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I have used all mediums - laptop, wacom tablets, phone, desktop - but I find that when I am creating and thinking, nothing beats paper and pen. Pen allows you to slow your thinking but also speed up if you want to create diagrams, paths and side notes. The feedback of a fountain pen nib as it moves over the paper will never be replicated, and for me it is the best feeling in the world. It quiets and focuses the mind.
I find the same. When I'm creating/writing a new book/story that paper is THE only way that really works. It's easier to flip a page to go back to read something than to flip screens/files, etc.
A little additional color on analog vs. digital in a lecture. In law school, I tried both and strongly preferred taking "full transcript" notes on my laptop. I believe that immediate summarization and reflection on paper is a more meaningful and engaging "live" experience. However, this also makes an assumption that a student's immediate and real-time reflection on the meaning of the professor's words is correct and comprehensive. When I study later, I prefer to have a full transcript of the *professor's* words so that I can reflect more at length and often discover additional concepts and insights that were not immediately apparent in the lecture. If I have limited my notes to my initial understanding, I may be twisting the professor's words to my own biases and cutting off my full (eventual) understanding. But I do love paper notes!
That's wonderful! I keep tiny Japnese accordiion style notebooks when I travel and just make a few sketches and comments with a date. I love going back to these! They are lightweight and small too.
The biggest advantage that a notebook has over digital notes is flipping through it to find stuff. That, more than anything has led me to find interesting possible connections between ideas. Plus, for me, it’s much more intuitive to have my notes on paper as a reference next to my iPad as I write my sermons. As back up, I have started scanning the pages so I have them electronically as well.
Just started a psychology degree and had to write an essay on the difference between active and passive learning, it's true being more engaged helps with memory.
I totally agree with everything you said here. I’ve long since been a user of notebooks. But during my PhD I found the paper demand to be huge. But just writing and reading on my laptop was terrible. A tablet didn’t make it much better. So I was happy when Kindle brought out the Scribe. It’s made a big difference. Now I use my analog notebooks very intentionally to make effective summaries and notes. I read all my academic texts and journal articles on my Kindle but turn to my notebooks for writing. The key really is to find a system that works best for you.
@@VelvetGirl1407 I use my kindle scribe for annotating academic papers because I got sick of printing them out haha it works well enough for that, I still try to get physical books though. I totally agree you gotta find a system that works
I returned to paper a few years ago. For me, smaller notebooks work best for most things. I enjoy using my fountain pens and having a dedicated notebook to a task or thought has been integral to organizing myself. It’s also a gateway to thinking and then thinking more deeply. That never happened in the digital environment. I didn’t always have my laptop or tablet with me. The phone is a rabbit hole of distractions and overstimulation. There is always a notebook with me. Returning to paper and having multiple, dedicated notebooks was one of the best things I’ve done for myself.
I went back to physical notebooks when Goodnotes decided to go forward with a subscription model. I purchased Goodnotes 5 for "lifetime". I was really pissed at that announcement. Also, writing with a fountain pen just feels nice.
Goodnotes 6 can be bought with one-time purchase though. And you are getting some discount if you own 5th version. And 5th version still works. I believe it's the same 'app' technically, but you are locked to 'ui version 5'. New features are only for the new major release though. It's been about 4.5 years between 5th and 6th versions. So overall it's not too bad, I've seen worse (like their's main 'contender')
@ Thanks for your response. I'm aware of everything you wrote. However, I don't trust them anymore and won't give them any more money. As I wrote I purchased the app for „lifetime" and expected all future updates and features, like everybody else did. Goodnotes never clarified that the lifetime access was only for version 5. Also on their website they state that they will stop pushing updates for Goodnotes 5 after „a period of time". I think it's funny how hypocritical they are. They mocked Notability and gave out discounts when Notability added a subscription model and now they are doing the same thing. 😆
@@romanthekat Thanks for your response. I'm aware of everything you wrote. However, I don't trust them anymore and won't give them any more money. As I wrote I purchased the app for „lifetime" and expected all future updates and features, like everybody else did. Goodnotes never clarified that the lifetime access was only for version 5. Also on their website they state that they will stop pushing updates for Goodnotes 5 after „a period of time". I think it's funny how hypocritical they are. They mocked Notability and gave out discounts when Notability added a subscription model and now they are doing the same thing. 🤣
@@romanthekatI was literally just about to say that lol. I still have Goodnotes, even though I love paper, sometimes it just makes more sense to make some notes digitally. When I know that I may need some of the notes when I’m not near my notebooks. Plus it is a space saver and if I want to I can always print my hand written notes from Goodnotes 😊
I did the same thing. F Goodnotes. I still have Goodnotes 5 but knowing that it'll basically be useless in 4 years because it doesn't get updated anymore is annoying.
