Your tasks and your notes belong together
The role profile and salary range for your new hire are in a shared document. The task 'write job posting' is in your todo app. When you sit down to write the posting, you need the salary band and the required skills. So you switch apps, search for the document, and try to remember where you saved it.
The two-app problem
You have a task manager for your actions and a notes app for your information. Two apps, two systems, two places to check.
The role profile and salary range are in a Google Doc. The task 'write job posting' is in your todo app. When you sit down to write the posting, you need the required skills and the salary band. So you switch apps, scroll through documents, find the file, switch back, and try to remember what you were doing.
The brand guidelines for the website relaunch are somewhere in a shared drive. The Q1 review feedback is in an email thread. The flight options for the family vacation are in a browser tab you closed yesterday. Your tasks are somewhere else entirely.
Every time you need a piece of information to act on a task, you leave your task manager. Every switch is friction. Every search is a small interruption. Over time, you stop storing information in your system at all, because you know you won't find it when you need it.
Todo app
Write job posting
Notes app
Backend role: senior, 90–110k, 0.5% equity
Information only matters in context
A salary band is not useful on its own. It is useful when you are about to write a job posting. Brand guidelines are not useful in a shared drive. They are useful inside the project where you are briefing the designer and reviewing the homepage draft.
When reference material lives next to the tasks that need it, you stop searching for information. It is already there, in the project, visible when you need it, hidden when you don't.
This is not a new idea. It comes from GTD, where reference material is filed by project, not by type. The principle is straightforward: keep information where you will use it, not where it is easiest to store it.
One interface, two modes
In tingdo, tasks and notes share the same home. Both live inside your projects, side by side.
The difference between them is one character. In the search bar, type + to create a task. Type * to create a note. Both support the same inline syntax: /project to assign a project, #context to add a context.
Tasks appear on your next actions list. Notes don't. That is the only difference. Notes are reference material: visible inside the project, searchable through the search bar, but hidden from your action lists so they don't clutter your workflow.
When you open a project, you see both: your tasks grouped by status, and your notes in their own section. Everything you need to act, in one view.
+ Draft proposal document /q2-proposal #computer
Appears on your next actions list.
* Q1 review feedback: budget concerns, stakeholder priorities /q2-proposal
Sits quietly in the project, ready when you need it.
Not everything you write down is something to do
Your system holds two kinds of information: things to act on, and things to refer to.
The Q1 review feedback is not a task. The brand guidelines are not a task. The flight options and hotel shortlist are not a task. But they all belong in your system, close to the project where they are relevant.
Most task managers force you to choose: either everything is a task, and your lists get cluttered with non-actionable items, or you store reference material somewhere else and lose the connection.
tingdo treats this as a first-class distinction. A task has a status, a next action, a place in your weekly review. A note has none of that. It sits quietly in the project, available when you need it.
Website relaunch
* Reference note
Brand guidelines: color codes, font families, tone of voice rules, logo usage specs
+ Tasks that rely on this note
- Write brief for designer
- Review homepage draft
- Approve copy for about page
Every task in this project needs the same brand reference. One note, accessible from within the project, instead of searching through email or a shared drive every time.
Tax filing
* Reference note
Rates and billing rules: hourly rate consulting, hourly rate implementation, travel expense policy, VAT rate
+ Tasks that rely on this note
- Create December invoice
- Prepare annual summary
- Send documents to accountant
Billing rules are referenced across multiple invoicing and reporting tasks throughout the year. One source of truth inside the project.
Family vacation
* Reference note
Research results: flight options with prices, hotel shortlist with ratings, visa requirements per family member
+ Tasks that rely on this note
- Book flights
- Reserve hotel
- Apply for visas
All research sits in one place. When you sit down to book the flights, the comparison is right there in the project. No switching to a browser tab or a separate notes app.
One fewer app to maintain
Every app you add to your workflow is a system you need to maintain, sync, search, and trust. Two apps means two inboxes, two search histories, two places where information might be hiding.
When your task manager can also hold your reference material, you remove that split. One system, one search, one place to look.
This does not mean tingdo replaces a full note-taking app for long-form writing or knowledge management. It means that the reference material tied to your tasks and projects, the role profiles, the billing rules, the brand guidelines, the research results, has a natural home inside your task manager.
Tasks and notes, one system, no friction.
Try tingdoFree to use. No credit card needed.