A few years back we were brainstorming with some friends and colleagues about current challenges related to our work routines and how we could fix them — as we often do. We discussed different approaches, from tech-enabled approaches to changing our own habits.

One of the problems that came up and were becoming an ever more pressing issue was the growing number of tools we were using to save and share information in our day-to-day work and then spending way too much time looking for something when we needed it again — whether it’s a new joiner’s info, a code snippet, some product feedback or designs — often enough ending up not finding something at all, having to recreate it from scratch.

We did some research on this and realized that people not only spend valuable time trying to locate something that they know for sure is out there, but they also involve others in the process of looking for something they need, which adds up to more time lost on a team or company level.

This became even more problematic when Covid hit and everyone was forced to work from home in isolation. Losing that sort of contextual knowledge you develop in an office environment topped with the fact that asking a question online is way more time-consuming than shouting around in the office.

Within a few short months, we built a search tool that integrates with various applications and platforms including Slack, Gmail, Drive, and Chrome, and can search simultaneously across the entire history of these platforms including messages, documents, files, and sites across your Chrome browsing history. The experience was insane, it felt literally like magic.

For personal and other reasons, even though we were using the product on a daily basis, we ended up not pursuing the idea further as a venture and shelved it until a few months ago when we decided to pull together a small team and build the whole thing again from scratch.

We learned quite a few things in the interim period that changed our perspective on the problems we were trying to solve:

Firstly, that search, whether through natural language queries or keywords is only one part of the problem. Lots of times we find it more natural to find something through browsing because we need certain clues to start remembering and formulating the search query. One of the strongest clues in this area is people and conversations because we tend to remember who shared something with us, or who did we share something with. (We wrote a separate post about this topic)

Secondly, we also realized that unless you are looking for some knowledge that comes from someone else and is new to you, you most often use the same set of tools, pages, and documents for a project, and perform the same set of tasks, yet you can still spend lots of time looking for these resources, whether it’s at the start of the day or during the day. To put it simply, 90% of the things you search for — and spend lots of time searching for — are things you have recently used or encountered in the past days or weeks. This pattern was most strongly apparent among freelancers, solopreneurs working for several clients on several projects at the same time, switching contexts a myriad times a day. So, besides helping with automatically saving and categorizing everything you and your teammates have seen, said or shared, providing the ability to add your own layer of labels, and notes and manage your content in a consistent manner will save people lots of time in the realm of searching for things.

Thirdly, expanding on what we were already doing we realized we can assist teams with building knowledge by leveraging strategies similar to those successfully used by companies like Amazon to recommend products. By accessing your browsing history, and allowing you to share portions of it with your colleagues or friends, we can surface and resurface information that you or your team have already searched for. This is done both directly and indirectly. It helps us to prioritize search results (indirectly) and enables us to provide you with related content while browsing or searching (directly).

The original problem we set out to solve gradually transformed from a search problem — “A Google for your life”, “a search engine for your team”, “Google for your workplace knowledge” — to a different problem and as one of our co-founders put it, we are building a “SharePoint for the non-Microsoft ecosystem”. So we are pursuing this direction. We have no intention of developing a do-it-all or substitute-it-all kind of productivity app. Rather our focus is on addressing one problem: enhancing access to your team’s resources and knowledge from any device.

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When it comes to remembering information there are several factors that can help or hinder the process. Research suggests that people are more likely to remember clues that are meaningful, relevant, or have emotional significance to them. Here are a few tips that can help you recall information more effectively:

Personal characteristics:

Pay attention to the personal characteristics or traits of the person who shared the information. If they have a distinctive voice or appearance, for example, it may be easier to remember the information they provided.

Emotional significance:

Connect the information to strong emotions or personal experiences. If the information was shared during a particularly memorable or emotional conversation, for instance, it may be more likely to stick in your memory.

Relevance:

Tie the information to your interests, goals, or responsibilities. If the information is related to a topic you are passionate about or frequently engage with, it will be easier to remember.

Familiarity:

Focus on clues that are familiar or commonly used. If the information was shared in a format that you are familiar with, it may be easier to remember.

Association:

Look for clues that are associated with something familiar. If the information was shared by someone whose name is similar to someone you know well it may be easier to recall.

