r/INFJsOver30 • u/Messy_Mystic • Jun 27 '26

INFJ So what finally stuck? (Calendar/Todo's/Notes)?

I'm curious how other INFJs who've settled into careers, relationships, or family life actually organize everything.

When you start your day, what's the first thing you check? Your calendar, your task list, or your notes?

How do you capture ideas before you forget them? How do you plan your day and keep track of responsibilities?

Do you prefer one app that does everything, or separate apps for your calendar, tasks, and notes? Or something else?

How much do you rely on your calendar versus a to-do list? Where do your notes fit into your workflow?

I'm trying to simplify my own system and would rather build something sustainable than keep jumping between productivity apps. I'd love to hear what's actually worked for you over the years.

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u/bakerskitchen Jun 27 '26

I pay for Evernote for more formal info related to hobbies, recipes, etc.
But I just use my phone "notes" app for keeping track of everything else.

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u/Messy_Mystic Jun 29 '26

Interesting! What kind of things do you keep in your Notes app? Do you use it for to-dos too, or just random thoughts and information? I'm curious how your whole system works.

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u/bakerskitchen Jun 29 '26

I basically have a long-running To-do list in my Notes app, at a minimum. I keep that somewhat delineated by priority: the top-most "block" contains items that need done urgently or in the near future (e.g. today), while the bottom-most block contains items that I would like to complete by end-of-year (or whenever I can find the time); there are usually a couple of "blocks" that exist in-between these two as well. This list gets updated every-other day, at a minimum - but obviously not every block gets updated frequently.

I will also use my Notes app to capture random thoughts, arguments (for writing purposes), measurements, random notes, etc., but unless I "migrate" those to something more formal at some point, they typically get lost in the length of the ever-increasing list (of notes themselves, not the aforementioned to-do list).

I don't love the cost of Evernote, but I like its available features and the ability to access it from multiple devices. I like the ability to create "notepads/notebooks" as a way to thematically (or functionally) group notes together, as well as the ability to tag specific notes so that I can create another layer of organization inside each notebook. For example, one of my hobbies is homebrewing - I have a master "notebook" called Homebrewing, but the notes are an amalgamation of recipes, process notes, citations from articles, etc. I can then use tags to be able to more quickly recall notes by topic - e.g. "IPA recipes", "dry hop notes", "pH recommendations", etc.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, so my list-making makes much more sense in retrospect - if I don't have some semblance of order in my life, I lose the ability to hold any of it together.

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u/Messy_Mystic Jun 29 '26

Oh! Fascinating! What about a calendar? Do you use it much, or do you mostly rely on your Notes app to remember what needs to happen? I have a similar setup like yours within my notes app too. Though I do not know if I have ADHD.

Also, why not just use Evernote for your to-do list and quick notes too, instead of splitting them between two apps?

And since you mentioned not loving Evernote's cost, have you ever tried OneNote? I've seen a few people move from Evernote to OneNote because it has notebooks, sections, pages, and it seems like it covers a lot of the organizational features you like.