Seeing as you've been writing outlines of your written works and short stories with notebooks, I've been wondering if you could ever make a video on how to plan or outline stories with the use of notebooks? I'm particularly curious as to how you develop ideas for stories inside a notebook and how you process them into complete works. I've been using a notebook myself, supposedly dedicated for developing written works, but often do I find myself making unfinished and overlapping ideas. Perhaps a video concerning that would be greatly helpful.
I 100% agree with you. But on the other hand, I'm getting more and more into minimalism itself - and I don't like to keep dozens and dozens of notebooks around. Sure, I could discard them when they are full, but then, I lose my journal. I also like to take my notebooks with me. That worked for a while with a Traveler's Notebook setup, but they are plain to quickly full. I write a lot of "stream of consciousness" during the day, I keep written to-do lists and a written planner. That makes already for a rather big setup to carry around. Recently I've switched to an e-ink tablet. It gives me the satisfaction of writing my notes by hand, of using a relatively elaborate planner setup (a year is over 800 pages. And it's still compact and lightweight and reads pretty much like paper. What I'm missing is the aspect of the physical note location and the physical aspect of turning pages, but the rest is pretty much all there. A planner, a journal, to-do lists, specific notebooks for specific topics that get archived when the topic is no longer relevant and so on. With the advantage of not having to refill my fountain pen all the time and replacing notebooks on a very regular schedule. I write about 50 to 60 pages of journal per two weeks. The pages are on a 10.3" e-ink display. I write larger there than in a physical notebook, but it's still around 40 pages of just journal every two weeks. That fills a standard sized traveler's notebook within about four weeks. Not great for economy and for carrying notes around and having them at hand a few months later. So, part of why I switched to a Remarkable 2 is plain practicality. I travel a lot and taking five to six notebooks with me is just not practical. It's fine taking a phone, the Remarkable, and a laptop though. I still carry a Field Notes notebook for the times when I don't carry a backpack, but other than that, everything goes into the Remarkable. Plus I have a backup in case my bag gets stolen (again, it happened before).
Gosh, I have the same problem. I even uploaded my old bullet journals into Goodnotes, but guess what.. I still can’t throw them away!!! I want to keep my notebooks minimal (my house is not big) but I also love paper 😫
I prefer typing my notes over handwriting on paper with a pencil or a pen. I am a software engineer, and most of the stuff I take notes on is related to programming aka code snippets. Digital note taking makes it easier with identation, structuring or in general - the program flow; also digital note taking method allows me to edit, making the note taking process less messy. I can easily copy paste any portion of my notes in a second to any other notes I intend to, without having to rewrite the whole thing, which makes my life so much easier... Digital note taking also allows me to add images/screenshots (not the same as drawing on paper), which means that I can take notes on a deeper scale and enhance my understanding of a particular topic. There are a lot more benefits that I can discuss here, but I think I have clearly shared my pov! (psst - If anyone's wondering what software i use to take my notes - it's LaTeX)
It's really refreshing to hear such things linked to the question of depth and to humanities. Most of the youtubers you find talking about notebooks are productivity gurus and self-help masters (if not hacks or salesmen). I know you gain money from this channel but I really find your content relevant to me because for once someone is not promoting those things in order to become more productive or organized or whatever (as important as these may be). You promote notebooks to develop your thought, its depth and its clarity. You're in that sense still a bit old-fashioned and precapitalist, which I love and respect. Being productive is just a means, the end shouldn't be that but true leisure as the Greeks envisioned it.
