Apple-based GTD scanning/filing? Tools & recommendations?

[Alphaville]

I use GTD for work, and in the past I’ve used filing cabinets, and folders on my desk, and the sorts of things David Allen recommends for his system, even thought I’d often neglect the “next action” folders on top of my desk and would develop ever-growing tumor-like “to file” piles. No matter what David Allen says, or how much I’d spend on my “quality” supplies, filing with manila folders and labeling them with the little machine is a cumbersome, distracting, pain in the ass way to file, plus heavy and pricey to store and move.

I’m setting up a new office now, and have limited physical space, and I’d like to keep all my files in the cloud as much as possible. I’m aware that I still need to keep *some* cellulose-based papers for legal purposes, but I’d rather keep them in a fire safe than in an active filing cabinet to be used daily.

Per the title, I work in an Apple ecosystem—computer, tablet, phone. I hate Windows, and I never had patience for Linux. Computer and phone prices aside, the availability of cheap iPads makes my commitment feasible for at least a few years to come.

Maybe I already know the answer to my own questions, but I wouldn’t mind some recommendations if anybody has them (other than “switch to linux,” lol).

Basically I’d like the cheapest, easiest way to scan + file documents onto iCloud or a free/included in the price cloud service. I have the free version of Evernote; I used to have the paid one but discontinued. Plus I’m not sure about Evernote security these days. Still, once upon a time I set up a whole GTD structure in my Evernote folders, and it still works well.

Apple Notes has rudimentary scanning directly from the device (ipad, phone) which makes it attractive, but I’m not sure if it handles OCR, or if it does how well, and maybe I can do some experiments, or maybe somebody here can tell me what works for them to give me a head start.

Fujitsu used to market their Scansnap scanners with Evernote, which was supposed to be seamless stuff, but all that looks very 2010, and I wonder if that combo is still a good one or what else is out there.

Thanks in advance...

[Alphaville]

ok looks like i’m 2.5 years behind the curve...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ho ... e.2070642/

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eta: doesn’t scan too pretty, and evernote recognizes documents better. BUT: fully-functional evernote with ocr/searchable pdfs requires a subscription, which i’d rather avoid.

[AxelHeyst]

[I answered the question I thought you asked, and then actually read your post and realized I need to work on reading comprehension and assumptions. I'll leave my answer as potentially relevant, Omni might contain the features you seek:]

Omnifocus is the mac-only GTD platform of high reputation. I've never used it, as a mixed-platform user, but my brother (PhD compsci, GTD black belt, etc) was Omni for years before switching to Notion because that's the kinda guy he is.

[Alphaville]

[I answered the question I thought you asked, and then actually read your post and realized I need to work on reading comprehension and assumptions. I'll leave my answer as potentially relevant, Omni might contain the features you seek:]

Omnifocus is the mac-only GTD platform of high reputation. I've never used it, as a mixed-platform user, but my brother (PhD compsci, GTD black belt, etc) was Omni for years before switching to Notion because that's the kinda guy he is.

ha ha, yeah, I use omnifocus! it's more a to-do manager than a storage though, but thanks for posting, regardless. good info.

i'll look into notion, just out of curiosity.

for storage it looks like it's between evernote and apple notes for me right now, and phone/ipad scanning for the most part...