10 Notes I Keep in my Notes App

I just might be the Notes app's biggest fan. It's my most-used app and I currently have over 500 notes... yikes! I'm sharing my Notes I love the most.

I love the Notes app. It’s almost always open on my phone. I use it to organize my life and my brain. If someone were to go through my entire Notes app they would probably understand me to a tee - all the inner workings and random thoughts. Here are some of the notes I keep in my notes app that I love the most. I hope they provide some inspiration!

1. Self care checklists

I keep a checklist of how to best take care of myself for the week. This was an idea I had when I was often forgetting or neglecting to do even basic self care actions for myself. Now the checklist has transformed to reflect my progress in knowing how to best take care of myself. I used to have things like do my laundry or take a shower. Now I categorize items based on what they benefit most- my mind, my body, and my soul. Things like exercise, eating a healthy meal, spending time with a loved one, reading, dancing. I never put pressure on myself to check off every single thing each week, but I try and do as many as I can. It reminds me to prioritize myself and do whatever I can to feel my best.

2. New things to try

I like to keep a list of things I want to try. I check off when I do something and am always adding more ideas. I like to try at least one new thing each month to keep life interesting and exciting. It includes things like calligraphy, read a biography, go to the movie theater alone to see a movie. Random things that sound cool to try or do. Things I can do by myself or with someone else, that cost money or are free. Anything I can think of.

3. Glimmers & gratitude

I keep a running list in my phone of glimmers (tiny details or moments that spark joy) and gratitude (everything I’m grateful for.) I add the date and then bullet as many as I can/ want to. I love looking back through what I was grateful for on certain days. It’s like a record of everything I love the most. It helps remind me to always appreciate the littlest moments and to be grateful for all the infinitely wonderful things in life, and specifically in my life.

4. To do’s

I have 2 categories for my to-do’s. Ones that are urgent/ high priority, and ones that are more long-term/ low priority. High priority to-do’s might be things like paying bills or doing my laundry. They’re what I need to do first, and what I need to make time for. Low priority to-do’s are things I can do whenever I have a spare moment- what I’d like to get done but don’t need to by a certain time frame. Things like purging my closet or hanging up string lights in my bedroom. I’ll refer to this list while planning out my day or week, or when I have some extra time.

5. Books and movies

I keep a list of books I want to read and movies I want to watch, both categorized based on specific moods/ genres (time to cry, heartwarming self discovery, cheesy rom com, etc). Then I also keep a list of the books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched, with a rating and brief synopsis. It’s like a book/ movie club I keep with myself. It helps get rid of that “ugh what should I watch or read next” decision moment. It also adds an extra layer of reflection while consuming media, avoiding the mindless sit-and-stare phenomenon, since I know I’ll be writing my own mini review.

6. Monthly favorites

Each month, I list out my favorites. My favorite movie I watched, experience/ memory, snack, hobby, place to go, musical artist, etc. I love looking back through the months and remembering who and how I was then. I feel like it really helps me get to know my ever-changing self. It’s also just fun and cute, and reminds me of those little “All About Me” activity books I used and loved in elementary school.

7. Random thoughts

I keep a list with random thoughts, stream of consciousness writings, random tidbits of ideas, phrases of poems, and more. It’s an eclectic conglomeration of the creative chaos in my brain. I like to go through it to inspire my art or writing. Or just to use it as an outlet, to get out all my thoughts. I tend to be an overthinker, so this note helps me do a much-needed brain sweep whenever I may need it. Or maybe I just saw something cool or interesting and I wanted to write a brief phrase about it. It’s like a scrapbook-junk journal-diary.

8. Gift ideas

I keep a continuous list of gift ideas for the people in my life, including for myself. This way I’m always prepared for any birthday and holiday because I’ve been brainstorming throughout the year. If I’m out and about with someone and they mention something they like or want, it’s on the list immediately. I absolutely love gift giving, so I’m grateful that doing this reduces the stress/ dread of holidays and helps me wholly enjoy gifting.

9. Places to go

I keep a list of destinations I’ve gone to as well as destinations I want to go. If someone mentions a place they love or I see something online that looks interesting, I’ll add it to the list. It includes cities and towns, coffee shops, art museums, national parks. Just anything or any place I want to visit some day. Right now, my top destination wishlist includes Tokyo, Seattle, and Banff. I also want to visit the Van Gogh museum, see The Kiss painting in person, and go to a coffee shop called Espresso Chalet in Washington.

10. Goals

I’m a firm believer that writing down your goals makes all the difference. I keep a list of goals for myself, and will check them off and update them as I accomplish them. It helps me stay focused and feel accomplished. Some of my current goals include: running a half marathon, reading at least one book per month this year, making a sale on Etsy. Anything you want to accomplish, make an actionable goal of it. Write down the steps you’ll need to follow to be successful, or how you’ll know you’ve accomplished your goal. Having something concrete and actionable that’s written down is so hugely beneficial. Plus it’s so so fun to be able to click the checkmark next to something you’ve been working hard on.

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I hope this might’ve inspired you to become the Notes app’s best friend. It really is the best. If you have any ideas you want to share, PLEASE DO! I love good inspiration.

Love,

Rachel