How You Can Use OneNote To Digitally Organize Your Ideas For Better Productivity

In M.L Ronn’s book Be A Writing Machine: Write Faster and Smarter, Beat Writer’s Block and Be Prolific, he suggests OneNote as an app to use to increase your productivity. OneNote is essentially a digital notebook where you can gather text, images and audio files into one area that can then be divided into sections.

I had forgotten I already had OneNote because I had been using Keep Notes as my go-to for shopping lists and random flashes of inspiration. I knew my notes were a jumbled mess of ideas, so when I started using OneNote I found it easier to retrieve the exact information I needed to complete a poem.

This brings me to the concept of a commonplace book. I first heard about the commonplace book watching an interview with Toni Morrison who mentioned having a book of collected thoughts and newspaper clippings that she had collected over time and sometimes referred to for inspiration. I realized I was already using a similar concept except the ideas where spread out in numerous notebooks, sketchbooks, receipts and on the backs of envelopes. This brought me to the conclusion that I needed a paper commonplace book and a digital one.

The idea of the commonplace book has been used by writers and scholars for centuries as a way to collect knowledge and information related to their particular areas of interest. They differ from diaries in that they traditionally document other people’s thoughts or writing in the form of quotes or excerpts from books.

Now there are probably lots of other apps specifically designed for the purpose of being a commonplace book but when you are starting out in your journey as a writer it’s best to begin with what you already have. If you use Microsoft Word to write I’m going to assume you also have Microsoft 360 which includes the One Note app. You can use OneNote on the computer where you have access to more features but for this post I will be looking at features of the mobile app that can be used daily.

How can I use OneNote to effectively organize my ideas?

You can make notes on the computer and take them with you on your phone

As a busy Mum I usually only get snatches of time to write down snippets of a scene or poem. Although I do also carry a small hardcover sketchbook to record notes or illustrations, having the convenience of a notebook on your phone is essential when you are going to the park toting a backpack, bicycles and two children. I can continue research in my car between gym classes because all my relevant notes are automatically uploaded to the app on my phone.

You can seamlessly move pages around between sections

If you decide a piece of writing fits better under a different category all you need to do is press the three dots in the corner and a box will appear allowing you to copy or transfer that page to another area of your notebook. This seamless interface has made it easy for me to keep on top of all those random notes I make doing observational sketches or recording interesting bits of dialogue. Because I have a specific section titled ‘Dialogue Sketches’ I know exactly where to put these types of observations for easy retrieval.

You can take photos within the app and they will be stored on the page with your notes

I really enjoy this feature because it is like creating scrapbook pages and I love scrapbooking! Being able to take photos within the app and then continue to write, record or draw directly underneath the image is a convenient way to create an in-depth character profile. Sometimes all you have time to do is snap a quick picture that could be used as inspiration later. You can also highlight the text in photos of book pages which is much faster than copying excerpts by hand, and because of this it makes a great companion reading tool when studying with library books.

You can dictate notes and record your own voice

Voice recording has been an invaluable tool for my writing because it has allowed me to quickly record flashes of ideas before they floated away on a cloud of forgetfulness while I’m cleaning or folding laundry . Being able to record sound is also useful if you want to capture your environment, like birds chirping or traffic rushing by. These audio observations could prove useful when trying to write a location scene.

You can make lists of links to websites lost in your bookmarks folder

Even though I store websites in a bookmarks folder on my phone and laptop I rarely ever go there to visit them again. This is likely because in the bookmarks bar they are removed from the information that led me to that website in the first place. When you store the websites you visit within OneNote it is easier to cross reference your own notes with the information you have linked to and be reminded of these lists whenever you log into the app (which is everyday if you’re serious about this commonplace book). This is also a good way to keep track of your sources when writing historical fiction or essays.

You can use sticky notes to make temporary quick notes

Do you make quick observations but are often unsure whether or not it’s a good idea worth keeping? This is where sticky notes (colored Post It notes) come in handy. In the Home screen of OneNote you can add quick notes or sticky notes that can later be added to sections in your notebook. I use sticky notes a lot for short term information like a person or word I need to look up at a later date.

In Conclusion

Since using OneNote as my digital commonplace book I feel less overwhelmed by the random notes I make as I go about my day doing other things besides writing. Because I take my phone everywhere I also take my notes and I can add to a story or edit a poem while waiting in line at the supermarket. With OneNote at your fingertips, you can get even the tiniest bit of writing done and keep your ever expanding library of knowledge well organized.