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Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
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Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#2I use a paper notebook for rough notes. My use is for recording exploratory thinking while solving (coding) problems and early thoughts of tasks to do that I might refine and document in a digital tool such as Notion etc.
I could just as easily use a markdown file or similar for it, but I find writing quick and fairly effortless and I really enjoy using a nice combination of fountain pen and quality pad. It can also be nice to have something I can look at from time to time that isn't emitting light and causing eye strain.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#3Yep. I use a dedicated paper notebook for journaling. Once or twice a month I spend like 30 minutes or an hour writing down what’s been going on, what’s on my mind, what I’m working towards. Usually I do this while watching some low effort tv show.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#4My utility gained from note taking skyrocketed once I stopped buying fancy notebooks and obsess over pens and penmanship. Instead, scrawling almost illegible doodles on a cheap scratch pad seemed to help me retain information almost to the point of not needing the notes.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#5I carry a small 'rite in the rain' notepad and a collapsable (Lamy Pico) pen in my back pocket at all times. The paper can get wet without problem which makes it durable enough to carry everywhere without worrying about the conditions when I need to add a thought. It is my most reliable thought storage mechanism.
It's taken me years to settle on this system as an optimal ADHD memory prosthetic.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#6Always a Moleskine in my bag, carries my to-do list, but mainly to note down ideas and the-strange-things-people-say-in-the-pub. Each lasts 4-5 years.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#7I can barely work and write code without a pen & notebook. It's like a natural extension of a thought process: I draw quick diagrams and take notes to see how ideas are connected, and only then I can start implementing these ideas in code.
I tried taking similar notes in a text file/org-mode, but it didn't work for me because it's not free-flowing and not expressive enough. Probably, an iPad or a tablet with a stylus pen would work just as well, but paper is still easier and cheaper. :)
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#8[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#9I use a paper notebook for rough notes. My use is for recording exploratory thinking while solving (coding) problems and early thoughts of tasks to do that I might refine and document in a digital tool such as Notion etc. I could just as easily use a markdown file or similar for it, but I find writing quick and fairly effortless and I really enjoy using a nice combination of fountain pen and quality pad. It can also…
FWIW I do also have an iPad Pro + Pencil, and that was sensational for note taking during lectures etc. while studying (GoodNotes made all my scrawled handwriting indexed and searchable by text) and it remains great for drawing diagrams with neat shapes and various colours.
Re: Ask HN: Do you use dedicated paper notebooks? For what purpose?
#10The immediacy of putting pencil to graph paper is unparalleled. I simply lack the desk space currently ;)
I get inspired by Pac-Man designer Toru Iwatani's early sketches for the game. Every pixel block, every animation frame, was pre-visualized on paper before being input into the machine in 6502 Assembly Code!