Remote notes into your PIM?

Posted by jamesofford
Dec 21, 2007 at 09:41 PM

I use a combination of digital and analog techniques.

I have been carrying, and using a notebook for years. Actually, two notebooks. At any given time I have a work notebook, and a “real-life” notebook. I also work in a lab, and have a lab notebook, but that is a different beast.
At work I carry my notebook with me pretty much everywhere. It goes to meetings, it goes to coffee breaks, about the only places it doesn’t go is the restroom, and lunch. I have gotten into the habit of writing down everything. And if if is something that it is project related, I use the notebook to record the input of the other people involved. Then, as a way of recording the outcome, I email everyone who was involved with what we agreed on. This gets done in a combination where I write out the discussion points in Onenote, and then email in Outlook. If I need to get formal agreement, then I store those emails in Onenote as well. I have tried using Onenote to take notes in meetings, and while I can type faster than I can write, I need to pay more attention when I type so it is harder to be a participant in the meeting.

My “real-life” notebook doesn’t get quite as exhaustive a treatment. For instance, I seldom enter my notes into any electronic form. I just go back and look in my notebook when I need to find something.

For some things in “real-life” I do have electronic entries. Not specifically of my notes, but if I need to look something up, then the looking up generally gets done electronically, and the results stored in Devonthink Pro.

My old boss once complained that my approach to writing papers was inefficient in that I write things longhand, and then type them up. For my work writing I usually do the initial draft in Microsoft Word, and then continue and do revisions there. For anything outside of work, it gets written in the notebook, and then transcribed if necessary.

The reason for all of this back and forthing from analog to digital and back is that I love using fountain pens. My handwriting sucks, but I love the way they feel on the page. And I find the idea of using a ballpoint pen to be abhorrent. I can’t imagine using one of these digital pens, so I will probably keep my old habits.