There comes a time in life where settling down just makes sense.

I spent most of my twenties wandering, lying to myself saying that I’d commit only to find myself collecting notes God knows where.

I knew I hit rock bottom when I woke up one morning not really sure where I stored my notes from the day before. Which really begs the question as to why I was even taking notes in the first place. For the thrill of it? For an exercise in futility?

I remember using paper notebooks that I routinely lost, saving Microsoft Word documents I never opened again. When I bought an iPad I downloaded every note taking app the store had to offer. Yep, I was that guy.

Then I decided it was time to grow up. I got Evernote. And when things got serious, I paid for a subscription.

image by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash

It was fun. I clipped recipes from websites and started cooking for myself rather than eating out. I introduced Evernote to people at work. I started using my phone to scan important documents right into the app. I was efficient. I was a professional.

But then some things started to unravel. Evernote increased prices for what I viewed as no good reason. I began to worry about the company’s stability. Then I started to wonder why I put up with the bugs in the software. It would crash on my iPhone — quite an embarrassing experience when I’m with my friends or performing a task in front of colleagues.

I swore that I’d stay committed, but to be honest I started to flirt with Apple Notes. It was meaningless — just quick stuff, like grocery lists or the name of a book someone mentioned. I thought if I used Apple Notes on the side and Evernote for the serious stuff, I’d still maintain my new mature, professional, and efficient persona.

But the real maturation came when I admitted to myself that my relationship with Evernote just wasn’t going to work in the long run. There were other fish in the sea.

Then came OneNote, from Microsoft.

Now, I know what you’re thinking — cool people don’t use Microsoft products. To be honest, that was a juvenile attitude I had for years.

When I got into OneNote I realized it had pretty much every useful feature Evernote had to offer. In fact, I’d go on the record saying it organizes my notes better. I can easily sync across devices without restrictions. And of course it’s free up to 5GB, which is quite reasonable for even heavy notetakers.

“black laptop computer keyboard in closeup photo” by Tadas Sar on Unsplash

Also the oneDrive upgrade price plan actually makes sense if I need more room. In fact, for only $79/year Canadian I can get the whole Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) and 1 TB of storage. That price makes Google Drive blush, given they charge $140 for 1 TB* and don’t offer up a note taking app with OneNote’s sophistication.

Go ahead. Search away for comparisons between Evernote and OneNote. You’ll hear a lot of the same things here from tech pundits, but what I’m telling you is based on real life.

Maybe you’ll think Evernote looks better — maybe it’s cooler. Maybe it is. But I know the type of person I want to be, and the type of person I am. I’m a Microsoft OneNote user. I’m efficient in collecting my thoughts, mature, productive, and now, I’m finally settled.

*Shortly after this writing Google One replaced Google Drive in terms of personal storage options and is now offering up 2 TB of storage for $140, which is a better deal per unit of storage. However, expect oneDrive to up it’s offering now that the competition drove its price down.

Also note that the top image comes from a great review from https://estrategypro.com/evernote-vs-onenote/