I recently watched a TikTok where a girl went through the notes app on her phone and I was shocked at how similar hers looked compared to my own. After scrolling through the comments, I realized that I was not the only female who related. Apparently, many of our notes app’s seem to be very similar in terms of their contents—whether those be meaningful or random. Come with me to explore my own notes and discover whether you have similar things buried in the trenches of your phone.
- Baby Names List
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I was unsurprised to learn how common it is to have a list of baby names handy. Of course, the majority of college students are not intending to have a child anytime soon, but I have been compiling my list since my freshman year of high school. Something is comforting and fun in coming up with creative, beautiful names. I also have an extensive list of possible pet names filed away for safekeeping!
- Paragraphs For Future Messages:
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Most of these lengthy paragraphs were meticulously written; either during an argument or as an apology just to be copied and pasted into Snapchat or iMessage. The time it took to reread and revise was spent in private thought and contemplation, rather than in chat where the recipient receives the “___ is typing” notification. Even worse yet, it deletes the possibility of you accidentally (horrifyingly) hitting send before you’re ready.
- Random Sad Poetry
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This one might be a bit more niche, yet many girls who I have talked to agreed that they have a few bytes of random depressing poetry sprinkled throughout their notes app. These notes, at least in my case, are usually entirely overdramatic considering the fact that I can rarely even remember what I was writing about just a few months later. The incredibly cringe-worthy writing style is enough to make you giggle at yourself and consider deleting the note all together, but then again who has the time or energy to delete anything from their notes? Plus it’s fun, albeit a bit embarrassing, to come back to read them every once in a while.
- Random Rants
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I also have an excessive amount of rants hiding in my phone. These rants, usually done when I’m either really sad or really angry, are full of (once again) over-dramatic rhetoric. It is probably a better idea to rant to your notes app instead of ranting to another person. Especially when I am angry, my notes save a lot of feelings from getting hurt both for me and those around me!
- Travel Bucket List
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On a happier note, I have become aware that many people put their ideal travel destinations from their bucket list into their notes. While some may be mere lists stating the location, others may go in depth into travel plans, bucket list activities, specific resorts, or maybe even listed prices. These notes are perfect to look at or add to when having a rough day to cheer you up and get you looking forward to all of your future adventures!
- Random Thoughts
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If you haven’t picked up on it yet, the main theme of a girl’s notes app is random. It is a conglomeration of thoughts, hopes, wishes, and more often than not, nuisances. Sometimes though, our notes app doesn’t have any deeper, underlying meaning. Sometimes there are just random words and phrases that not even we could tell you what they meant in the moment they were written. For example, when scrolling through my own notes I came across a few empty notes besides the words, “whimsical groundskeeper”, “white smoke”, and my personal favorite “…”.
- Christmas/Birthday Lists
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Last but certainly not least, I’m sure many of you have already started compiling your annual list. Some may put this list in a Google doc, a text message, or a good old sheet of paper. But my friends and I use our notes app. It’s easy and convenient, allowing you to add to your list whenever something new comes to your attention. It’s also easily shared to friends and family through note share, a screen shot, or copy and paste!
Ultimately, the main thing that I learned when writing this article was that my notes app is in desperate need of a deep clean. That being said, it was fun going back and reading what was important (or entertaining) to me all the way back in 2017. In that regard, I consider my notes app to be a type of journal or diary. A collection of my thoughts compiled over a long period of time. And if that is the case, I don’t know if deleting all of the “unnecessary notes” should be encouraged at all.