How to Organise Your Notes in Tunnel Without Losing Your Mind

Tunnel's notes aren't a replacement for Notion or Obsidian. They're for the stuff you need at a glance during a study session. Here's how to use them well.

By Tunnel Community team · Reviewed 17 September 2026

Tunnel notes are deliberately lightweight. They're not a full PKM system, they're the notebook you keep open while studying.

Link notes to subjects

Every note can be attached to a subject. When you're in a study session, you can filter notes by subject instantly. This is the most underused feature. If your notes aren't tagged, they're just a pile.

Pin the important ones

Pinned notes appear at the top. Use pins for: formula sheets, essay structures, chapter summaries, or anything you reference repeatedly. Unpin when the exam's done.

External note links

Already living in Notion, Google Docs, or OneNote? Good. Keep using them. Tunnel lets you save external note links, paste a URL and label it. It shows up in your notes list like a native note, but opens the external app when you tap it.

This means Tunnel can be your study dashboard without forcing you to migrate your existing system.

The search

Notes have a search bar. Use it. If you're keeping notes consistently, search becomes the primary way to find anything after a few weeks.

What not to put in Tunnel notes

Long-form writing. Lecture transcripts. Anything that needs headings, tables, or embeds. Use your dedicated app for that, and link it from Tunnel.

Keep Tunnel notes short and scannable: key points, definitions, reminders to self. The format constraint is a feature.

A small note structure to start with

• Title the note with the concept or question, not the lesson date alone.
• Put the one-sentence explanation at the top.
• Add the formula, definition or link you expect to need again.
• Finish with one unresolved question so the next study session has a starting point.

For example, a note called ‘Quadratic turning points’ is easier to find than ‘Week 4 maths’. The body can hold the completed-square form, a worked example and a link to longer class notes. That keeps Tunnel useful as an index without pretending to replace a full notebook.

Review the system, not every note

Once a week, unpin material that is no longer urgent, repair unclear titles and remove dead external links. A five-minute cleanup prevents search results from becoming a second inbox.