I recently started using tags in square brackets to tag notes in meetings, or to capture ideas that come to me on the go. For example:
[Note] The server needs to be running…
[Action] Do a report that summarises…
I started out with just the [Note] tag but I’ve been adding to it and I now have 23 of them. As you can imagine typing the square bracket around these tags is a pain. Especially on an iPhone.
Enter iOS and OSX shortcuts. If you don’t know about them, Shortcuts on iOS and OSX allow you enter a bit of text and an associated replacement gets put into the text you are writing. So to get [Note] I have the following setup:
sbnote -> [Note]
I just type sbnote. And [Note] is inserted instead when I hit the space bar. Really handy. A nice thing is that the shortcuts sync between all my iOS devices and my Mac. You could also set these up in TextExpander. I did have them there but I like the simplicity of the sync between iOS and OSX for these. I use TextExpander for more complex things.
Here is the full list of tags in square brackets that I now use. I keep adding to it! Really useful for categorising quick notes in meetings, and capturing creative ideas on the go. Use in the notes app of your choice.
sbaction -> [Action]
sbapplication -> [Application]
sbbook -> [Book]
sbcall -> [Call]
sbchange -> [Change]
sbdate -> [Date]
sbexample -> [Example]
sbfix -> [Fix]
sbform -> [Form]
sbinstance -> [Instance]
sbissue -> [Issue]
sbitem -> [Item]
sblist -> [List]
sblyric -> [Lyric]
sbname -> [Name]
sbnote -> [Note]
sbquestion -> [Question]
sbquote -> [Quote]
sbreport -> [Report]
sbsolution -> [Solution]
sbsystem -> [System]
sbtest -> [Test]
sbthought -> [Thought]