5 Smart Ways to Use Your Notes App to Organize Your Life

Learn 5 easy ways to use your phone’s Notes app to organize family life, manage to-dos, and simplify your day — all in one place.

As I was thinking about things that are working well for me in terms of organization, I realized that I often use my phone to keep track of information. I love to use the notes app on my phone to quickly record and organize my thoughts, lists and ideas. While I am a pen and paper girl at heart, there are some definite upsides to using the notes app.

If you are like me, your phone is usually within easy reach (for better or worse). So why not use it to your advantage? Allow it to help you get information out of your head and recorded somewhere else. Most notes apps are searchable as well, which is great because you don’t have to waste time scrolling.

Today I’m sharing 5 lists you can create on your notes app to help you simplify and organize your life (at least parts of it).

Measurements and Sizes

Have you ever been out running errands and you can’t remember the size of something in your home you’ve been meaning to buy? Maybe you are working on a home improvement project and you aren’t sure if the table you found will fit in your entry way. Or you are at a clothing store and looking in the clearance section for your kids, but can’t remember what their current size is.

By keeping measurements and sizes in your notes app, you can easily access the information you need. This can help save time and money.

Meals for Take Out

Our family has a few places that we like to get take out more often than others. But trying to remember what each person in the family likes on any given day is tricky. So what do I do? I have a list of the restaurants in my phone and the names of my family members with their usual order. I double check the order with each person, make any necessary adjustments and order the food.

This has been helpful for my husband as well because I can quickly take a screenshot or copy and paste the food requests and text it to him.

Funny Kids Quotes

There are times when my kids will do or say something funny that I want to remember. Rather than hope I will remember to write it down when I have a pen and paper nearby, I use my phone. If it is something that is longer, like a story or experience, then I use the voice to text option. It brightens my day to read through the funny things my kids have said or done and my kids get a kick out of it as well.

Future Project Ideas

I love brainstorming about future projects. Some of them are specific and have a time frame, like updating our master bedroom. For those projects, I create checklists, links to project inspiration, etc.

Other projects are just fun to think about doing in the future, such as writing a book and jotting down what it might be about. Create a note about it and add to it whenever something comes up.

Trip Planning

While I tend to do the final planning for trips on my laptop or desktop, a lot of the research that goes into planning a trip happens on my phone. If this is also how you plan for upcoming trips, then having a note dedicated to that trip is super helpful. I often include links to activities, reservations, where to eat, and more. Using the notes app to organize our trips means I have it all in one place whenever I need it.

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