Note Taking Styles Compared: Evernote vs Plain Text vs Pen and Paper

You have about a billion options for notes apps on your computer and your smartphone. Picking one that works for you is surprisingly tough, and chances are that none of them are going to perfectly fit your needs. For apps, these usually fall into two categories: the "everything bucket" of something like Evernote, or the minimalism of a plain text app like Simplenote. Here's who those apps are best for, as well as when pen and paper does the job just as well.

Everyone takes notes a little differently, and everyone needs something a little different from their notes app. Still, those needs are usually met by one of the three options here. Whether you're a student, a designer, an accountant, or anything else, here are the pros and cons of the various notes apps out there.

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Evernote: For Those Who Want to Save Everything

It's no secret Evernote is loved by many, and the reason is pretty simple: it can do pretty much everything you need it to in one place. Evernote does all kinds of things from digitizing your paper notes to working as a massive reference system. Evernote is a digital bucket of information that wants to hold every idea, business card, note, picture, screen shot, to-do, journal and meal you've ever had.

Evernote is built to handle a lot of information. It features a notebook system so each of your thoughts can have its own notebook with as many pages in that notebook as you need. You can also tag everything you write so you can easily find it later on. This includes notes, drawings, clippings from web sites, and pretty much everything else. Evernote not doing exactly what you want? A ton of apps are connected into it so you can extend Evernote's usage even further.

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If you're looking for one place to dump all of your ideas, Evernote is the place to do it. It's a relatively easy program to use, and you can find an Evernote app on pretty much every platform. It's massive and can handle everything, which means it's great for students, project managers, and anyone else out there who just needs to store and search through a ton of information in a single place.

That said, the massiveness of Evernote is also its downfall. Evernote is built to handle a ton of information, but some people just don't need that extensive of an ecosystem. Want to write a quick note in Evernote? First you need to open the app and pick the notebook you want to write it in before you can type anything. Don't forget to tag that note, add some formatting to make it readable, and maybe a picture of your idea for good measure. For some people, by the time you're done writing a note, you might as well have just acted on that idea.

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Plain Text: For Those Who Jot Down Quick Ideas

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Evernote (and apps like it) aren't for everyone. They're complicated, take a while to use, and since they can handle everything, it often takes longer to open up the app and get to a note then it does to actually write that note. If that sounds too complicated, plain text might be the best way for you to take notes.

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We talk a lot about plain text because, as the name suggests, it's just text. For people who only take text notes, plain text is usually the most efficient way to do it. To get the job done, we're fans of the plain text capture tool (that just got a fantastic update), Simplenote.

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Simplenote syncs across devices, provides a tagging system to track down old notes, and allows you to easily organize those notes with headers. When you open the app, you're greeted with a simple screen where you can instantly start typing your note. You don't need to worry about where it goes or organizing it. Just type your idea and get out of the program. Simplenote's not your only option for plain text writing of course, but it's our favorite.

But that's all that Simplenote does. It doesn't allow you to create multiple notebooks or insert images. You can't annotate a screen shot. You can't take a picture of a notebook and expect Simplenote to digitize that note. However, with plain text you can instantly capture a quick idea or write an entire novel in one editor. You can even use it for your to-dos because it's so fast you can access it quickly from anywhere.

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Plain text is best for people who need to take and access notes on a lot of devices, but don't need their notes to include anything other than text. It's good for people on the go who like to capture ideas quickly, or for writers who prefer a simple, distraction-free place to work.

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If you're looking for something in-between Evernote and Simplenote, Google Keep might be right up your alley. It's fast, syncs across devices, has a ton of organization options, and manages to keep things simple while still giving you a ton of options.

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Pen and Paper: For Those Who Can't Be Bothered with Apps

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Despite a million different apps for smartphones and computers that want to replace pen and paper, paper is still one of the most popular ways to jot down notes. It's simple, always accessible, and doesn't require an expensive device.

The nice thing about paper notes is that all you really need is a good notebook and a pen or pencil. You don't need a phone, you don't need to worry about syncing or cross-platform compatibility. As long as you have eyes and you don't lose your notebook, you'll always have what you write. You can also draw, mind map, or create your own system to take notes any way you like without worrying about finding an app that does things how you want them to. Basically, for a lot of people, paper is the simplest way to keep track of everything.

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Paper is typically better suited for people who don't need dedicated apps for taking notes, who don't have a lot of devices they need to sync up, or who have alternative note-taking styles that don't fit into apps. For example, if you prefer to draw out ideas, apps aren't usually going to do what you want. Nor will they adapt to your very specific to-do list structuring, your sketches, or your crazed rambling mix of all of the above. Pen and paper is easy, and most of us have been using it a lot longer than a smartphone or computer so it's quicker.

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It's worth keeping in mind that any of us can use all of the above methods for different projects. It might make sense to use something like Evernote for a large project, but plain text for your usual day-to-day work. Likewise, Evernote might simply handle everything you want, and you'll never need to touch anything else save for a pen and paper occasionally when you don't feel like dealing with a phone. None of these methods are better than another, so they're all worth considering on a project-by-project basis.

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Photo by kate hiscock.

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