Take Notes Jedi know the power of organization. Even though the Notes app doesn't have an obvious layer of folders and subfolders, the note-creation system for Google Keep is no different. Google Keep is intentionally minimalist, but there are enough tips and tricks you can incorporate to prevent yourself from drowning in a sea of digital notes.
Seven Tips for Organizing Google Keep
It’s important to have a system in place before the sheer volume of notes overwhelms you, but you can also do this retroactively. Start by discarding notes you no longer need and move relatively important notes to a more permanent location. For example, a shopping list is not a permanent note, but a list of contact phone numbers might be. Next, start by creating a scenario or rule (that suits you) using these features in Keep.
Color-code notes using colors and backgrounds
Since Google Keep doesn't have folders, use the color and background options. I recommend you keep the darker peach color for urgent tasks or notes. Groceries, recipes, places, travel and more all have specific background patterns. You can drag notes and arrange them by color.
If you use Google Keep to track projects, specific colors can also help you design your boards.
Tip: Tracking household chores using a Kanban board is definitely possible with Google Keep’s list and collaboration options.
Use tags to mark your notes
You can think of labels as "folder names," so think carefully about your Google Keep labeling system. Tag related notes with tags. Any note can have multiple tags, so you can connect related notes. "/" or "|" might be clever ways to visualize related notes with different labels.
For example, a note can have a main label such as "Personal Development." You can then create separate related notes using tags such as "Personal Development/Health"; "Personal Development/Nutrition"; "Personal Development/Projects" etc. You can also add tags with "#" (hashtag).
You can use a similar tagging system to keep notes private while sharing related notes with collaborators.
Please consider your tags carefully, as Google Keep allows up to 50 tags.
Number your label
The heart of Google Keep organization is the tagging system. While you can't organize tags by dragging and dropping, you can use numbers to force them into the order you want.
Add numbers to label names in the order of use. So if it's "Job", then "1 - JOB" will push this tag to the top, followed by any tags you numbered with "2"... and so on.
Make notes (and tags) more intuitive with emojis
Don't let a lack of formatting options stop you from creating visual notes. You can insert a variety of emojis and symbols into Google Keep. Inserting the right emoji into your notes is also easy on your desktop, using the Windows + keyboard shortcut to open the emoji keyboard.
Tip: Insert emojis into tags to make your Google Keep sidebar look fun.
Pin only important notes to the top
Pin the absolutely necessary notes - Ideally, limit pinned notes to a number that won't keep you scrolling. My iOS screen allows me to see four or five notes at a glance in tiled view. I usually include reminders or timely notes, such as a shopping list.
Use reminders to clean up
Reminders are a great way to make sure you don't forget an important task or deadline. You can also set reminders for daily or weekly recurring tasks. But why not also use reminders to clean up notes you no longer need?
Choose a time in the future to view specific notes. If it's no longer useful, throw it away.
Archive notes for a clearer view of your home page
One of the problems with Google Keep is that all of your notes appear on the home screen, even if you've tagged them. When you have a lot of notes, this clutter can be overwhelming.
A great tip from the Simpletivity YouTube channel suggests using the archive feature to clean up content. You can archive all notes as long as they are properly tagged. They're still searchable and editable, but they won't clutter your home screen anymore. You can unarchive any note at any time.
You can then display only key pinned notes on the home view.
Tip : Google Keep has powerful search capabilities with multiple filters. It can browse your stack of notes and find notes by type , tag , thing , and color .
