The Case for Using a Paper Planner

Posted by Dr Andus
Mar 30, 2019 at 03:41 PM

thouqht wrote:
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to plan digitally and reflect
>analog.

I agree that there is something about the digital vs. analog difference, and it may also have something to do with the typing vs. handwriting distinction, and the difference in the size of the medium (doing brainstorming on an A3 size paper or a scroll of wrapping paper vs. a digital space where your view is limited to the frame of the screen, despite the fact of the digital space being unlimited or zoomable), and the ability to focus (no distractions with paper, while easy to be distracted within the digital space), but I haven’t quite been able to figure out a pattern.

One thing I did notice though that it helps to switch from one medium to the other if one gets stuck. So it may be more about just switching frames than the inherent qualities of the medium.

Having said that, all my recent attempts to go back to analog largely failed, as the messiness that results from reordering things on paper and the inability to easily access past notes from multiple locations forces me to go back to digital every time.

Investing in a stylus-enabled Chromebook also didn’t turn out to be a panacea, as when the going gets tough I forget that option is even there.

But I do have a nagging feeling that allowing myself to be pressured to adopt the speed dictated by modern work (the need to solve problems by email and construct digital artefacts on the fly) I am missing something, and that reverting to pen and paper and slowing things down would lead to higher quality, more valuable and meaningful outcomes.

Maybe some of it is just nostalgia. (Coming across the Day Timer system was a revelation and I did enjoy using it before digital devices became portable.)

There are only two things I use paper notebooks for these days: to take notes in meetings (because it’s still quicker), and to write my mediation journal at the end of the day (where I don’t want to be distracted by a device again).

The American Psycho scene is brilliant and hillarious! Didn’t remember it at all…