This page is about tagging strategy: how to choose better tags, keep them useful over time, and avoid common mistakes.

For feature details, see Tags. If you are deciding between tags and collections, see Tags vs. Collections.

Build a useful tagging convention

Good tags help you think, not just file things away. Use these heuristics to keep your tag system sharp.

1. Be specific enough to be useful

A tag like #technology is often too broad. Prefer tags that capture a meaningful angle, such as #decision-making, #attention-management, or #habit-design.

Think of tags like landmarks on a map:

• Which places are important enough to name?
• At what level of detail do you actually navigate?

2. Use fewer, higher-value tags

Don't tag for tagging's sake. A few intentional tags are usually better than many generic ones.

If a note needs many unrelated tags, that can be a signal the note should be split into smaller notes.

3. Tag by nearest relevance

Avoid tagging with every possible related tag. Pick the tags that are most central to the note's actual purpose.

This keeps retrieval cleaner and makes related-tag navigation more meaningful.

4. Maintain your tag garden

Tags improve with maintenance. Revisit them regularly:

• merge duplicates or near-duplicates
• rename vague tags into clearer terms
• connect new tags to existing clusters

Common mistakes (and better alternatives)

• Tagging object type as topic
  Avoid tags like #meeting or #person; object types already capture what something is.
• Tagging specific entities
  Avoid using tags for specific companies/clients/people when those should be objects you can link.
• Using broad bucket tags everywhere
  Replace broad tags with narrower tags that help you retrieve and reason about content later.

Example: from noisy to useful

Instead of tagging a strategy note with many broad labels, choose the few that carry the core intent.

• Noisy: #work, #ideas, #project, #notes
• Useful: #positioning, #q3-planning, #decision-making

The second set is easier to navigate and gives better retrieval later.