The Ultimate Visual Note-Taking Tool? My Milanote First Look!

Introduction to Millinote

In this section, the speaker introduces the concept of digital note-taking and explains how Millinote is different from other note-taking apps.

Digital Note-Taking Revolution

• Digital notes have a flaw: when they're out of sight, they're also out of mind.

• Most digital notes don't have any kind of spatial memory.

• Millinote is a new type of note-taking app that addresses these issues.

How Millinote Works

• Upon signing up, users are presented with a massive open canvas view.

• Notes in Millinote look like floating boxes that can be moved around and formatted in various ways.

• The main way of organizing notes in Millinote is through boards, which are similar to pages in Notion but offer more freedom for organizing information.

Creating Boards

• Boards are auto-assigned colors and icons based on their names but can be recolored for better organization.

• Users can create multiple boards within a board, allowing for hierarchical organization.

• Boards can contain various types of content such as text, images, and media.

Designing a Building with Millinote

In this section, the speaker demonstrates how to use Millinote by designing a building using its features.

Creating Project Boards

• Project boards are used to keep track of things actively being worked on with clear end goals.

• Areas boards are used to keep track of important aspects of life that need maintenance or attention.

• Resources boards are used to store anything that might be useful in the future.

• Archives boards are used to store things not expected to be looked at again but kept just in case.

Adding Structure with Columns

• Columns can be added anywhere on the board for additional structure and organization.

Using Draw Feature

• The draw feature can be used to add visual reminders and prioritization to notes.

• Users can double-click on a board to enter a new board for more detailed organization.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker concludes by sharing their top three visual note-taking practices that they plan to use in their own second brain.

Top Three Visual Note-Taking Practices

• Use color coding for better organization and categorization.

• Use icons and images for quick recognition of notes.

• Use spatial layout to create a mental map of information.

Creating and Organizing Notes

In this section, the speaker explains how to create notes and organize them using connectors. They also demonstrate how to add a project board and add content to it.

Creating Notes and Connectors

• To create a new note, click on the "New Note" button.

• To make a note stand out, color it differently.

• Use the arrow in the top right corner of a note to create a connector line between two notes.

• Change the ends of the connector line to an arrow or dotted line if desired.

Adding Projects and Content

• Create another board by dragging it into an empty column.

• Add content by clicking into the project board.

• Add columns as needed for different aspects of the project.

• Use unsorted area on the right side to hold onto notes that you aren't sure where you want to place yet.

Adding Highlights, Action Items, and Philosophy of Projects

In this section, the speaker demonstrates how to add highlights from articles, action items from collaborators, and philosophy of projects.

Adding Highlights

• Highlight important points while reading through an article.

• Do progressive summarization by grabbing most important highlights as text or screenshots of pages copied onto board.

Adding Action Items

• Drag out "to-do" item from toolbar for action items.

• Leave comments or tag others for help if they have access to your board.

Philosophy of Projects

• Aim for 10 to 15 active projects in near term.

• Keep track visually with number of boards in column reminder.

Kanban Board Setup for Projects

In this section, the speaker explains how they set up their kanban board for projects.

Kanban Board Setup

• Add sequence from future projects to upcoming projects, active projects, completed and archived projects.

• Add little descriptions of purpose as notes that are dragged into columns.

• Move project cards between columns as they progress.

Setting Up Areas for Inspiration and Priorities

In this section, the speaker explains how they set up their areas for inspiration and priorities.

Setting Up Areas

• Similar to projects but more free-form.

• Grouped by interest and type.

• Meant to inspire or remind of priorities rather than keep laser-focused on immediate tasks.

Millinote Features

In this section, the speaker discusses three features of Millinote that they find most interesting.

Philosophy of Free Form and Structure

• The combination of free form structure on a page level while structure enabled on a folder level is a great balance between too much or too little structure.

• Other note-taking apps like Logseq and Obsidian are either too free-form or require significant pre-planning to organize things. Apps like Notion or Evernote have too much structure.

Ease of Sharing with External Collaborators

• It's very easy to add collaborators or share a public version of the boards you're working on in Millinote.

• It's instantaneous, has a notification system, and feels great.

Visual Formatting for Accessibility

• Visual organization makes things more digestible and inspirational for you or others.

• Features are only added to Milano when they work and are built into the product at a deep level.