201–210 of 297 posts
Optimize for things like understanding, structuring, throughput, tool assisted recall, efficiency...
I embrace "prosthetic knowledge" and think it does me a lot of good.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I came to the same conclusion, however, here’s how I handle that: I carry around a folder with just a bunch of printer paper, and some index cards in it. I write my todo lists on an index card because it’s intentionally small so I can’t overload it, and it feels good to cross out the last thing and just throw it away. I take notes through the day on the printer paper, and then I review them frequently and type up wha…
Have you considered buying loose leaf notebook paper instead of printer paper? You get lines and I’d imagine it’s even cheaper.
Why optimize for retention if that's the exact burden notes can take off you? Optimize for things like understanding, structuring, throughput, tool assisted recall, efficiency... I embrace "prosthetic knowledge" and think it does me a lot of good.
Layout and sketching is obvious why. For math it's the bit of extra "ram" you gain from effortlessly jotting something down and building visual helpers.
I made the observation that hand-writing extremely helps me to solve problems (especially programming and math related). In some way it removes mental barriers / distractions I have when using digital tools (how do i want to organise this? can i link something here?). I can just dump every thought on paper and work way more creatively. In most cases the notes are dumped in the bin afterwards (one couln't uderstand th…
Coding on a screen is different. The code is highlighted, annotated and executed and the screen is part of the tool.
With writing, it’s just me and the notepad. Is it different, I wonder, and also would I code better (or just differently) if I wrote on a tablet with an electronic pen?
With ADHD as well, I’d rewrite what I was reading sometimes to make sure I was absorbing it (Did this for much of my Math Analysis classes especially)
I lost it at some point. I’ve been wanting to get back to writing more, maybe with the Remarkable or something. My writing was always terrible but it’s been especially terrible not exercising regularly.
I have one giant markdown file I use for my notes today, which is more convenient than a notebook overall.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you considered buying loose leaf notebook paper instead of printer paper? You get lines and I’d imagine it’s even cheaper.
Indeed. It’s pretty hard to be $.25 store brand spiral notepads for cost per page.
I'd be curious if anyone had good advice on how to improve your handwriting ability well into adulthood (I'm 35). My penmanship was so bad in grade school that I attended special education classes to improve it, but it still was and remains horrible. This is a source of insecurity for me and since I've always been glued to a keyboard it has been easy to handwave away as "screw this, the world is all typing-based anyh…
FOr me, if I write it down I will remember it and do not need to refer to my notes. But if I don't write it down I am likely to forget. So I did some testing and found that it isn't only the act of writing that helps me, it is quickly looking at what I have written. I think, for me, writing in my own words, and then reinforcing by going over what I have written, is the secret to remembering things. As far as handwrit…
If you're in charge of other people, it's worth noting that some very common cognitive problems like ADHD, Dysgraphia, and Dyslexia negate these benefits in some affected people. The cognitive load of making legible marks can become high enough to become the focus, rather than the actual content. Pressuring someone already struggling with working memory to do things like this, is counterproductive, if not demoralizin…
I don't think you can lump those 3 together like that, though you did qualify it. I don't know anything about dysgraphia, but dyslexia is probably the standout thing in that list that make writing very stressful. With ADHD, I've always struggled with consistency and memory, and what's been helping for a few months is to start my day by writing it out in detail, so I'm forced to work out the kinks.