I’m always trying to increase my productivity (I might actually spend more time trying to improve my productivity than actually being productive, but that’s beside the point). Here are all the productivity apps I use for all aspects of my note-taking life and why I’m using them. Academic notes For me, being in computer science, my courses fall into two main categories:

1. Coding-based computer science courses
2. Theory/proof-based math courses

I choose to distinguish between these two mainly because of the need to write more complex math equations in the more theoretical courses. So let’s start with the courses where math equations aren’t required. Neovim + Marked 2 If you read my other blog post on the perfect coding setup, you know that I love Vim. In fact, text editing almost feels wrong without it once you get used to it. That’s why I typically use a combination of Neovim and Marked 2 for notes in my computer science courses. I use Neovim to do all the actual writing and then use Marked 2 for a live preview of the markdown file. I think this strikes a good balance between editing speed and prettiness, as I can utilize the efficiency of Vim keybindings and the customizable themes of Marked 2. Here’s an example of how it looks in action.

Neovim is free, but Marked 2 will cost you $20. Find the two programs below:

• Neovim
• Marked 2

These two apps are enough to satisfy all my note-taking app needs because I currently take all my theory-based notes on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. If you also have an iPad with Apple Pencil support and want to do the same thing, the app I use is GoodNotes 5, which you can find here. I’ve used the following two programs for computer science and math-based notes, as they are capable of all types of formats, from tables to code blocks, to LaTeX for math. I don’t currently use them, though, for reasons I’ll mention below. Notion Diving in, Notion is unique in that it’s not only a markdown editor or even a note-taking platform, but it’s also a hybrid database/CMS system. Essentially, you can turn each “block” of content you write into a link, which you can then click to create another page to fill with more content. Essentially, you can recursively create as much of a nested structure as you want with your content. On top of this, Notion has different content blocks that can satisfy any need, from customizable Airtable-esque tables to Kanban boards. I don’t use these for my academic notes because I almost felt it was overkill, and I would spend more time figuring out the best way to organize my notes than actually taking notes. Even though I don’t use Notion for my notes, I use it for database-type activities, such as tracking job applications. If you’re interested in taking notes with Notion, check out this Ali Abdaal video and download it here. Typora Last on my list of recommended apps is Typora, which skips out on all the database features of Notion, but features one of the best live previews of enhanced markdown out of any app out there. The problem with this app is that you have to treat it like just a text editor, so you must do all of the organization manually on your own filesystem, which is not for everyone. I stopped using Typora because I wanted Vim keybindings and felt that Typora didn’t provide enough benefit over Vim + Marked 2 to justify using it. If you wanna try it out, though, download it here. Personal notes These are all the notes that aren’t for school. This can include anything from random ideas to notes about my day, books I’m reading, or interesting articles I find online. Bear Bear is a beautiful app for note-taking and more long-form writing and is hands down the winner for me in this department. I’m actually writing this post in Bear right now! Its only method of organization is through a tagging system, but tags can be nested as deeply as you want, so it doesn’t feel too limiting. It also has an excellent search function, which can always be used for backup once the notes start piling up. Finally, I love using Bear because it syncs seamlessly between my Mac and iPhone, so I don’t have to worry about managing my own files through something like Git. Bear is entirely usable for free, but the premium plan doesn’t cost too much and unlocks a bunch of nice-to-have features such as PDF export and additional themes. Download it here. Ulysses A close second in this category is Ulysses, which features almost all of the same features as Bear, with the significant difference being organization by folders instead of tags. In terms of design, Ulysses is just as eye-pleasing and user-friendly as Bear but currently feels a little more fleshed out, with support for tables and more layout options for images. Even though Ulysses does have slightly more functionality, there’s something about Bear’s design that draws me to it more. On top of that, Ulysses requires a paid subscription and costs about twice as much per year compared to Bear’s pro subscription. If you’re still curious, feel free to check it out here. To-do lists I don’t use to-do lists too often in my daily life because I find that my calendar and Notion do most of the work already. Still, when I use to-do lists, it’s generally for small things like groceries or tasks I have to do the next day that occur to me when I’m lying in bed. Things 3 This is basically the only app I’ve tried besides Apple’s default Reminders app, and its UI and functionality are more than enough for all of my needs, so that’s what I use. Check it out here. Calendars Finally, everyone needs a calendar. But, again, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so I just use Google Calendar because it integrates with everything else where my Google account is used. Google Calendar + Fantastical Google provides excellent online syncing functionality that can extend to all areas of their ecosystem, such as Gmail and Google Maps. It can also link to virtually any other online service that wants to look at your calendar events. However, the app I use to interact with my calendar is Fantastical, which makes event creation extremely easy, with natural language input. It also offers beautifully designed apps for both macOS and iOS, so there is no reason for me to use anything else for this category. Fantastical can be found on the Mac and iOS app stores or online here. Conclusion That’s all I can think of for now, but I’ll be sure to update this post if I find anything new! Also, feel free to contact me at rockzhou15@gmail.com if you have any suggestions or questions about my productivity setup.