First of notes put away in good order (4)
I believe the answer is:
neat
'good order' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'first of notes put away' is the wordplay.
'first of' says to take the initial letters.
'put away' becomes 'eat' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'notes' is 'n'.
'n'+'eat'='NEAT'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for neat that I've seen before include "Alcoholic drink without a mixer" , "Shipshape" , "Straight - cool!" , "Cool - without a mixer" , "Trim - undiluted" .)