I periodically try to dump all of my mental contexts into my notes. I noticed this comes in a few different flavors.
- Safari Tabs on my iPhone and iPad: Goes into daily notes
- Random thoughts - go into drafts and get processed daily
- Shopping - including groceries, bills, and things I would like but not need. Those all go into a task manager
- Dangling tasks - gets reviewed in the task manager inbox weekly
- Personal thoughts - journaling every two weeks, although I want to do this more often
- Events I have not logged - go into my calendar.
- Downloads folder - weekly processed into other folders.
- Long-term storage in Dropbox and backup drive.
- Short-term in Inbox folder
- Photos - place special ones in folders. Select shots in favorites.
I am trying to think of other things that I purge. I used to write in a notepad and write on the page of everything I was thinking about. I used to write about people I have not spoken to in a long time that I should reach out to, mantras I came up with, or completely random thoughts.
Tiago Forte recommends putting all unused files into an Archive folder. This This activity helps remove our digital file mess and stops us from immediately organizing everything.