I feel personally attacked by this comment. I've tried to used every single type of note taking software (even the second brain types) and I've failed because I always forget to use it.

I had the same issue for years, and silly little thing that has helped me a lot is that I put a reminder in my calendar that simply says "Just because you stopped using a system, doesn't mean the system is bad". That's enough to prompt me to 'get back on the horse' when I fall off versus spending a week looking for a better horse.

On balance, this shift in my attitude means I definitely use more simple organizational tools more often than I did in the past, and that has certainly helped my productivity.

I have a dozen draft emails in Markdown format:

  * Christmas / birthday ideas
  * House TODO
  * Project ideas
  * Car maintenance

&c

I'm always writing emails, and I notice that I've got things in my drafts folder, so it reminds me to keep it updated.

Hard same.

Not to mention how onerous it is to remember to keep the list up to date consistently, it sucks.

This sounds like me, but i just keep putting it down to my poor time keeping skills.