Context:

Place the information in a context that is meaningful and relevant to you. If the information was saved in a specific folder or on a particular device, recalling those details can help trigger your memory.

While everyone’s memory works differently, applying these tips can help you remember important information more effectively. With practice and patience, you can improve your memory and recall more information with ease.

It is an undeniable reality that in our busy lives we have come to rely on technology to save everything from our favorite book and film recommendations to videos we like or tools we want to try. The problem is that remembering what we kept and where it is can be pretty challenging.

The 9 clues

The most common way we recall our saved data is through the people who shared it with us in the first place. We also might remember whether a colleague shared a document on Slack for example, or that a friend sent us a link to an article in an email. The category of the data such as “film” or “shopping” can help us remember, as can the topic it is related to e.g. a project or place, or any part of the message or content we saw; its title but occasionally it’s just random words in the document or the message that come to mind. Additionally, the time the data was shared can be another helpful clue; if we know it was shared two weeks ago, we can narrow things down. The domain, the name of the website or the app, or the format, whether it was a video, photo, a Google sheet might also help us. For example, if we know it was a photo shared on Instagram, we are two clues closer. Finally, we can remember its relationship to us, its status, and its rating. Whether it’s a to-do item or for instance a movie we already watched and rated. Overall, having a few clues or a combination of those clues is often enough to help us remember where we saved the data and how to find it again. In summary, whether it’s people, dates, categories, topics, words, or locations, a few clues can be enough to help us recall things that we saved, making our lives much easier. Despite all of these nine clues, when we can’t recall what we saved, it can be a real struggle to find it again. We may end up spending hours searching through our emails, our saved items, and all of the various places we have stored data.

How do we start?

Usually, we can only recall two or three of these clues e.g. we know we are looking for an article that was shared by our friends, and it was health-related. From there, we may be limited in our search capabilities as we may not remember the precise title, website, or location of the saved information. This can be especially frustrating if we had saved the data for a particular purpose and now can’t recall where it is located. Despite this, having a few basic clues can be the difference between searching for hours and finding the data we need within minutes.

Furthermore, it is remarkable to see how as we begin to think about the data, more and more clues can start to emerge; first, it’s the format, then the who, then the category, and finally the domain. In some cases, the most interesting part is that it can be a different thing each time; sometimes we may clearly remember the title but not the domain, or we may remember the sender but not the title. Therefore, having multiple clues to help us recall saved data is essential to find it quickly and efficiently. Without these clues, we would be hard-pressed to find what we were looking for.

The dynamic nature of recalling information

It is also important to note that what we remember depends on many things and the context we are in. This means that when we are looking for the same thing multiple times a day, our clues might be different each time. It is this ability to adapt our clues and thinking that helps us recall the data we saved and find it again. Overall, having a few clues or a combination of those clues can go a long way in helping us to remember where we saved the data and how to find it again.

The point is, we all have this information in our heads and while some clues are often stronger than others (like who shared something with us), the way we recall things is unique and ever-changing.

So, sometimes the best way to recall what we saved is to search for something because we recall some very specific words or categories, while other times the concept in our minds is so abstract that the only solution is to start browsing as a way to remember. Yet other times it’s a combination of all these methods; we start with a few cues and then browse or search until we can remember the details. In any case, having some clues or a combination of them can make the process of finding our saved data much easier. Moreover, it can help us save time and energy, allowing us to focus on more pressing matters.

Your shortcut to your needle in the haystack

Over the years, we have tried many tools for saving things, however, none of them offered the universal approach that we were looking for. That’s why we built Haystack. Haystack helps you save and then recall things based on all of these 9 clues. If you know the category you can filter, if you know who you can find it quickly, if you know what you can look for it in just a few clicks.

But that’s not all. There are three additional problems that need to be solved: of course, the most important thing is to ensure that we save our data in an organized fashion to avoid the issue in the first place. However, even if we do this, sometimes we just don’t remember what we saved, which leads to frustrating searches. Not to mention, even if we save things in a way that’s organized and makes sense to us, we may still forget that we have saved something in the first place. This can be especially frustrating when we know that the information is probably out there, we just don’t remember where it is. To add to this frustration, it can be difficult to piece together the clues we do have and start the search process.

