Having a powerful note-taking device at your fingertips can save a lot of time and angst.  Microsoft’s OneNote is a great option for Windows users, but most Mac users on my campus were using some variation of Microsoft Word, a solution I found unsatisfying.  In case you are unfamiliar with it, I’m talking about the “Notes” format in Word, which looks like this:

As the semester wore on, the doc got clunky, taking a long time to load and save and I found myself still juggling multiple docs between classes.  A much better alternative is Growly Notes, a powerful application that gives an incredible amount of freedom when taking notes.  Unlike Word, which confines the user to strict formatting, Growly is the equivalent of a white board.  Notes can be as structured or as scattered as you want, which is really convenient if you’re writing an essay and get inspiration for a different part than you’re writing.  Just jot it down in a text block to the side instead of having a hanging thread at the bottom of a doc, or worse, in a separate “notes” doc altogether.

Every class can have its own color, and different stages of drafts can each have their own “page” under a single heading.  My favorite feature of Growly (aside from the fact that its free) is that it has a “floating window” feature that snaps to the front of whatever application you’re currently using (for me, usually a web browser).  Say you’re studying for a final and find helpful notes on–line, you can copy and paste notes onto the floating window rather than going from browser to doc, doc to browser.  It saves a ton of time and frustration.  The floating notes are automatically saved under a separate tab.  If you are still using Word, this app is a huge upgrade and well worth the time to learn to navigate, though you will mostly find its use intuitive.

 Happy note taking! Any comments? Leave them below.