@@ParkerNotes My pleasure, I also discovered you grapple, you truly embody the Greek ideals promoted by philosophers of that age haha! As an avid reader and fighting arts practitioner I can only applaud you for this! By the way, another notebook that is very useful and not mentioned here (although you may put it in the thoughts department) is one soldiers use. During my formation as a reservist I actually got shouted at on the first day because I was not using a notebook all the time (I was responsible for my squad that day). The tool becomes necessary for your daily organization, studies and tasks especially as a (sub-)officer. It needs to be waterresistant, durable, light, small and easy to use: no electronic gadget can ever achieve that.
I'm in-between moving from analog to digital and am feeling the pull back to analog. I love the feel of holding and opening a notebook. Writing with a pen or pencil is unmatched against even the Apple Pencil and paper-like screen covers. I told myself I'd try to go a full year with digital-only notebooks, but time will tell. There are so many benefits to it. They're searchable. They're backupable and then printable if I want a physical copy. Reorganizing is so simple and easy. But man, there's nothing like a good notebook.
I’ve begun using the first couple of pages in my notebooks for an index. It only takes a few seconds to add create a one line synopsis of what is on each page. It does help with finding things, but it wont re-shuffle them. 😉
@@lensmith6699 I've done this in the past and I've never been satisfied with it as a way to search for things in my notes. I think Parker mentions toward the end of this video that essentially he doesn't view his notebooks as encyclopedias that he has a desire to sort and search specific bits of information out of. I think if I move back to analog notes that it'll be with this in mind. Also, I read books digitally (I used to use a Kindle). Now, I have my iPad-with an Apple Pencil-which contains my notebooks and my reading books all in one. I used to carry a notebook, a physical book, my computer, and my phone. Now, I have my computer, iPad, and phone, but if I need to leave my computer somewhere for a bit, that's no problem because I have the iPad. Whereas before, I had to take my computer with me as well as the notebook AND my reading book if I were to need it for some reason. It's really attractive having all of that functionality in one place.
I went from paper to ebook tablet. I like writing with pen and the Link function helps me to connect all my notes as a handwritten Zettelkasten system. So it's so easy to browse through and connect concepts.
@skullhunter0x751 I have a boox ultra and a smaller note air 7.8. I don't know if other tablets can also link their notes like in the Boox software. For example I didn't found any app to link like this on iPad.
I tried digital only note taking for about six months. One of the biggest reasons was convenience. I always have my phone. However, I never went back to reread. I find that reviewing and rereading my notes helps me to process my thoughts. Whether academic or personal, the process of reviewing is powerful!
I bought an iPad Air 13 recently and returned it 2 days later. My main use was for Uni, especially math notes and solving math problems. The ability to correct mistakes quickly, moving stuff around with ease and having infinite space for writing is amazing. But, the feeling was off. The biggest negative point for me was the limitation through the display. The display was 13“, which is big, but not nearly as big as a bunch of papers laid out on my desk. It just felt restricting and limiting. Even Split View is nothing compared to all that physical space that paper provides. The second thing was the vibe of studying itself. Theres a huge difference between using pen and paper vs using an iPad. I found the constant light shining into my face (Even on low brightness) from the display, quite annoying, and not nearly as satisfying as looking on paper, especially when using it at night.
Thought provoking videos. I use both digital and paper. Both are good but the day 1 digital journal is exceptional. Thanks for this and look forward to future videos.
I really needed to watch this video. I started my master's degree in Arts recently and I've been facing some issues related to learning new and difficult concepts with only digital note-taking. Only going back to physical notes that I could finally slow down my mind and understand things in a much deeper level. Thank you so much!
I have that "page positional" memory for things I read *and* write. It's definitely not eidetic memory - I don't remember the location *everything* I read & write, but when I think that I might want to remember something specific, I usually remember its location to within 1/4 of the page and left side or right side.
Yes!! Loved your insights on this topic. I've replaced nearly all of my social media time with journaling and commonplacing in analogue notebooks. It feels amazing! There's nothing quite like the tactile sensation of pen on paper.
As a mental health counselor, I've found the compartmentability aspect really useful in the Remarkable. And because it has e-ink, it's not hard on the eyes and I can have books and different notebooks all in one. The organization for my brain helps. Its great for professional use I think. With that said, I do a lot of art and "commonplace" type travelers notebooks and i always go back to it because i can be more creative with it. I can journal and paint and add stuff to it that is not feasible to do with the e-ink notebook tablets. I love both though for different reasons.
