org-mode is really useful, and you can start with a subset. I usually use - headline hierarchies (lines starting with stars) - itemized lists (starting with a

org-mode is really useful, and you can start with a subset. I usually use - headline hierarchies (lines starting with stars) - itemized lists (starting with a dash) or with checkboxes (starting with '- [ ]') - checkbox counters in headlines ('[/]' will be updated to show the percentage of complete checkbox items below that headline). The DWIM keys C-c C-c, TAB and M-Return usually do the right thing.