Once upon a time (a.k.a. the early 2000s), digital notetaking was a glorified version of a filing cabinet. Hello Evernote! You had folders, subfolders, and a meticulous system that only made sense if you were obsessive about categorization. (Yes I am -it’s my favorite thing to do when I’m stressed or delaying whatever it is that I neeed to do. If you forgot where you filed something? Good luck spelunking through your hard drive.

But now? AI-driven notetaking apps like Obsidian, Reflect and Mem AI have changed the game. No more manually organizing your notes into rigid structures. (I still do but, I’m learning). So instead, these apps use AI to surface what you need when you need it, meaning you don’t have to play librarian for your own brain. With Mem, for example, your notes are just a chat away.

But let me tell you, this shift is not just about productivity. It’s a whole new mindset that I’m appling to my Chrome tabs, my Google Docs, my reading list. Now, I’m applying it to my websites as well.

The Death of Over-Organization (And Why I’m Okay With It)

I used to believe in keeping my online life neatly separated. One blog for personal musings, another for professional content, maybe even a separate one for random brain dumps. Uhh, there’s Medium, Substack, believe you me, I am all over the place. But maintaining multiple websites is not just financially draining (hosting fees, domain renewals, premium plugins—ugh), it’s also a mental load I no longer want to carry.

Instead, I’m embracing the AI-driven approach: everything in one place, letting smart tools do the work of making connections. My blog is now an unapologetic mix of personal thoughts, professional insights, and experimental ideas—like an online diary I actually control. Unlike Facebook, where your posts get buried under an algorithm that favors drama over depth, my website is mine. No shadowbans, no random disappearing posts, no waking up to find out you’ve been put in “Facebook jail” for reasons unknown.

Blogging Beyond Earnings

Let’s be real: blogging for money is not what it used to be. Google’s last update made sure of that. Ranking on search engines now feels like throwing darts in the dark, and the days of turning a blog into a passive income machine are mostly over—unless you’re a giant media company with a team of SEO wizards.

But I’ve made my peace with it. My blog is no longer about chasing traffic or appeasing the algorithm gods. It’s a living, evolving space where I can write for the sake of writing. And honestly? That’s freeing.

What AI Notetaking Has Taught Me About Content Creation

AI-powered notetaking apps have shown me that over-organizing is a trap. I mean, I probably knew it but my brain refuses to let go of control and fear of forgetting. But the magic happens when you let ideas flow, let AI resurface them when needed, and stop worrying about perfect structure.I mean, I just spent my last two days reorganizing my categories but I’m healing. (Hopefully)

So here’s my new approach to blogging:

One main website to rule them all. No more spreading myself thin over multiple domains.No more paying hosts and several domains that remains unused most of the time anyway. If I’m just paying it for peace of mind -I’d rather pay AI tools to connect ideas. Whether it’s Notion (yeah yeah -its still old school but it’s getting there), Mem AI, or Reflect, I let smart tools surface older content when it’s relevant.
Writing for me first. Not for Google, not for ad revenue, but for the joy of capturing thoughts in a space I own.
Notetaking has come a long way, and so has blogging. Maybe it’s time we stop treating our online presence like a filing cabinet and start treating it like a conversation—one that’s open-ended, evolving, and completely our own.