Today I’m walking you through my current, perfect CEAR setup in Superlist — and explaining how I got here after years of trials, errors, and frustrations with other apps.
The Beginning of the problem
For the longest time, you probably remember how I relied on Noteful as my go‑to handwriting note‑taking app. Back then, handwriting wasn’t just a preference — it was critical to my thinking process. Ideas flowed much easily when I scribbled them down, so I kept a notebook filled with notes on different apps.
But there was a problem: Noteful doesn’t search through handwriting. That meant every time I needed to reuse information, I had to remember exactly where it was. At first that didn’t bother me much, because I had a workaround with our digital notebooks. I could jump between apps, compare them side‑by‑side, using multiple instances. That worked for a while — but if I was still using it today, the current multitasking in iPadOS 26 would have made it clunky. The system I depended would have certainly collapsed. So, am happy I had left if long before that.
When we started building courses for Paperless Humans, the cracks widened. I used Noteful to create courses for Noteful itself, GoodNotes 6, LiquidText, and Notability 14. But tracking episodes became a nightmare. Handwriting was great for brainstorming, but terrible for managing projects. Imagine trying to track dozens of episodes across multiple courses in a digital notebook. It was exhausting, and certainly not sustainable.
Mixing handwritten and text notes
That’s when I moved everything to Apple Notes. I was already writing my scripts in the app, so it felt like a relief. I could still handwrite, but now my brainstorming and scripts lived in one place. No more bouncing between rough notes in Noteful and polished scripts in Apple Notes.
This was the birth of the CEAR productivity method — though I didn’t know it at the time. CEAR stands for Capture, Expand, Act, Rest. Apple Notes gave me the first taste of capturing and expanding ideas in a sinlge app. I absolutely loved it!
Collaboration was another win. I could share scripts with the team, brainstorm together, and keep everything aligned. But Apple Notes wasn’t perfect. I still needed a way to track episodes as tasks. That’s where Apple Reminders became a part of the workflow.
Linking Notes and Reminders was clumsy, when I first started using this system. I wanted tasks tied directly to scripts, but the integration was tedious. I even tried to create a shortcut for the workflow with AI, and failed dismally. iPadOS 18 improved things slightly, but by the time that came through, I was too drained to appreciate it. The friction was real.
The move to Agenda
After finishing the MarginNote 4 courses for the iPad and Mac, I was tired of the Apple Notes and Reminders combo. I looked into Craft, but it felt like a prettier version of Apple Notes — not a solution.
Then I remembered Agenda. At first, it felt promising. Agenda integrated with Reminders, added colour to my workflow, and gave me a fresh interface. I even tried their latest features, but quickly realised they weren’t necessary for my workflow.
Organisation was the deal‑breaker. Agenda’s project setup meant everything about an app lived in one endlessly expanding notebook. That structure didn’t fit how I worked. Worse, only reminders with dates showed up. I rarely add dates because I already know my deadlines. Forcing dates on every episode was repetitive, added no value, and ultimately destroyed the flow. Within a month, I abandoned Agenda.
I tried even more apps
By now, I knew exactly what I needed: a to‑do notes app. Not just notes with optional tasks, but tasks that carried detailed notes. Collaboration had to be seamless.
I explored UpNote — beautiful, but its to‑dos felt secondary. Without collaboration, it would kill our team’s workflow. I tried Supernotes, but the account setup was a deal‑breaker. I was already tired and wanted something simple to get started with. At least have an option to sign in with Apple or Google. Not where I have to start filling forms and creating usernames. Uncle Dan was patient enough to sign up, though, so I peeked at his account. But I couldn’t really put my finger on it, it was just not my cup of tea I suppose.
Superlist: my final destination
Then came to Superlist. At first, I hated it — for justified reasons. But once I gave it a real chance, and mastered its flaws, everything changed. Superlist became the app where every episode and idea is both a task and notes.
This was the breakthrough. I dropped Apple Reminders entirely. In Superlist, I can track apps we’re covering, assign priorities, measure progress, and break projects into smaller subtasks. Collaboration is smooth, and the system scales with us.
Most importantly, Superlist gave us the foundation to design our very own productivity system: the CEAR Method. It’s basically a productivity loop that takes you through 4 stages of work in each cycle: Capture, Expand, Act, and Rest. We completed a mini‑series on the CEAR method. But after trying other systems GTD, PARA, time blocking, and not really sticking with them, the CEAR Method has dramatically improved how we work — individually for everyone on the team, and as a team as well.
Real‑world example: CEAR in action
Let me show you how CEAR works in practice. Right now, we’re working on the Goodnotes 7 course. We can easily track the episodes we’ve covered, those we’re still to cover. Add details that matter like why we haven’t done the episode on GIFs.
Conclusion
Superlist isn’t a perfect app. But that’s the beauty with the CEAR Method, it doesn’t need a perfect app, just one you prefer working in. It’s not about chasing perfection — it’s about finding a system that supports a simple, minimalist yet powerful productivity cycle to help you achieve your goals.
If you’re still searching for your preferred app, don’t worry. That’s what our team is here for. We’re are always trying different apps, and systems to help you find peace in a digital world that’s full of so much noise.
I’d love to hear your journey. Which apps have you tried? What stuck, and what didn’t? Share your story in the comments. And if you want to learn the CEAR Method step‑by‑step, check out our full course on Paperless Humans. It’s the only productivity system you need if you value simplicity and progress.