We can certainly change some of our habits and start saving things consistently, and Haystack has plenty of features to help with this, including auto-categorizing and tagging content. All of this will certainly help to ensure that we are able to find what we need quickly and easily. Additionally, with Haystack, we can create our own personal search engine with saved keywords, and keep track of what we’ve saved in an organized manner. All of these features help us to save our data in an efficient and organized way.

A giant leap forward

But what about the countless times we forget to save something, or don’t have the energy to do so, or just don’t think it’s worth saving, even though we’ll be looking for it perhaps just minutes later?

That’s where the more advanced Haystack features, such as integrations, come in. Haystack not only allows you to save things manually, but it also allows you to connect all the tools you use daily, such as Chrome, Gmail, and Drive. This means that you can save all the information from these tools automatically and access it from one central place. With this feature, you never have to worry about forgetting to save something, or not having the time to do so.

But, most importantly, as frequent users of Haystack, we can tell you that you will gradually develop a sense of peace of mind and the idea that searching for anything related to yourself or the people you are connected to is a possibility.

This feeling of freedom and empowerment comes from being able to access all the information stored in one place, and having the confidence that you can find what you need quickly and easily. This is why we created Haystack, to give everyone a powerful tool to save and recall everything that matters to them. Haystack provides a simple, yet powerful way of saving and recalling all of your important data.

Summary

So, to recap, the 9 clues we use to recall things are, people, the channel it was shared in (e.g. Drive or Gmail), its category (Work, life, entertainment or something more specific like that it’s a Podcast), its topic, its content, when it was shared or saved, the domain of the website or app it was shared in, its format, and its relationship to us (status and rating)

Haystack makes use of all these clues to help you find the information you need. With the range of automated and manual tools that Haystack provides, you can easily save and recall the information that matters most to you. Thanks to these helpful features, we can all now save and find anything we need quickly and easily.

We hope that even if you’re already in the habit of saving everything like many of us at Haystack are, you’ll still give our integration features a try. With Haystack, you will have the confidence that all your important data is easily accessible when you need it. Not only can these features save you even more than an hour a day, they also provide a unique peace of mind.

So, how Haystack uses Haystack? 12 Tips!

1.Desktop app

We use the web app as a desktop app. We barely ever open Haystack as a tab.

Are you new to Haystack? Watch this video on how to get started with the web and desktop app.

2. One team

The entire Haystack team uses just one shared “team”.

3. Team thumbnail

We added a “thumbnail” for our team, to differentiate it from other personal teams we have. Of course, we also add thumbnails for our other personal teams.

4. Team stacks

We use stacks that represent meetings, teams, and projects e.g. “Weekly standup”, “Development”, “Slack integration”, “New joiners” and each team has a daily stack e.g. “Product — daily”

5. People

Everyone saves things in “People” based on the person they received it from in their home e.g. “Sam Fridman”. We find that one of the things we can recall the quickest is who shared it with us.

6. Needles in multiple stacks

Some of our content — we call them needles — is spread out over multiple stacks. For instance, our Lookout studio reports are in both “Marketing”, “Research” and “Product — daily”

7. Categories over stacks

We use categories instead of creating too many stacks.

8. Descriptive names

We try to give long descriptive names to content to help with quick search. We always include the domain, name of the file or link, related labels, and the word Haystack to easily differentiate it from other content in the home feed e.g. “Figma — Haystack, Master, 2023, Design, UX”. Also, check out this post we wrote about how to save things effectively so you can actually recall them.

9. Chrome extension is a must

Everyone has the Chrome extension installed!!!

Watch this video on how to use our Chrome extension.

10. Chrome extension keyboard shortcut

We set the Ctrl/Cmnd+H shortcut to launch the Haystack Chrome extension. It’s just way quicker than clicking on the little extension icon. Here is some help on how to do it

11. Chrome over App

We typically use the Chrome extension for…

1. Quick search, finding something that is either open or we just used it recently.
2. Opening all links from a stack. For instance, we use a stack called “Daily” which we “open” at the start of the day
3. And, saving entire sessions. Note, that we don’t save sessions to our teams

12. App over Chrome

We use the application for…

1. Sorting and categorizing
2. When it feels quicker to find something browsing than searching for it
3. And, sometimes when it just feels more convenient to browse on a larger interface

Hope these tips will save you just as much time as they save for us!

