Use Markdown for everyday notes

A useful note makes it easier to return to your thinking.

It doesn’t need a dashboard, twelve tags, or a perfect template. Start with a title and a few headings that reflect what you’re trying to do.

Give the title a job

“Notes” won’t tell you much in a folder of notes. “Launch questions — October 2” tells you the subject and the moment.

For repeated notes, choose a naming pattern you can keep using. Dates in YYYY-MM-DD order sort naturally when they’re at the beginning of a filename.

Write headings you will look for later

Try “Decisions,” “Questions,” and “Next steps.” Those are useful when you come back looking for what happened or what to do.

If the note is a draft, the headings might simply be the sections of the piece. The structure should follow the work.

Separate the record from the action

A meeting note can contain a long discussion and one task. Put the task somewhere you can find it.

## Notes

- The team wants a shorter introduction.
- We need one clearer example.

## Next steps

- Rewrite the introduction — Me — Friday

Writing a date in a note doesn’t create a reminder. Put time-sensitive work in the tool you use to track it.

Link instead of repeating

If the project brief already holds the requirements, link to it. You can keep the daily note focused on what changed today.

[Project brief](project-brief.md)

That example assumes the two files sit in the same folder and the viewer supports local file links. Check the link after moving either file.

Let the note stay unfinished

A working note can have a question you haven’t answered. Mark it clearly and keep going.

## Still open

- Does the shorter version explain enough?

You can return to it without pretending the decision has been made.

Keep the parts you use

After a week, look at your template. Which sections helped? Which stayed empty? Cut the ones you don’t need.

The goal is a note you can use again tomorrow.

Next: Copy a template.

Example: a daily note with one priority

# 2026-10-03 — Saturday

## What matters

Finish the outline before opening another reference.

## Notes

- The introduction needs an example, not another definition.
- Keep the table to three columns.

## Next

- Draft the first example.

Example: a decision you can find again

# Decision — Resource navigation

## Choice

Use "Markdown resources" in the website navigation.

## Reason

A new visitor can tell what the section contains.

## Check later

- Can readers find the cheat sheet without using search?

Example: separate a quote from your response

The quotation below is invented for this example.

## Passage

> Keep the example close to the explanation.

Source: Example workshop notes, section 2

## My response

Move the example above the longer explanation and see whether it reads better.

See filled templates when you want more structure.