Using Microsoft OneNote as a Family

I have been a longtime user of Microsoft OneNote since its early days with the very first version released in 2003. I have always found OneNote to be powerful and quite flexible but it's often highly misunderstood and somewhat overwhelming of an experience for new users. It's one of those productivity programs that Microsoft has had in their arsenal of tools that was created more for themselves and for fans. But this is a program that can revolutionize your life and your family's digital organization.

To be honest, Microsoft OneNote is not the only program of its kind but at the same time it's relatively unique. Its closest competitor would probably be Evernote, but Evernote was never created with as flexible nor as powerful of a framework nor is it as feature rich. Evernote was created and catered to a very specific need of writing and jotting down notes, ideas, lists and having it all accessible and searchable. It does a very admirable job. I have used it myself, until recently. (You can read about it here.)

I have found OneNote to be more than just a place to collect thoughts, notes and lists. Yes, it does all those things and does it pretty good. Especially considering that they allow for graphics, sounds and videos to be attached. Its power lies in its flexibility for the user to mold and create a system as they see fit. It's like a blank notebook or binder or even a scrapbook. It's a blank slate for which tools are provided to use as you will.

This idea of OneNote as a digital blank slate is what makes the learning curve so steep and so overwhelming for some users. But I'm here to guide you through some the ways that I have used it with my family to help us organize and be at the top of our communication and information game.

Recipes. Everyone probably has some way to keep family recipes together, recipes that you find off the internet, or recipes that you begged from your friends and associates. TheWife and I used to have a shoe box in which we kept our collection of recipes. It had no organization nor system of cataloging. It was just in the box. And it was hard to find what we needed. It took time, but we eventually digitized all these recipes and created a collection within OneNote that is indexed and searchable. This made it so much easier in finding that dessert or that roast that we want to make. Or even that bread recipe that we use regularly for our church ministry. Having it digitized in OneNote organized the collection of recipes and most importantly, made it digitally portable to all of our devices. We can simply pull up the recipe we need from anywhere that we have WiFi or data connection. We can email off these recipes to friends and families when they ask for it. It is just that simple. Cooking has never been more simplified. It's just so much easier to have a tablet like the iPad or Microsoft Surface on and opened to the recipe when you need it.

Lists. Man, this is one of the earliest functions that we used as a family and one of the ones that we showed off to families and friends most often. List making is nothing new or revolutionary. But OneNote's ability to sync between devices in real time makes this so much cooler. I can be at the grocery store and checking off the list (yes, it has actual checkable check boxes), and theWife can be at home adding to the list. It would just pop up for me and she will know what items I have already gotten. And to top it off, she can make notes on the page and I would be able to get it almost instantaneously. Additionally, sometimes certain things you are buying just can't be described in words. Things like these are perfect to have a picture attached as an item on the list. There is no error of grabbing the wrong thing, cause someone needed a particular brand and such. Lists are just this simple with OneNote and powerfully expanded. We use lists for shopping, trip packing, to do's, etc.

Projects and Thoughts. OneNote is a scrapbook at its heart. We have used OneNote as a place for collecting our research on parenting skills and techniques, especially in relation to our son's needs (read about it here). We have used it for building our home renovation, improvement and maintenance planning. We have used it for storing ideas, prices, needs and priorities. We have used it collecting and storing random information. It has been a place for general planning of life, events, trips, ideas, etc. Essentially, OneNote is a place where you can dump your family life.

OneNote has been indispensable for theWife and I in all these years of relationship. From our initial wedding planning, to when we moved several times, to learning to be parents, to our personal and family projects, and even to the most basic shopping list, it has been a place where we gather information that is important to us. It's a system that's always evolving. It's a notebook that's constantly being reorganized and restructured as the need of our family changes. It's also been a place to can look back and see how far we have come and some of the memories that were made.

I'm not sure what system or tools your family uses to organize life and to get all the information together. But I would recommend that you take a deep look at Microsoft OneNote as a starting point for organizing the crazy life any family may have. If we want the time to do what matters most, if we want to experience life to its fullest, we all need a system to help us get there. For my family, OneNote is one of those tools. And I hope it may be yours too.