There are several potential problems with using a file structure to organize information:

It can be time-consuming to set up:

Setting up a file structure can take some time and effort, especially if you have a large number of documents or files that you need to organize.

It can be difficult to maintain:

As you add new documents and files, it can be easy to lose track of your file structure and end up with a cluttered or disorganized system.

It may not be flexible:

Depending on how you set up your file structure, it may not be easy to move files or documents between folders if you need to reorganize your information.

It may not be scalable:

As you add more and more documents and files, your file structure may become unwieldy and difficult to manage, especially if you have a lot of nested folders or subfolders.

It may not be the most intuitive way to organize information:

Depending on the nature of the information you are organizing, a hierarchical folder system may not be the most logical or intuitive way to group and categorize your documents and files.

Overall, while a file structure can be a useful way to organize information, it’s important to be mindful of these potential problems and to regularly review and maintain your file structure to ensure that it remains effective and useful.

Effective categorization can help you organize and manage your tasks, projects, and other information more efficiently. Here are a few tips for effectively categorizing things:

Determine the purpose of the categorization:

What do you want to achieve by categorizing things? This will help you determine the most appropriate categories and how to group items within them. Haystack offers people a set of pre-defined categories that have been refined and tested over time.

Choose clear and relevant categories:

Make sure that the categories you choose are relevant to the purpose of the categorization and that they are clear and easy to understand. Avoid using overly broad or vague categories, as this can make it difficult to find what you are looking for.

Use consistent criteria for grouping items:

When assigning items to categories, use consistent criteria to ensure that similar items are grouped together. This might include characteristics such as topic, format, or priority level. Besides offering a set of pre-defined categories we are also actively working on team specific custom categories teams and people can add themselves. In both cases the goal is to work with a consistent set of categories as opposed to tags defined on the fly.

Use a logical structure:

Arrange the categories in a logical way that makes sense for the purpose of the categorization. For example, you might use a hierarchical structure where broader categories are broken down into more specific subcategories.

Keep it simple:

Avoid creating too many categories or subcategories, as this can make it difficult to keep track of everything. Try to strike a balance between having enough categories to be useful, but not so many that it becomes overwhelming.

Review and revise as needed:

Periodically review the categories you have created to ensure that they are still relevant and effective. If you find that some categories are no longer needed or that items are not being grouped correctly, make adjustments as needed.

What are some examples of categories people can most easily recall:

People are more likely to recall categories that are familiar, relevant, and meaningful to them. Here are a few examples of categories that people may be more likely to recall:

Personal categories:

People are more likely to recall categories that relate to their personal experiences and interests. For example, someone might easily recall categories related to their hobbies, such as “vacation destinations,” “books I’ve read,” or “movies I’ve watched.”

Familiar categories:

People are more likely to recall categories that are familiar and commonly used in everyday life. Examples might include “types of fruits,” “colors,” or “shapes.”

Functionally relevant categories:

People are more likely to recall categories that are relevant to their daily tasks or responsibilities. For example, someone who works in a grocery store might easily recall categories related to different types of food products.

Conceptually meaningful categories:

People are more likely to recall categories that have a clear and well-defined meaning or concept associated with them. For example, someone might easily recall categories related to different types of weather or geographical regions.

Emotionally meaningful categories:

People are more likely to recall categories that have an emotional significance or are tied to strong memories or experiences. For example, someone might easily recall categories related to their family or a significant event in their life.

Bookmarking tools

First let’s start with the best bookmarking tools. There are many bookmarking tools available, and the best one for a particular individual will depend on their specific needs and preferences. Some popular bookmarking tools include:

Pocket:

Pocket is a bookmarking tool that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content to view later. It is available as a browser extension or as a standalone app and can be synced across multiple devices.

Delicious:

Delicious is a bookmarking tool that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content. It is available as a browser extension and can be synced across multiple devices.

Instapaper:

Instapaper is a bookmarking tool that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content to read later. It is available as a browser extension, as a standalone app, and as a web-based application and can be synced across multiple devices.

