Markdown notes are one of the simplest ways you can take your lists, data, and thoughts digital. It is an efficient system where plaintext formatting alone differentiates headings from list items, notes, and footnotes. However, at scale, markdown notes can quickly turn chaotic. If you’re noting down the observations from experimental research, or improving something using iterative data collection, markdown is great for the hurried notes you take without losing focus, but they usually take hours of toil and editing before they’re presentable as a research paper.