(Archived) Dating each note title

[Nonprofit Exec. 2]

First, I want to thank the faithful posters of this forum for helping me get started. I downloaded tons of forum discussions to Pockets and have spent the last month reading and rereading different people's organizational systems before I began. Almost became paralyzed with too much info, but finally just dove in and am loving it so far. Thank you!

 

Now to my question. I read on this forum a couple of times that I should date each note in the title for ease in finding over the years, and the preferred method of dating was yr,month, day (ex. 130220 for today). I have been doing that, but honestly don't see how that is going to be helpful for me in the long run. What have you found. For the record, I've taken the advice of the pros that have posted here and have minimal notebooks (inbox, active, archive) and am including keywords in my titles and using a few tags when necessary. I also add the day's date to the beginning of each note, but it feels arbitrary when the note itself doesn't have any relevance to the date. Am I missing something or did I misunderstand something?

[Keiser 2]

BTW you put this in the Android specific section, doesn't seem to have anything specific with that platform.

 

On to the topic:

 

I date if it's relevant.  My notebooks are Inbox, Notes (basically same as Archive), and Action for the main ones, also have a Projects stack with a few projects in it, Photos, Shared (for notes my wife can edit, like shopping list and things she wants me to download), and Travel.

 

Action is basically my To Do list.  Every note in it is one action I need to do, with a specific date.  Homework, bills, expiration.  These I start with YYYY-MM-DD.  In my Notes folder I have receipts, those are all dated, tax returns/forms all have YYYY at the start because that is all that matters.  Paystubs fully dated.  Account statements are tagged with the company name (DirecTV) so their entire title is the date of the statement.

 

On the other hand, social security cards, marriage license, recipes, those don't need dates.  The way I look at it, you should only have the title start with a date if you think you may at some point search for those types of notes and WANT to see a list ordered chronologically.  If you sort by name with date in the title, bam, chronological.  Frankly I don't care that much what date I found this recipe for smashed chickpea and avocado sandwiches.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

First, I want to thank the faithful posters of this forum for helping me get started. I downloaded tons of forum discussions to Pockets and have spent the last month reading and rereading different people's organizational systems before I began. Almost became paralyzed with too much info, but finally just dove in and am loving it so far. Thank you!

 

Now to my question. I read on this forum a couple of times that I should date each note in the title for ease in finding over the years, and the preferred method of dating was yr,month, day (ex. 130220 for today). I have been doing that, but honestly don't see how that is going to be helpful for me in the long run. What have you found. For the record, I've taken the advice of the pros that have posted here and have minimal notebooks (inbox, active, archive) and am including keywords in my titles and using a few tags when necessary. I also add the day's date to the beginning of each note, but it feels arbitrary when the note itself doesn't have any relevance to the date. Am I missing something or did I misunderstand something?

 

Hi. I am one of those people who date everything. There isn't much point in dating them, though, if they are irrelevant numbers! The whole point of the minimalistic system is to take away the thought process that stands between you and getting organized.

 

1. My daily journal. This is an obvious note that would benefit from YYMMDD.

2. A scan of a credit card. I would use the date I scanned it. It isn't immediately relevant, but it is still a hook if you remember you scanned your credit cards back in February 2013, or even if it was just 2013.

3. A scan of a pamphlet you picked up at Yellowstone last September when you visited with the family. Choose the date that means the most to you (this is your hook for finding it again). If you remember the day of the vacation more than the day you scanned it (probably the case), then put that on it. 

 

Is this going to be helpful for you? Maybe. Maybe not. If not, it doesn't hurt anything, right? It is just a number at the beginning of each note title. If so, then you have one organizational system (chronological) hard-coded into your notes with minimal effort

[ABratt 0]

I find dating notes helpful, but I primarily use Evernote to manage my projects.

 

Basically, I know throughout the course of a project, I will have several meetings with any given client. Lets say, for Client A, I create one note and title it "Client A Meeting Notes." I also will tag that note "Client A" and "Meeting Notes." Within that one note, I will keep all of the meeting documentations for however long the "Client A" project may last. Each new documentation is put on the top of the previous note with the date first (YYMMDD), usually in bold or larger letters. This makes it very easy to scroll down through ALL the notes for quick reference. This is handy if a dispute about when we discussed a deadline, new project idea, etc. This really keeps navigation easy. No clicking back and forth, just scrolling up and down. Its very helpful for keeping your folders and notes organized. 

 

You can handle receipts and other things this way too. Bundle all your bills in one note, or all your similar receipts like for lunches, or office supplies.

[Nonprofit Exec. 2]

Thanks for your help. As I understand it, the consensus seems to be to that my default mode should be including the date (yy,mm,dd) in the title to aid in searching and to put search result in chronological order. Don't date when it has no relevance, such as recipes. By George, I think I've got it. And I posted here on this android board because it wasn't clear to me where the general topics boards were.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Hi. I date everything. I'd even date recipes (the day I scan them in, for example). It's a hook to find it again.

[Nonprofit Exec. 2]

Grumpy Monnkey, that's what I'm currently doing, based on suggestions you made on other threads and think that's what I'll keep doing unless it won't help in the search. I can't thank you enough for all your posts about Evernote. I think I read them all and in the end adopted your philosophy. So far, so good.

[Nonprofit Exec. 2]

For future reference where should I be posting general Evernote questions?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

For future reference where should I be posting general Evernote questions?

 

Hi. I can move this for you, but next time go here:

http://discussion.evernote.com/forum/53-evernote-general-discussion/

[Nonprofit Exec. 2]

Yes, please move and I'll post in the right place next time. You rock!