Love your videos Parker! Fellow philosophy grad and your work helped me finish my undergrad in a sprint. You talk a lot about 'how' and 'why' to write and learn from what you read, but I would love to listen to you talk about 'what' to read! Same way doom-scrolling on my phone gets me, every time I finish a book it's always "what next?" Cheers!
I used to take my notes for university in a physical notebook, but i then switched to using an ipad, purely because i am very unorganised and the digital medium allows for very easy organization. If you have any tips on how to organise your notes in a physical notebook, im all ears. I really like the feel of pen/pencil on paper, but the convenience of moving around your notes, and using different colors and such on an ipad is also really useful.
65 and just finished my second Masters. ALL of my note taking is longhand, all my papers are written and edited longhand before putting them on computer. All the research papers we were assigned got printed so I could underline, highlight and take notes,,, Kids today have lost touch with the value of the written language.
i have been binge watching your videos to fling myself into a more analog lifestyle, and am loving these new uploads!! keep it up my favorite notebook youtuber
I’ve gone back-and-forth between digital and paper, notetaking and event keeping, and it’s taking me a while to decide what things I like about digital and what things I like about paper. The right combo for me seems to be to keep my master calendar, digital; that way, I can easily move events which happens a lot, I can share it with my husband, and I can access it from different gadgets, meaning I can only take my phone if I want. But everything else I do better with paper notetaking. I’m one of those people, who remembers things better when I write them down and I enjoy the feel of writing. I can also keep variety of things in one place and be able to look over them at the same time, which I can’t very often do with digital products. I got tired of switching back-and-forth between apps.
Heavy digital user swapped back to paper: TLDR: Brain health. Chronic illness brain fog + mom brain = forgetting every damn thing every second of the day. Using my phone and computer seemed to make things WORSE. Greatly reducing use of screens made my mood better, leveled out memory somewhat. I also have less guilt writing in a notebook than I do cramming my facce into my phone or laptop when the kiddo is around (We are trying to demonstrate healthier brain habits).
Paper gang here. As a pastor who also has a tech channel, so much of my life is digital, I love going back to analog to get focused so all sermons and yt vids start out on paper. Great video dude!
I love looking through all my notebooks from 10+ years ago. It made me fall in love with writing. But I had notebooks everywhere. Notebooks from my personal life, work notes and volunteer notes. I kept looking for one. Note taking om my iPad or laptop also didn’t work. I kept being distracted. Then I came across the remarkable. I love that thing. No distractions, all folders and it feels like writing on paper. Biggest downside of remarkable, no pretty notebooks
Started paper then went to digital "Supernote" e-ink then back to paper because I use color to distinguish the different types of entries. I leaned that color was very important for my note taking. But now that reMarkable has started to introduce color e-ink, I will give it another try but holding out for the "Supernote" brand version to come out with their own color e-ink.
Ooh this is really good! I'm still kind of hoping reMarkable will reach out so I can try theirs but I'm really leaning towards a new IPad because I want to use procreate. Probably still wouldn’t use it for notes 😅
I think a key differentiator for me has been the spatial component to paper note taking. Like you, I have done digital and paper for everything from journaling to studying, scheduling appointments and creativity/content creation. There really is an upper hand in working with paper in my experience and the only thing I can conclude is the tangible / spatial component of the process. I have ceased trying to replace paper and pen. To be clear I do still add appointments to a digital calendar as a backup for the reminders but that is only after entering them in my paper planner.
I have used both and always come back to analog as the primary place for storing information. I have had digital notes crash and lose an entry I was working on, the notification distraction that comes with every device, causing you to lose thought, and device size. The bigger the device, the easier to write, but harder to carry regularly. Ie phones v tablets. What works for me is reviewing the info periodically and placing it into a digital commonplace book in my notes app so I can easily search the information later. The review also allows me to further flesh out ideas or discard that not so profound thought I had while out and about.
