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Actually you can use org-mode without that much of a learning curve (at least in its basic form). Just pick an Emacs distribution (doom, spacemacs, ...) which come with pretty handy defaults, create an org-file and that's it. I use org-mode myself and didn't take the time to "learn" Emacs. This Google talk[0] was pretty handy to get familiar with org.

0: youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

First, the proper way would be to use the appropriate mode for LaTeX (auctex). It has a keybinding.

I don't use that mode, though, do I can't tell you how to set it up. I use org-mode, which lets you embed LaTeX formulae. I use this often, but surprisingly am not seeing anything in my Emacs config for this, so it may work out of the box. You do need some packages installed on your machine (dvipng, latex, etc). I already had them installed, so for me it was a simple matter of the keybinding: C-c C-x C-l

Details from the manual:

https://orgmode.org/manual/Previewing-LaTeX-fragments.html

Perhaps a friendlier guide:

https://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-latex-preview.htm...

If you're not familiar with org-mode, it is highly recommended. Its learning curve is quite shallow. I'm sure there are tutorials out there, but for me the Google Tech Talk was enough to get me started and convince me I should use it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

Ever since I encountered org mode, I author everything with it: LaTeX, HTML, DOC files, etc.

⬐ DoctorOetker

thanks, that worked, I was down the auctex rabbit hole, and got stuck on a 'cannot load file... cdlatex' or some such...

C-c C-x C-l worked out of box!

Weird, once I have C-cxl'ed a fragment to rendered latex, and the C-cc'ed back to monospace, I am no longer able to insert superscript and subscript symbols, and it complains about cdlatex-superscript or cdlatex-sub-superscript...

⬐ BeetleB

cdlatex likely is very useful if you plan to edit a lot of formulae. org has its own org-cdlatex minor mode (also needs effort to set up).

⬐ DoctorOetker

reinstalled the org package restarted emacs, and now it works

An invaluable resource is this Google TechTalk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM it was my first introduction to org-mode.

Org-mode in spacemacs is my choice, though that is more of a TODO list keeper than writing down personal thoughts. But it is plain text and has timestamps. It is also very flexible and powerful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM&t=1271s

I never liked all the multitude of list making apps - Evernote, Todoist, Omnifocus, etc.

I prefer org-mode[1] on emacs. It's simple, flexible, distraction free and for some reason reminds me of writing on paper. You get the simplicity, while also making it as powerful as you want.

1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

⬐ criddell

I like Evernote as a place to store my notebook pages that I want to search for. It's easy to take a picture with my phone and upload it as a PDF to Evernote which does a shockingly good job of finding text in the images and indexing them. I also get some metadata related to the time, date, and place where I generated the PDF. It's nice having important parts of my notebook available at all times.

I'm also surprised the article didn't mention mind mapping. Does nobody do that anymore?

⬐ Starwatcher2001

I do mind mapping extensively, both on paper, and using Mindjet's "mind manager". I use mind mapping to brain dump everything relevant about a project. The free-form approach helps me get stuff down in whatever order my brain decides to bring it to memory. They then get hacked into a logical order, maybe split into separate maps, and get used as an "at a glance" overview, which is great for making sure nothing gets missed during development. Paper is handy for the first cut, or on a bus, in a meeting etc., but the electronic version is better for editing and showing to colleagues and customers.

⬐ chj

They all feel like work including orgmode, while writing and sketching on paper is playful.

⬐ chrisdone

I'd agree. I've been trying to think of why I like orgmode and todoist and toggl aren't the same, it's that I can manipulate it freely as text without being blocked by the structure or hitting a use-case unanticipated by the authors of the app. I can also extend it easily and have done so.

In that way its benefits are similar to pen and paper.

⬐ creativityland

That is the same problem I have with most of the list making apps, but for web, at least Taskcade (https://www.taskcade.com) does the job for me, while feeling somewhat natural typing on it.

⬐ reitanqild

I like workflowy a lot although I rarely use it. (Used to use it on a weekly basis on my previous workplace.)

⬐ TorKlingberg

Do you have a good solution for reading and editing on mobile?

⬐ julian55

I use Orgzly http://www.orgzly.com/

⬐ eddieroger

org-mode has been my 2017 resolution, and in the 23 days I've been using it, I'm sold. I love prose and writing, and this scratches that itch pretty effectively while also giving me really powerful things that I need to be organized, like structure to my notes and tag searches. It's also as in or out of the way as I want it to be, which is great - I get to define the structure of how it works, and have largely through my emacs config. My last remaining hangup is capture when not in front of a full computer, but I'm sure that's a problem just in need of some time and automation, and admittedly my life would be easier if I'd give in and store my orgfiles in Dropbox, but being less dependent on cloud services I don't control is my sub-resolution, so I'm resisting this one as long as I can.

⬐ tlikonen

I use Emacs' org-mode for pretty much all my work notes. It's very structured, long and includes spreadsheets.

But usually I don't use my laptop during work. Instead I print just day's notes (schedule etc.) to a single paper sheet and keep the note paper with me. I do corrections and maybe add notes with a pen. Then later at home I modify my org-mode files to match my note paper.

⬐ peatmoss

I capture on paper. If I'm at a meeting or something, I simply write to paper, then transcribe my daily notes to org-mode at the end of the day. I don't particularly worry about structure when spooling to paper.

Sometimes I'll capture to paper even if I'm sitting in front of my computer. If I've got something complex to reason through, I like the free-form nature of paper. I pretend it's an auxiliary scratch buffer whose contents I will reason about later.

