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What's the best way to use OneNote?

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So one of the most frequently asked questions we get here at OneNote is "what's the best way to use OneNote?" People really want to know. Well, my response to you is "what's the best way to take notes?" Is there really a definitive answer to that question?

We have many different types of people who have discovered a new way of doing their work in OneNote. From the college student to the medical doctor, the professor to the real estate agent, the sales associate to the shopper. And the list goes on and on. We even had a software developer who once told us he writes all of his code in OneNote because he loves the outlining capabilities. To all you developers out there with one eyebrow raised, we don't regularly recommend this, but…to each his own. With as many different varieties of people we have using OneNote, we have equally as many different styles of using it.

There really is no 'one size fits all' approach to using OneNote. After all, we're not your typical application for refining documents. Our purpose in life is to give you a free-form way to gather your thoughts, ideas, research and more in the way that best suits you.

Having said that, there are many ways in which OneNote can help you make your life more productive. In the way you organize your stuff, for example. You can think of our storage model, (the way OneNote saves your stuff), as somewhat of a hierarchical structure. You have notebooks, which contain sections or section groups, which contain pages and subpages, which is where all your stuff lives.

As I was writing this blog, I discovered that there is much more material to cover in this particular topic than I could reasonably fit into a single post. So I decided to break it into 4 separate posts that will cover each of the following topics:

Over the next few days, each post will cover tips associated with the topic itself. My intent is not to tell you how to use OneNote, but to open your eyes to some of the different ways to discover how you can use it to improve your workstyle. So get ready, and I hope you enjoy it.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2011
    What's the best wireless pen-style mouse to use with OneNote and/or Office 2010?