One of Bear\u2019s best features is tags, but they can also be challenging for some users to harness. Tags are fast and flexible, less rigid than folders, a great way to focus on certain notes, supported almost anywhere in notes, and useful in a variety of other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what if you aren\u2019t used to organizing notes, tasks, and work this way? It can be tough to get going, so we\u2019d like to help you start thinking with tags, create good tag habits, and build a system that works for you. Features and tips take a backseat in this first post of a short series. For now, let\u2019s explore ideas and practices for working with tags in Bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First things first: how do you (want to) use Bear? The beauty of tags is that you can create a system that is as simple, broad, focused, or deep as you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you take notes for work or school? Maybe your Bear has the beginnings of a novel. Is a flat list of ideas enough for you, or are there folders within folders of stuff on your Mac? Do you collect recipes, save articles to read, plan your day and week, keep a journal, organize tasks, transcribe your thoughts, list errands\u2026 or a little of everything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once we understand your aspiration(s) for using Bear, we can start planting the seeds of a flourishing tag system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the easiest ways to build a tag system is to keep it simple. Let\u2019s start with a handful of broad, high-level keywords to categorize your existing notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, you can start tagging with any other broad, simple categories like #school, #ideas, #toread, #journal, etc. As you add tags, Bear automatically collects them in the left Sidebar. Click any of these tags to hide all other notes in the Note List\u2014it\u2019s a great way to concentrate on a particular idea, task, or project. To view all notes again, click Notes<\/strong> at the very top of the Sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A healthy habit of tagging notes in Bear means personal errands are easier to finish, work projects organize faster, and sharing that draft with your editor is just a couple clicks, whether it\u2019s a single note or a couple dozen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s break this down into two ideas: getting started with tagging notes, and creating a routine to keep your notes and tags tidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to new habits, we learned from reading Atomic Habits<\/a> by James Clear that it\u2019s much easier if we fit them into our existing routine. One of the best ways to do that is to practice adding tags right away to every new note you create. Once you add a title or the first line, add a tag or two right away to the next line, then continue on with the note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things to know<\/strong>: Bear supports tags almost anywhere in a note, even in the middle of sentences! For now, let\u2019s keep them at the top while we\u2019re still getting our feet wet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A tag system is useful only as long as it is maintained, so building a good tag routine<\/em> to review your notes is also key. Depending on a person\u2019s lifestyle and nature of their work, some Bear folks review their notes and projects daily, weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. The best approach here is the one that works and keeps you on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For an example of a regular tag routine: When David on the Shiny Frog team<\/a> wanted to get more organized, he created a repeating reminder to check his Bear notes and tasks each lazy Sunday afternoon to prep for the week ahead. He then uses a Bear Special Search<\/a> of @last7days<\/strong> to review the week\u2019s notes, add and edit tags, and list the upcoming week\u2019s tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this idea in mind, let\u2019s think about your current routine and approach to work, and see if we can find a good place to fit in a new habit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hopefully you can triangulate an ideal time in your schedule to review your notes and tags. For a good shot at working this review into your routine, we recommend creating a recurring reminder or calendar item that can nudge you. A sticky note somewhere in your home could also work, or maybe on the side of your display; hey, we don\u2019t judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking with tags is just the tip of the iceberg, and we hope getting this foot in the door helps spark some ideas for you. In part 2, we\u2019ll dive into some more advanced ideas, tips, and tricks to explore living la vida tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us know what you think of this series and what you\u2019d like to see in part 2 on Reddit<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, or directly at bear@shinyfrog.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Keeping your notes organized by Thinking With Tags\u2122 and staying in the habit are key to a happy Bear lifestyle. If you could use some help in these departments, this brief new series is for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_anchor_podcast":"","jetpack_anchor_episode":"","jetpack_anchor_spotify_show":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[30710022,30710023],"tags":[30710080,30710021],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bear-juggling-tags-featured.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pakp3M-sY","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1839,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions\/1839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bear.app\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Create a habit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 1: Just do it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 2: Just review it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Enough for now, and what\u2019s next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n