You do not need Notion. You do not need Trello. You do not need a project management tool with kanban boards and custom fields and a 20-minute setup tutorial. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you already have everything you need to plan your online course. It's called Apple Notes, and it works.
Why Apple Notes for This
Here's the thing about course planning: the hard part isn't the tool. The hard part is sitting down and deciding what to teach, in what order, to whom. A complex tool doesn't make those decisions easier — it just gives you more settings to fiddle with while you avoid making them.
Apple Notes has almost no settings. You open it, you type, you're done. It syncs across your phone, tablet, and laptop automatically. There's no account to create, no workspace to configure, no template gallery to browse for 30 minutes. That lack of friction is the entire point.
And Apple Notes is more capable than people give it credit for. You can create folders and subfolders, use headings and bold text, add checklists, embed photos and sketches, pin important notes to the top, and scan documents with your phone camera. For planning a course? That's plenty.
Step-by-Step: Planning Your Course in Apple Notes
Step 1: Create a Folder for Your Course
Open Apple Notes and create a new folder. Name it after your course — not "Course Stuff" or "Ideas," but something specific like "Beginner Yoga Teacher Training" or "Watercolor Fundamentals." A clear name keeps you focused and makes the folder easy to find when you're on your phone at the grocery store and an idea hits.
Step 2: Create a Master Outline Note
Inside your folder, create a note called "Course Outline." This is your bird's-eye view — the one note that shows the full shape of your course. List your modules as headings, and under each heading, jot down the lessons you're considering. Don't worry about perfection. You're sketching, not engraving.
A rough start might look like this: four to six module headings, each with three to five bullet points underneath. If you end up with ten modules, you're probably trying to teach too much in one course. If you only have two, you might be thinking too narrowly.
Step 3: Create a Separate Note for Each Module
Once your outline starts to take shape, create a separate note for each module. Title it "Module 1 — [Topic]" so they sort clearly in the folder view. Inside each module note, list the lessons with a brief description of what you'll cover and what the student should be able to do afterward.
This is where your thinking deepens. You'll start noticing gaps — "Wait, I'm assuming they already know how to hold a brush" — and you can add lessons to fill them. You'll also spot redundancies, where two modules cover the same ground. Better to catch that now than after you've recorded the videos.
Step 4: Use Checklists for Production Tasks
At the bottom of each module note, add a checklist for the tasks you need to complete: write the lesson script, record the video, create the worksheet, upload to your course platform. Tap the checklist icon in Apple Notes to create tappable checkboxes. As you finish each task, check it off.
This turns your planning document into a lightweight production tracker without any extra tools. You can glance at your module notes and immediately see what's done and what's still waiting.
Step 5: Add Photos and Sketches for Visual Planning
If you're a visual thinker, use Apple Notes' drawing and photo features. Sketch a rough flow diagram on your iPad showing how modules connect. Snap a photo of a whiteboard brainstorm and drop it into a note. Take a picture of a book page that inspired a lesson idea.
These visual artifacts help you remember why you made certain decisions. Three weeks from now, when you're deep in production and can't recall your original vision, a quick sketch in your planning note brings it back.
Step 6: Pin Your Master Outline
Swipe right on your "Course Outline" note and tap the pin icon. Pinned notes stay at the top of the folder no matter how many module notes you add below them. Your master outline should always be one tap away — it's your compass while you build out the details.
Step 7: Capture Ideas Anywhere with Quick Notes
On iPad, swipe up from the bottom-right corner to open a Quick Note. On Mac, move your cursor to the bottom-right hot corner. On iPhone, add the Quick Note option to your Control Center. Wherever you are — walking, commuting, cooking — when a lesson idea surfaces, capture it in seconds.
Later, move those Quick Notes into your course folder and slot the ideas into the right module. Some of the best course content comes from these in-between moments, not from scheduled planning sessions.
Course Creator Tips
Write the Student Promise First
Before you start listing modules and lessons, write one sentence at the top of your outline note: "By the end of this course, you will be able to ___." Everything you add to the outline should serve that promise. If a lesson doesn't connect back to it, move it to a "Maybe Later" note.
Use Hashtags for Status Tracking
Apple Notes supports hashtags in the Tag Browser. Add simple tags to the top of each module note — #drafted, #needs-video, #done — and you can filter by tag across your entire course folder. It's not a full project management system, but it gives you a quick overview of where things stand.
Keep a "Parking Lot" Note
Create a note called "Parking Lot" for ideas that don't fit your outline yet. Maybe they belong in a future course. Maybe they're bonus material. Maybe they'll make it into the main course later. Having a designated spot for homeless ideas keeps them from cluttering your module notes.
Limitations (And When to Use Something Else)
Apple Notes is genuinely good for solo course planning. But it has real constraints worth knowing about upfront.
No collaboration. You can share individual notes, but there's no workspace concept. If you're building a course with a co-creator, you'll want Google Docs or Notion where you can both edit and comment in real time.
No database views. You can't create a table of all your lessons with columns for status, content type, and estimated length. If your course has more than 30 lessons, tracking everything across individual notes gets unwieldy.
Apple ecosystem only. If you work across Mac and Windows, or need to hand off planning materials to someone on Android, Apple Notes won't follow you. Google Docs or a plain text tool is more portable.
No automation. There are no reminders tied to checklists, no recurring tasks, no progress dashboards. You're managing your own momentum.
For a solo course creator planning a course with four to eight modules? None of these limitations matter. You'll have your outline done before you'd finish setting up a Notion workspace.
Related Guides
- How to Outline Your Online Course Using Google Docs — another zero-setup option with collaboration features
- How to Outline Your Online Course Using Notion — when you need database views and more structure
- Create Your First Online Course — a complete walkthrough from idea to launch
- How to Outline Your Course Using Workflowy — another minimal tool built around nested bullets
From Notes to Live Course
The best planning tool is the one you'll actually open. If Apple Notes gets you from "I should make a course" to "Here's my outline" in an afternoon, it did its job.
When your outline is ready and you want to start building the real thing, Ruzuku lets you create your modules and lessons in the same structure you planned. Upload your content, add discussions and activities, and open enrollment — no transaction fees, no complicated setup.