I stopped organizing my notes and let this new app do it

All of us who love notetaking have spent hours hunting for or building the perfect digital notebook. My app of choice as a recent convert is Obsidian. It overwhelmed me at first, but now I love formatting notes, typing out complex tags, and linking notes by hand. It feels productive, but it can be exhausting. I wonder if I will spend more time cleaning my notes than actually writing them. The search for the next shiny productivity app never goes away. So, I am experimenting with a new app called Mem. Mem promises a novel "organize nothing" workflow. It uses AI to sort, find, and connect your ideas for you. I am taking a first-hand look at it; maybe I can adapt the workflow to Obsidian.

Mem connects notes without manual links

Your ideas find each other automatically

Mem uses a feature called Heads Up to read what you are writing in real time. As you type, the AI scans your entire notes database to reveal related past notes on the side of your screen. This instantly removes the need to remember old file names, keywords, or depend on inter-note links.

As a long-time note-taker from the pre-AI days, this is welcome. In Obsidian, I have total control over my knowledge graph because I link every note myself. Mem uses AI, so my first thought is always — is the AI missing something?

However, the AI actually surprised me by finding deep patterns I had completely forgotten about. It connected a tech article I wrote last week to a random book quote I saved before that. Yes, my notes collection isn't dense enough yet as I am in the Mem Free version. It allows 25 notes per month. But the idea of instantly finding context is promising to my lazy brain.

Deep search replaces your folder system

Finding notes is now as simple as a chat

Instead of clicking through folders, you find information in Mem by using a smart search bar. You can use Find More inside the Heads Up panel or use the Mem Chat. You can type questions in plain English, like "What idea did I write about permaculture?" The app instantly pulls up the exact nugget you need.

If you are a folder junkie, you will miss a folder structure in your first few days with Mem. Folders give me a sense of safety as I like slotting everything neatly. Mem just throws everything into one messy stream. A bit like Simplenote with its clutter-free vibe. For someone coming over from Notion with its databases and related properties and dashboards, it can be "discombobulating!"

But folders also slow us down. With deep search, I can find a hidden phone number or meeting brief in two seconds. I no longer waste energy deciding which folder a new note belongs in. The CEO of Obsidian, Steph Ango also preaches this form of silo-less form of notetaking.

Web saving captures data in one click

The browser extension grabs internet text fast

Mem offers a handy Chrome extension that lets you save text and links directly from the web. When you highlight an online article, specific text excerpts, or YouTube videos, it syncs straight into your account. The AI immediately processes or gives you the option to chat with it.

Obsidian has dozens of community plugins that do the exact same thing. I already had a perfect web clipper set up for my Obsidian vault. Not to mention my other web clippers for apps like NotebookLM.

The big difference is that Mem handles the backend work after you click save. Mem can take your instructions in the extension's pop-up and summarize, format, or organize it in a note or a Mem Collection. This alone can save you a lot of time.

Enrich a note by saving a summary or key points from a YouTube video. You won't need to rewatch the entire video to remember the ideas.

Voice notes turn speech into clear text

Talk to your app to log your thoughts

Tap the Voice Mode option in the Mem iOS app or the Desktop app to dump everything in your brain. It does not just copy you word for word; it actually cleans up your sentences. It even extracts clear action items from your freeform ramblings, online meetings, interviews, etc.

I sparingly use voice dictation tools because they make so many mistakes with my accent. I fell back on my diehard habit of typing my thoughts directly into a notes app where I could adjust the formatting. Talking out loud often feels clumsy, as my thoughts don't sync well with my tongue.

Yet, Mem's voice transcription is much smarter than the voice to text transcription tools on your phone. It fixed my grammar and organized my spoken thoughts into neat bullet points. I now think about my journal entries while walking. You can try and dictate a first draft of any content you plan to polish later.

AI chat works like a personal assistant

Talk to your notebook to summarize files

I am on the Mem Free version. The Mem Pro lets you use top AI models like Claude and Gemini to chat with your notes. You can ask the chat tool to summarize a long PDF or write an email based on your data.

You might feel uneasy about letting an outside AI read your private thoughts. Obsidian keeps all my files stored locally in simple Markdown files on my hard drive, which is great for privacy. Every interaction on Mem happens over the cloud. Mem does work offline and syncs up once you’re back online. The FAQ states that all data is encrypted with AES-256 and in transit with TLS, but it is not e2e encrypted.

The benefits of working via the cloud often outweigh our fears. As the app is AI-based, having an LLM like Claude instantly draft an article outline based on my messy research notes or not having to organize my notes at all is a relief. I just need to focus on capturing quality information with Mem.

Try the one-week no-organization challenge

I haven't covered all the features here. Mem's learning guides are well-detailed. Try out the app to escape the trap of endless digital cleaning... maybe, write twenty notes without adding a single tag or folder. As the free account is restricted to 25 notes and 25 chat messages per month, my next experiment is to build an idea library from the books I read.