OneNote finally has custom tagging

Posted by Ken
Jan 24, 2019 at 04:44 AM

nathanb wrote:

>
>Ken wrote:
>> I am using MLO, which is
>>quite powerful and somewhat overly complicated, but I currently have it
>>set up for how I want it to work. I use Todoist and paper for personal
>>tasks, but that is mostly light duty work. The other minor thing that
>I
>>really hate about OneNote is the lack of being able to “dock” a window.
> >>The whole blank sheet of paper thing drives me crazy as there is no
>>“structure” to the page. I know that this is a plus to many, but I
>hate
>>dealing with adding/moving windows to ON pages.
>>
>>—Ken
> >I got a kick out of the MLO comment as I’ve used MLO intermittently and
>really like it. MLO does have a desktop Outlook tasks sync that works
>well, but the thought of trying to keep OneNote linked tasks synced to
>desktop MLO through desktop Outlook….ah brings me back to the manual
>syncing days of 2006.
> >I’ve been in constant limbo mode over the past 10 years or so on whether
>to have ONE combined work and personal task/note system or keep them
>separate. My work has ALWAYS revolved around desktop Office and my
>personal stuff is a combo of Microsoft/Google cloud services and a
>synology NAS. As of today (might change tomorrow), Todoist is my
>personal tasks manager now. I prefer task hierarchies. I do like how
>MLO works compared to ToDoist, but only just barely, so Todoist’s
>cross-platform ubiquity and automatic sync keep me there. MLO’s
>capabilities are impressive but I’ve found that I’m just too
>undisciplined to take advantage of it’s deeper features. For work I am
>trying out Microsoft ToDo and actually really like it. I was a
>Wunderlist junkie for a while and it reminds me what was so good about
>that.
> >And I’ve been going on about the OneNote task integration, which I’m
>going back to in a light way with some of my ‘work’ tasks but I’ve
>learned that CRIMPING and relying on specific digital links between
>systems is a bad idea. Over the past few years I’ve been using zettel
>codes as searchable links between my files, notes, and tasks. It’s
>rudimentary, but rock solid, and it gives me total freedom to change out
>any of the platforms.
> >I’m curious what you mean by OneNote’s lack of floating windows as a bad
>thing. My long-running desktop default has been to have two instances of
>OneNote running at all time. One is a ‘docked’ window in that ‘full
>page view’ mode which is a quck-note, daily tasks/journal thing. The
>other is in normal browse mode where I can see the notebook structure
>and it’s constantly used for reference or project management.
> >I know it seems like I’m a Microsoft employee here, but I’m well aware
>of OneNote’s big limitations, especially for people in this circle.
>I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it since 2007. All my notes could
>certainly be on a WAY more powerful platform where they are more
>findable and relatable. Yet my lazy and meandering habits have mostly
>evolved around it for 10 years and I actually can dig up what I’m
>looking for most the time. So I have to give it credit, I wish it were
>a ferrari but it’s been a reliable honda in my life.

Interesting post. We seem to be travelling on similar paths. I have been using MLO at work as my task organizer for all of the projects that I work on based on a recommendation here two years ago. I have used a whole host of programs since I had to leave Ecco behind (IT would no longer allow it to be installed on my work PC when we finally migrated to Win7 a number of years ago). We are a Microsoft shop and no users have administrative rights for security purposes, so anything I use has to be portable, web-based or installed on my own hardware. Like you, I am currently using Todoist for personal tasks, but that is not at all complicated.

Regarding OneNote, my previous manager used it as her manager used it, so I was asked to use the notebooks that they set up. These notebooks were mostly used for updates and reports, not task management, and I have a couple of notebooks of my own that hold some oddball data. My earlier comment about OneNote was actually directed at the notebooks, not the windows the program occupies. I appreciate that notebooks are “without lines” and can literally be used like a blank sheet of paper, but this totally free form ability to lay down windows also drives me crazy when I want a more “fixed” environment, not unlike an alignment grid that drawing programs offer. I also appreciate that OneNote’s tagging system has features that are not found in task managers, and I also appreciate all of the pages and books that can be created, but that is also its downfall for me. It is very easy for data to get lost. I am sure if could adapt the program to hold information, but I find that programs like MLO, Todoist, GQueues, RTM, etc. are better suited to how I manage tasks and keep notes on projects (although I do not like programs like Workflowy as they do not offer left panel navigation which I find essential).

—Ken