I prefer jotting down, drawing concept ideas on a paper but once I transfer the idea, I throw it away into a dust box because I prefer keeping my desk & brain empty.
Recently I started making use of Google Keep to record any information and idea.
Here are some reasons that Google Keep is currently the best solution to keep memories.
Why I like Google Keep
Memo to archive
The most attractive point of Google Keep is its “Archive” function. Once your memo is no needed anymore, you can archive it. Archive is not to delete. It disappears from your screen yet it simply not displayed. If you stick 100 PostIt on your wall, you may lose an important memo but the number of items you can distinguish at a glance will be around 5 to 7. So I keep my Google Keep memo less than 10. For example, I keep the address and name of the person to visit today on Google Keep and when I finish visiting the customer, the memo is archived. Don’t worry, the memo still exists. Search the memo and unarchive it, then the memo comes back to your main screen.
Post it like interface
I like the Post It interface but I do not like actual paper Post It since it is sometimes missed. Google Keep has Post It interface and it never be missed on your screen. You can throw it away (archive), but you can pick it up again from your dust box when it is needed. So your dust box (archived memo) will be full of ideas and informations. You can change the color of Google Keep memos as you like. If the memo is important, simply change color as you like.
Share with your colleagues
Suppose you have a Post It memo and hand it over to your colleague, you do not have your own memo anymore. This may cause some trouble in the future. Suppose you ask your colleague to do some task for you but you may forget that you ordered to you colleague before. In this case, your colleague is still working on your task but you forget. It’s a stupid situation but it sometimes happens when you are busy. Google Keep’s sharing function is also suitable to share some ideas with your friends.
Search your memo in a second
Google Keep is a product of Google and it originally has a very strong Google searching function. Even after archiving a memo, you can search it back to the front screen. So you can make use of Google Keep as your alternative brain. This strong search function is useful especially on mobile. You may want to recall some information on street. Don’t worry, a few phrases on your search screen will bring necessary information to you. The search function is very fast unlike Evernote.
Voice Memo
This is also my favorite. You can record your voice memo on your Google Keep and Google Keep DICTATES it!!! You can find a lot of voice recording apps on your iPhone but I rarely make use of voice recording because it takes time to know about the contents. I have to play the memo again and it is much faster to glance a written memo rather than playing voice memo. Google Keep records but it also dictates. This app is worth even only with this function.
How I make use of it.
Videos to watch
When I find a youtube video to watch but if I have no time to watch it, just keep the link to the youtube video. Coming back home, I enjoy watching the youtube.
Web page to read
I used Pocket to save web pages to read later, but now I make use of Google Keep to record the web page to read. After read, just archive it.
Shopping list
Set location on your memo. When you come to the shop, Google Keep will remind you what to buy in this shop.
A task to order to my staff
I remember a task to order to my staff at lunch time and I keep it on Google Keeps. Send it to Asana task and assign to my staff.
What I talked on my iPhone
Talking with customer on my iPhone on street but I cannot remember what I talked for a long time. Talk to Google Keep and dictate what we talked now.
Important phrase on my email
Suppose I receive an email to do and have to keep in memory, I simply copy the text and paste it into Google Keep. Once task is done, archive it.
Restaurant to go
Sometime I find a restaurant to visit on a web page, simple copy the information to my Google Keep with label of “food & restaurant”
Ideas to write on my blog
I am writing a blog both on my Japanese blog and English blog on my corporate site. Some ideas to write on my blogs are kept on Google Keep, later sent to Ulysses.
How much??
Go to a shop and I take memo how much it is. I don’t buy it right now but just
jot the price down on memo. I will judge the purchase with calm minds later.
Some good ideas to share
Since we use Google Apps in my company, I can share any idea with my staff using Google Keep. Simply share a memo. Once done, just archive it.
Draft to write
Google Keep can be converted to Goole Docs. I take memo of the title and sub titles on my Google Keep and start writing on Google Docs later.