7 Comments

I think this is a very important step and yes you can have archive notebooks but the clutter in the search is what drives me crazy. I normally combine notes and delete information that simply was incorrect like if 2+2=5 note but I had a note for 2+2=4 I scrub the 2+2=5 note either most likely delete or combine. I don't know if I'm insane for reading individual notes and cleaning instead of mass deleting. It's the clean desk philosophy, less clutter more productivity and clearer mindset idea.

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Totally with you on less clutter. Don't forget your trash can. I keep a years worth in it just in case but have just removed over 1000 notes from 2022.

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My mind is such a chaotic place, my Evernote is in the same boat. The AI search has brought greater relevance to my notes. Once a note is beyond immediate use I move it into a notebook labeled Archive.

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Having an Archive notebook is a great idea... I still clean mine out! Maybe it says something about me 😂

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I am in agreement with keeping it tidy. It's worth adding this annual routine. I notice it when I see notes from 2016 in search results that are irrelevant.

While there is some satisfaction I get from pouring out a screw jar looking for "the one", it loses it's fun when scooping them back in. I know I have that note somewhere, I just don't remember where or the title. Leaves a lot to sift through.

Over the years I've backed up archive folders and found when I did look for something in them it wasn't as useful as I thought.

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I have so much on Google Drive that I don't want to look at! Back-ups from the 90s lol. Can't ever imagine needing them again.

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While I don't necessarily do it at this time of year, I heartily recommend setting aside time to do a review of what's accumulated in various notebooks. We're all guilty of filing stuff in notebooks "just in case", but sometimes those notes that have been squirrels away are now redundant due to more recent information acquisition.

For what it's worth, I've evolved my EN structure into something based on the PARA method (Projects, Areas Resources, Archives).

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