James Eaton

April 28, 2021

Craft 101 - Just start typing

One of my favorite things about Craft is how easy it is to just start taking notes. I tend to take somewhat of stream-of-conscious notes in meetings and I love how I can just type my thoughts and then sort, add lists, and develop blocks after the meeting is over. To put it simply: Craft does not get in my way when I want to capture text.

Craft also make meeting follow-up easier than ever. After I finish a meeting with a group of people, I like to create a quick write-up about the meeting with key information and next steps for anyone involved. Before Craft, this usually involved creating another note in my system or  just opening an email and typing that information right into my Mail app. While there is nothing wrong with typing an email, I did create a fork in my system. I would have the full notes for the meeting in one place and then other information that I shared with team members in a different place. If I wanted to confirm something or find what I previously said, it now requires two separate searches. Craft made this process incredibly simple with the ability to turn any block into a new page or card.

I was in a meeting today where I needed to summarize what we talked about with some clear next step actions for team members who were not on the call. I had a section at the bottom already set up for follow-up so I turned that block into a card. I opened a new window in Craft so I could see my full note on one page and the card in the other window. I ran through my meeting notes and made a follow-up communication without having to make another note. I have the flexibility to add this to another note with linking (I just start typing the “@“ and then I can find that card), and I can just see what I have communicated with others about the meeting. If I want the whole set of meetings notes, it’s just as easy to find that as well.

When I finished the writeup after the meeting, I used Craft’s extensive export options to send the note as an email. I did not have to get bogged down in email or switch modes; everything just worked inside of Craft. I love finding new ways to use technology to actually get meaningful work accomplished so I can spend my time producing what actually matter vs switch back and forth between apps.

If you want a tool that will allow you to quickly enter text, come back around and format your thoughts, and then easily create follow-up content inside the same note then I would encourage you to give Craft a try. It’s free to use up to a certain amount of blocks and by the time you reach that limit, you will know if Craft is right for you.

I will have more Craft content coming your way soon. Keeping working on things that actually matter!