Notes are not only to help you retain information. They are also a great research instrument. Whenever I need to give a status report, I can quickly compose the status update or even a presentation based on past experiences.

Because I use Emacs for my note-taking, I can quickly browse relevant GitHub issues, PRs, Jira tickets, Emails, etc. - without ever having to open or search for anything in the browser.

I can run code snippets in different languages and send HTTP requests and analyze and even visualize the results. I can have tables with spreadsheet-like calculations. I can turn my notes into Anki cards and synchronize them so I can then review them on my phone - spaced repetition is a great tool for memorizing things. I can create PDF annotations - right there, inside my notes - PDF document would be displayed in the next pane. I can store links to specific places in our codebases and annotate code without having to change the code or add comments. I can type something like 'RFC 6962' and immediately start browsing the relevant document (again, right there where my notes are). I can type a question to an LLM and get the answer inlined. I can look up any Wikipedia terms or search on Google, DDG or GitHub - and again, without switching to the browser. I can translate sentences and whole paragraphs between languages.

And the greatest thing about this all? I don't have to pay a damn dime to anyone - these tools are free. And I don't have to worry about some company taking my data hostage. I don't have to worry about converting my notes to a meaningful format - it is all just plain text. I can easily convert my notes, analyze them, gather stats, encrypt them, send them to LLM engine for processing, force Emacs to read them to me out loud. The possibilities are virtually unlimited.