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
• Engage in discussions with others—ask questions, provide explanations, and exchange viewpoints. Be open to both convincing others and allowing yourself to be convinced by different perspectives. This approach will help you learn much more than just the topic at hand.
• A teacher once advised me to keep all my thoughts on one side of an A4 paper rather than writing on both sides. This prevents interrupting your flow of thinking when turning the page. I've applied this technique and found it remarkably effective!

Work tracking

• For tracking completed tasks (to report to your boss what you've done in the past few days, for example), you can use either TickTick or Notion (with database, board, and calendar views).
  • In Notion, create a database with properties: date (task duration) and before (for revisiting finished tasks). Calendar view displays tasks based on date, showing task duration clearly. Remember: one task per card!
• TickTick excels at displaying tasks in calendar format, but its note-taking capabilities are limited (which is why I ultimately switched to Notion).
• For tracking your Mac activities, consider Qbserve. Note: this may raise privacy concerns.

For taking notes

Materials

• The physical experience of writing matters significantly. Choose your note-taking approach carefully (paper type, pen selection, page size, environment, learning time). All these material aspects influence how effective your note-taking will be.

With Notion

• At Ideta as a full-stack developer, I work across multiple projects (frontend, backend, libraries, RAG server). Initially I created separate notes for each area, but many topics crossed boundaries. Synced blocks became messy as content grew. My solution: one comprehensive note using Toggle Blocks. Now I simply search this single document for anything Ideta-related—much more efficient than deciding where to file information!
• Use List blocks instead of paragraphs to separate ideas. For nested concepts, use nested lists. This improves readability and shows hierarchical relationships at a glance. Just like this note.
  • Todo list → for tasks you need to complete, ideas not yet checked, or temporary thoughts.
  • Bulleted/Numbered list → For completed items that serve as reference notes. Convert checked todo items to this format to keep important information visible. For example:
    • [ ] This one should be done next
    • [x] This one has been done but no useful information to look back.
    • This one has been done too but it's useful to look back so it's converted to a bulleted list.
  • Bulleted list → Use for unordered items when you're adding ideas to your current list regardless of their sequence.
  • Numbered list → Use when order matters, such as step-by-step instructions or when items should be read/completed in sequence.
  • When a list and its nested children become too long, use a toggle list for the parent item.
• I don't like the default published style of Notion pages, so I built my own site (this one) to display my notes. You can create one for yourself if you'd like.

You cannot remember everything

• Keep learning every day, but the more important thing is to document what you've learned.
  • Consider the most efficient way to take notes, the purpose of your documentation, and then choose the appropriate method.
  • One simple rule: write for your future self—create notes that you'll understand quickly and that help you recall information as efficiently as possible!
• Stick with tools and methods you're familiar with. Don't switch to new systems just because others think they're better, unless it's truly necessary.
• That's why I use
  • Google Keep: for quick notes and fast searches.
  • Notion: for work tasks and detailed notes (two standout features: comprehensive full-text search & ability to quickly create different content formats).
  • Google Calendar: for future reminders.
  • Bitwarden + 2FA: for storing sensitive privacy information.
  • Facebook Messenger (messages to myself): for quickly saving photos/screenshots.
  • Markdown: maintaining README.md files in all my projects.
  • Screenflict: recording meetings for later review and then upload to youtube (in private mode).
  • Journey: documenting my personal life. Sometimes understanding your past is essential.
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S+: for handwritten notes and ideas that require drawing.
  • Money Lover: for tracking my expenses.
  • Screenflick: to record the screen and then upload it to my personal youtube channel for storing (private mode).
  • Raindrop: to store bookmarks. You should buy its paid version which has a lot of useful features. It’s not too expensive.
  • Gmail: for specific purposes like maintaining job meeting logs or email related stuffs. I appreciate its exceptionally fast full-text search capability.