My new year resolution is to stop using one giant list in my Notes app for literally everything | Patrick Lenton

Notes app has a simple function it’s a place to jot down notes on your phone.

But nothing causes me more existential dread than my Notes app.

Instead of creating an ordered system of lists and separate topic-defined notes, I’ve shoved every single thought and message and draft and recipe into one lumbering, behemoth note.

One memorable moment was copying a carefully worded answer to a job application from my giant note and accidentally pasting in the ingredient list for a Sri Lankan curry.

Almost tanking my job prospects via curry has been a wake-up call.

Maybe instead of setting myself up for another failure, I’ll write my new year resolution in my even bigger note and, at the end of 2025 , I’ll try to scroll all the way back and see which new flavour of yoghurt I’ve failed to try this year . - Patrick Lenton is a writer. His romcom, In Spite of Everything, comes out in May 2025 .