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Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

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Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#81

Post by kstrauser »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #77
kstrauser wrote: post #75

I keep thinking I’ll like paper, but I just don’t. A few years ago I started keeping a daily journal: not so much a diary with today I feel… but a record like changed the van’s oil. Drove the kid to camp. Called Mom. . [0] I was using Drafts on my iPhone as a kind of bullet journal, with an action group I wrote. [1] After a year of this, articles like this one convinced me to switch to a paper journal and to get a ni…

The only advantage of paper notebooks I've seen so far is that in certain specific corporate settings, you'll be seen as more professional/serious/"executive". Otherwise, for me , if you want to do art , then sure, paper like any medium is a valid matter of stylistic choice. And I fully understand the tactile and visual pleasure of choosing and touching and interacting with a finely crafted physical product. But if y…

Which setting did you have in mind? I’ve brought my iPad with keyboard case to C-suite meetings and felt good about it, but I’m imagining a TV-style board meeting with no electronics to be seen.

You summed up my own relationship with paper very well. I don't begrudge people who use it as their primary system, but all the advantages you describe (plus the fact that I can type for infinity while my hand cramps up after a page of writing) make digital the clear winner.

I still write paper letters to my mom, but typically by printing them from text and including a picture of the grandkids.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#82

Post by xena »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #39
cpach wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Hence the comment about the life cycle assessment.

If we use retail price as a proxy for resource use, how many pages of medium quality notebook could you buy for the price of a Remarkable table.

I got about 2 years of notebooks, pencils and erasers for about $50 CAD; so it's got a long way to go lol.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#83

Post by kstrauser »

throwanem wrote: post #80
kstrauser wrote: post #75

I keep thinking I’ll like paper, but I just don’t. A few years ago I started keeping a daily journal: not so much a diary with today I feel… but a record like changed the van’s oil. Drove the kid to camp. Called Mom. . [0] I was using Drafts on my iPhone as a kind of bullet journal, with an action group I wrote. [1] After a year of this, articles like this one convinced me to switch to a paper journal and to get a ni…

I can and happily will second the A5 Rhodia Webnotebook recommendation. They're small enough for convenience, big enough for depth, sturdy enough to stand up to prolonged and heavy use, and full of beautiful Clairefontaine paper on which it's a positive pleasure to write. I've been using them for my diary for years now, and expect to go on doing so as long as I can still get them. (Fwiw, I like a Decimo better than a…

Ooh, that’s a beautiful pen! The pocket clip seems like it’d serve the same purpose as the triangular grip on the Safari: “however you want to hold me, this is how you’re going to.” The Safari is the first pen that ever coerced me into holding it the “right” way (instead of my natural “lateral tripod” grip; see https://www.scoopwhoop.com/pencil-grip-names/) and I love it for that. Also, I’d be bummed if I lost my Safari, but seriously upset if I lost a Decimo.

But the Webnotebook is seriously wonderful with a nice pen and ink. It’s the perfectly level of minimal roughness that grabs ink while still feeling utterly smooth.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#84

Post by beckingz »

kstrauser wrote: post #81
NikolaNovak wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only advantage of paper notebooks I've seen so far is that in certain specific corporate settings, you'll be seen as more professional/serious/"executive". Otherwise, for me , if you want to do art , then sure, paper like any medium is a valid matter of stylistic choice. And I fully understand the tactile and visual pleasure of choosing and touching and interacting with a finely crafted physical product. But if y…

Which setting did you have in mind? I’ve brought my iPad with keyboard case to C-suite meetings and felt good about it, but I’m imagining a TV-style board meeting with no electronics to be seen. You summed up my own relationship with paper very well. I don't begrudge people who use it as their primary system, but all the advantages you describe (plus the fact that I can type for infinity while my hand cramps up after…

On digital devices it's not clear if you're taking notes or writing an unrelated email.

Paper notebooks can't send email, so if a person sees you interacting with it they'll think you're taking notes, which means you're taking them seriously.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#85

Post by kstrauser »

lovecg wrote: post #67
nunodonato wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Onyx boox allows split screen

Onyx Boox is a GPL offender though with some other sketchy call-home activity going on. This is a dealbreaker for me. https://www.reddit.com/r/Onyx_Boox/comments/hsn7kx/onyx_usin...

Eww, I hadn’t seen that. That’s a hard no for me, too.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#86

Post by egypturnash »

I think that ultimately any paper task tracking method that cannot be summarized within one or two pages of text is turning into that thing you do to procrastinate on actually doing shit, instead of a useful tool to help you decide what you want to do. Once you pass the preamble of "other ways I used to track tasks and why they don't work for me", this method passes that test. :)

Her method looks a lot like the old Bullet Journal method from before it turned into a major part of its creator's business affairs and became the sprawling ecosystem of rules and templates and books and discounts on paper/pens and Instgram influencers sharing the layouts they spent several hours on painting that is "BuJo".

Personally I prefer my variant of the Pomodoro Method from before it underwent a similar transformation; breaking one to-do up by the number of half-hour time units I expect it to take works well for me. Whatever works though. A nice notebook and pen work for me, too. Especially since I persuaded a few who had been bemoaning the excessive sizes of their fountain pen collections to send me some very nice perfectly-functional-but-unloved pens.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#87

Post by beckingz »

raju wrote: post #52

Brilliant post! This system reminds me of Bullet Journaling ( https://bulletjournal.com/ ), which I have used on and off for a long time now. Folks who have adopted Bullet Journaling have come up with some very interesting symbols to capture parts of the day (some which I have found more useful than others). I do find that any paper-based system breaks down for things that are recurring, and I have to resign and use…

Long term tasks and reminders need to be extracted from the scrawl/sprawl of day to day notes!

Your process of transcribing notes into markdown is good. I prefer to think of it as extracting and summarizing, but full transcription can work well.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#88

Post by kstrauser »

beckingz wrote: post #84
kstrauser wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which setting did you have in mind? I’ve brought my iPad with keyboard case to C-suite meetings and felt good about it, but I’m imagining a TV-style board meeting with no electronics to be seen. You summed up my own relationship with paper very well. I don't begrudge people who use it as their primary system, but all the advantages you describe (plus the fact that I can type for infinity while my hand cramps up after…

On digital devices it's not clear if you're taking notes or writing an unrelated email. Paper notebooks can't send email, so if a person sees you interacting with it they'll think you're taking notes, which means you're taking them seriously.

Yeah, I could see that. Good point.

I deal with that in other contexts, like Zoom meetings, by narrating what I’m doing:

Coworker: Could you do X for me?

Me: OK. I’m writing a reminder to myself here… type type type

…which seems to get a positive response from people I’m talking to.

Re: Using Paper for Everyday Tasks

#89

Post by ecspike »

egypturnash wrote: post #86

I think that ultimately any paper task tracking method that cannot be summarized within one or two pages of text is turning into that thing you do to procrastinate on actually doing shit, instead of a useful tool to help you decide what you want to do. Once you pass the preamble of "other ways I used to track tasks and why they don't work for me", this method passes that test. :) Her method looks a lot like the old B…

I started using a bullet journal some years back and quickly dropped all the rules and artistic spreads for regular notebooks and most recently a pre-printed planner from Japan.

Just went to the Bullet Journal site, wow, there's an app now? There is so much going on there. It's too much. I'm also team fountain pen.

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