My paper notebook, therefore becomes pretty nonsensical, because it isn't the system of record. I carry it as a notebook because I can always go back a day or two if I got lazy and didn't transcribe the previous day. Also a paper notebook puts on a better show for society as compared to just having a few sheets of printer paper along for the ride at meetings (though that works too). Periodically, I rip previous pages out (if spiral bound--they tear cleanly) and shred them just to restore that fresh notebook feeling.

⬐ peatmoss

I'll add that I've used Mobile-org and even tried Evernote on mobile. I cannot for the life of me figure out how people use mobile note-taking apps. Even with a bluetooth keyboard the UX is so slow / inflexible compared to paper.

I've seen people apparently use them to reasonable effect though, so I'm going to assume that people capable of note-taking on mobile are just a more evolved kind of human than I am :-)

⬐ ddingus

This is why I've got a Samsung note.

It's response is sufficient to capture in paper like fashion.

I still prefer paper, but the little note app that ships with the phone works very well.

⬐ abakker

As someone who writes for a living, I can appreciate mobile note taking. Flexibility of the app is not really the important part - I frequently use apple's notes app. But, in those cases what I'm really doing is "pre-writing" not note taking. I'm not capturing ideas, I'm already interpreting them before I write them down, adding structure as I go.

In paper, I tend to really note-take. I like note-taking on paper for things I don't really understand yet. I prefer pre-writing in an app for situations where my understanding of the topic is good, and I want to skip steps (e.g. writing a blog post about a presentation, where the topic is already familiar)

Now, in fairness, I have recently started using SimpleMind for mind-mapping real-time. I find it does a good job at doing both things. It helps me build a narrative structure in one branch, while capturing notes in others. It also gives me a lot of nice flexibility on-screen to rearrange branches, relocate topics and do other general house-keeping.

Seconded, and I like this talk at Google by the creator of org-mode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

Org-mode is a really good replacement for MediaWiki. You can manage links, tables and lists all with simple and reliable text files with .org suffix in Emacs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

It's funny. I've been using Emacs as my sole editor for about 8 months now, but I still haven't been able to reach enlightenment with org-mode. I have it installed, and I occasionally use it for todo lists, but I guess I'm just not good enough with it to see its value.

I think the main stumbling block is the documentation (as with most things Emacs). There needs to be some use cases or something. Even the enthusiastic bloggers never seen to give concrete examples. The best advertisement for org-mode I've seen is this long Google Tech Talk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM&hd=1

⬐ sedachv

I've been using Emacs as my editor for 8 years, and I don't get org-mode.

⬐ melling

M-x org-mode and just start typing. Hyperlinks are clickable. Add a check lists.

- [ ] Read Hacker News; C-c C-c when complete

- [ ] Write blog

* More readable links

[[http://news.ycombinator.com][Hacker News]]

* Level I

* * Level II -- There are two asterisks with no space.

- [x] Write lesson one.

⬐ sedachv

Haha, I get that part. I guess I don't understand the upside of keeping notes and todo lists on the computer.

I have flat lists of things in text files that I manage with Emacs, but it's stuff I only look at occasionally. I tried using org-mode, but I didn't see the big advantage over text files.

All the right now in-the-moment ideas and todos I write on paper, partly because I like to draw arrows between things.

⬐ silentbicycle

What I don't get is why it uses multiple asterisks for levels (and an ugly font-lock hack to hide all but the last):

    *    header
    **   second level
    ***  third level
    **** fourth level
    etc.

when it's feasible to set outline-regexp to

    " *[*+.-]"    ; broken out due to HN's formatting

and then just use spaces and asterisks (and dots, pluses, minuses, etc.) directly:

    *    header
     *   second
      *  third
       * fourth

org-mode is really powerful, but does so much that it's hard to learn upfront. I've used Emacs heavily for several years, but never quite gotten into it. I have my own variant (a thin extension to outline-mode), which uses the 10% of org-mode's functionality that I actually care about.

⬐ jshen

I think that is a legacy of outline mode.

⬐ silentbicycle

But not an inescapable one!

⬐ gcv

Lines with multiple asterisks mean something different from outlines marked with spaces and asterisks (or hyphens, or numbers). You can only put a TODO, a priority, or a tag on a line with multiple asterisks. The spaces-plus-whatever lines are not meant for top-level tasks, but for little sublists.

I'm inclined to agree that it's a bit unsightly, but the font-lock hack works well enough for me, and I use the distinction in my outlines all the time.

What do you use on the iPad?

On my iPod touch I use mobileOrg (http://mobileorg.ncogni.to/) with Dropbox sync and it works very well.

And using emacs+org-mode on my Mac (or Windows or *nix) machine I have all my stuff in text files (with a backup on dropbox).

And org-mode can do a lot more: Emacs Org-mode - a system for note-taking and project planning Google Tech Talks

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

⬐ dlsspy

Yeah, mobileorg is decent on the iPhone, but iPhone apps on the iPad are just useless. I basically don't do it and hope it gets updated before I get too frustrated and try to get involved. :)

If you're familiar with Emacs you can use Org-mode. There's actually a pretty good video from its creator that shows you the main features:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM

⬐ jlongster

I totally forgot about org-mode. I have a few friends that use it and love it. Maybe I should go ahead and dive into it.

A builtin minor mode (M-x orgtbl-mode) in Emacs is worth a try too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJTwQvgfgMM (Emacs Org-mode)