Three Months After Starting note: To Those Starting Now

It has been three months since I started note. Looking back on this time, I would like to write a message for those who are about to start using note.

Third Month Dashboard Reveal

First, here is the dashboard after three months. Since I had 2,155 views and 531 likes after the first month, I feel that people have continued to visit at about the same pace over the following two months. Thank you very much.

Reflection 1: Article Trends

Recently, I have been writing more experimental articles, such as being moved by the ability to watch sessions of famous past counselors like Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis on video, or exploring what happens when you combine AI with psychological techniques. At the same time, I have continued to write articles about self-understanding (values and emotions) and habit formation.

Looking at the access by article over the past month, I think articles with the names of AI or famous people in the title are more likely to catch people's eyes.

Reflection 2: Unifying Thumbnails

Until very recently, I made thumbnails using Canva or by creating simple text-only images in PowerPoint, and especially my early articles had no sense of unity at all.

Honestly, since past articles don't get that many views, I could have left them alone, but now that the number of articles has exceeded 70, I found myself in a situation where I didn't know when or in what genre I had written what. So, I decided to take the plunge and unify the color-coding of thumbnails by genre.

This task was harder than I expected and I almost gave up, but since it was something I really wanted to do to keep going in the future, I managed to see it through.

Reflection 3: Changing the Site Map Concept

When I first created the site map, I made it a 'site map where you can see the number of views and likes for each article' and updated the numbers periodically. However, once the number of articles exceeded 50, that task became physically difficult.

To ensure sustainability, I changed the site map to a list of links to each article along with a one-sentence summary. By doing this, it becomes easier for me to think about what to write next while looking at past content, and I thought it would also ensure convenience for those who visit.

To Those Starting note from Now On

Based on my reflections so far, I have thought of a message for those who are about to start note.

What category of articles will you write?

I think it's fine to decide tentatively, as categories may increase or decrease along the way, but it would be good to have a list of what kind of articles you want to write. Even if it's just in your head, if categories and articles are linked, it will be a great help when you eventually need to organize them.

How will you create your thumbnails?

Regarding thumbnails, there are various tools like Canva or PowerPoint. You might want to try out different tools for the first few times, and then decide on a certain policy regarding tools and design once you have written about 10 articles.

As you continue creating note and reach 30, 50, or more articles, some people may enjoy having a variety of thumbnails lined up, while others may find it more comfortable to have thumbnails that follow a certain rule.

If you decide on a direction early on, I think seeing your thumbnails lined up as your articles accumulate will boost your creative motivation.

What do you want from a site map?

I started making one myself with the casual thought that 'a site map with view and like counts would be interesting,' but I later gave up because of how hard it was to maintain... so I think a site map depends not only on the readers, but also on what you yourself are looking for.

Since a site map will be the article you update most frequently, I think it's best if it's something that is easy for you, the creator, to use and edit.

Summary

I thought that right after starting note, you might not be able to think about the long-term maintenance involved (like I did), so I wrote this reflection from that perspective.

Also, I am running a microblog on X with content different from my note, so please take a look if you'd like.

Get one 💡 a day (@robin_rikei) / X