Tab managers

Tab management tools are software programs or browser extensions that help users organize and manage the tabs that are open in their web browser. Some popular tab management tools include:

OneTab:

OneTab is a browser extension that allows users to convert all of their open tabs into a list, which can then be restored later. This can help reduce the strain on a computer’s memory and make it easier to find specific tabs.

The Great Suspender:

The Great Suspender is a browser extension that automatically suspends tabs that have been inactive for a certain period of time. This can help reduce the strain on a computer’s memory and make it easier to find specific tabs.

Tab Wrangler:

Tab Wrangler is a browser extension that automatically closes tabs that have been inactive for a certain period of time. This can help reduce the number of open tabs and make it easier to find specific tabs.

Tab managers and bookmarking in one

Haystack:

Haystack is a search, tab management, bookmarking and productivity tool for individuals, teams and for both personal and professional use. It allows people to search their open tabs, browsing history or thousands of bookmarks all at once. While its tab management features allow people to easily put things aside and come back to them later instead of keeping multiple windows and hundreds of tabs open by saving all open tabs in a session with just one click to lists known as stacks. People can also choose to categorize their tabs manually or just save things and leave it to Haystack AI that will take care of assigning categories and tags to each item for easier discoverability.

Session Buddy:

Session Buddy is a tab management tool that allows users to save, organize, and restore their open tabs. It also includes a bookmarking feature that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content. Session Buddy is available as a browser extension and can be synced across multiple devices.

Toby:

Toby is a tab management tool that allows users to organize their tabs into collections and access them quickly using a keyboard shortcut. It also includes a bookmarking feature that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content. Toby is available as a browser extension and can be synced across multiple devices.

Evernote:

Evernote is a note-taking and organization tool that includes a bookmarking feature. It also has a tab management feature that allows users to save and organize open tabs. Evernote is available as a browser extension, as a standalone app, and as a web-based application and can be synced across multiple devices.

FaveKeep:

FaveKeep is a bookmarking tool that includes a tab management feature that allows users to save and organize open tabs. It is available as a browser extension and can be synced across multiple devices.

Raindrop.io:

Raindrop.io is a bookmarking tool that allows users to save and organize web pages, articles, and other content in a visually appealing way. It also includes a tab management feature that allows users to save and organize open tabs. Raindrop.io is available as a browser extension and can be synced across multiple devices.

There are several strategies that people can use to help themselves remember if they have saved something:

Take notes:

Writing down a brief description of the item that was saved can help people remember that they have saved it and make it easier to find later. Haystack allows you to add notes to your saved tabs specifically for this reason. We know that if you add a few thoughts to something you just saved will help you recall it easier and when you do, Haystack search will instantly find what you are looking for.

Use categories or tags

Assigning categories or tags to the item that was saved can help people remember what it is and make it easier to find later. Haystack has both tags and pre-defined categories. We designed Haystack this way because pre-defined categories can help people recall things by providing a structured and organized way to categorize and store information. When information is organized into categories, it can be easier to remember and retrieve later. For example, if someone has saved a collection of bookmarks and has organized them into categories such as “Cooking,” “Travel,” and “Finance,” they may be able to recall which category a specific bookmark belongs to and therefore be able to find it more easily. Pre-defined categories can also help people remember related items by providing a context for the information. For example, if someone has saved a bookmark about a specific type of recipe in the “Cooking” category, they may be more likely to remember it when they are looking for cooking-related information.

Use a bookmarking tool with a “recently bookmarked” feature:

Some bookmarking tools have a feature that displays a list of the most recently bookmarked items. This can be helpful for finding items that have been saved more recently and are therefore more likely to be remembered. In Haystack this is the “Home” option that contains all your saved fils, links, docs, images, videos, you name it, with the latest on top.

Use a bookmarking tool with a notification feature:

Some bookmarking tools can send notifications to remind users that they have saved an item. This can be helpful for remembering to check saved items later. This is a feature we actively working on at Haystack. For example we have a feature in beta which notifies you about related content when you are browsing a web page, given you have the Haystack Chrome extension installed.

Set a reminder:

Setting a reminder in a calendar or to-do list app can help people remember to check their saved items at a later time. This is another set of features we are working on at the moment. Allowing people to add date and time related information to saved items plus showcasing related content depending on their searching or browsing activity.