Nothing beats pen and paper for the love of writing itself - can’t help but to romanticize the whole process. Good fountain pen, Tomoe River Paper, Traveller’s notebook, that’s what I use for my daily journal. The tactility of the experience too, indescribable. BUT, (1) when it comes to notes for deep thinking and for work, digital handwriting has worked better for me. “Objectively” reviewing my notes and thoughts to traceback my thought process, find faults or ingenuity in them, to see what I missed, see where I was mentally 4-5 years back are so much better when i can zip in and out of hundreds of pages with a few taps/clicks. (2) I’m a “nomad”. I move to different countries every 2-3 years or so. Collecting paper notebooks is practically impossible. My daily journals and my sketchbooks are important enough to my identity that I’m willing to compromise on that. But for work and commonplace, planners, morning pages and braindump? If I have separate notebooks for all of that, in 4 years’ time I’ll have to carry an extra luggage just to keep them with me for when I want to review or look back on them. I’ve found a happy medium using an e-ink tablet - I get to keep writing in long hand, doing what you mentioned in the video (processing information instead of copy-pasting by typing), I get to keep a lot of the tactile experience, but in a much more practical, mobile form. Still, pen and paper man. nothing beats it.
I just moved and it hit me like a 2x4 that I have far too too many notebooks. All types and sizes. Every November, I do NaNo (national novel writing month) where you write 50k words in30 days. I often find that I enjoy writing on paper first, then typing (only for word count). I'm not sure exactly why, but there's something about traditional paper that is far more satisfying. I've got computer files, too. I've lost far too much on digital format as tech has changed, a housefire, lost flash drives, etc. I do a mix most of the time, working it out on paper before entering digital (I just recently filled a whole terabyte of data for just creating backup of my written work.) I still keep paper files of everything.
I use notetaking apps not to take notes, but to grow from the notes I have taken. For me they are a project resting place from start to finish. A place where it stops me from starting from scratch. My notebooks are my sandbox for starting an idea, and thinking through it before it becomes a project.
I am in constant battle between the Digital and Analog worlds. I have been journaling on the DayOne App for about two years and love it. it is easy and I can add photos and location and I can do it on my phone, iPad, Laptop etc…. Tons of features, super convenient and the first thing that I turn to in the morning. On the other hand, I have been paper journaling for about seven years. I use a Traveler’s notebook set-up (both the passport and the Regular sizes). Have toyed with Hobinichi and Erin Condren and others… The bottom line is digital is easier, but paper is more fun and meaningful. With a focus on getting off screens more in 2025, I am thinking about going all analog and see what happens..My handwriting is terrible and my hand aches after a few minutes, but the words I write seem to carry more weight when they come from my hand and not the keyboard. So the battle rages on…. But in 2025, I hope to be 100% analog.. That is the plan anyway… LOL
I tried taking notes using an e-ink version but somehow I felt...I don't know...boxed in to clicking here and there to keep up with my note taking, not to mention syncing it with this or that (OneNote, Google Drive, etc.). I always have kept a spiral notebook with me to jot down notes that come to mind at work and at home and thought having something digital might solve my problems of organizing several pages of quick notes and reminders here and there...things to do. But I finally realized that all my notes are going to eventually find themselves inside a digital environment anyway (OneNote, Google Drive, etc.) so having a pen and paper notebook at my side is the best alternative (not to mention saving me about $400). Not only does it give me freedom from syncing, electricity, battery power, etc., it gives me the freedom of just writing what's on my mind at no cost.
I currently use a mix of both digital and paper. I used notebooks for journal and diary keeping, work notes and other miscellaneous things, but I also use a tablet for brainstorming, to use more like a whiteboard.
I really wish I could be more analog as a high school teacher. EVERYTHING is digital. However, I did demand textbooks for our class. It was a hit with kids and parents!
The reason i went back to analog: I’m getting older in years and i use digital at work for rfp reading and markups. Digital @ work is necessary because of the need to share info, but i desire to slow down and detach from digital interruptions outside of work. I read the Bible each morning, and journaling with a pen and notebook helps me think thru what i am reading. Yes to fountain pens also, like some other commenters.
Your reasons for analog notes mirror mine. I've been a dedicated mechanical pencil + notebook for decades. But for the past year and a half I have been using a Kindle Scribe for nearly all of my handwritten notes. I don't use the Scribe to read ebooks, but only for Bible study with notes, journaling, planning, brainstorming, and crossword puzzles. The pen on screen feel is very much like my pencil on paper experience. The e-ink screen is easy on the eyes. It's a distraction-free device. So in a very real sense, the Scribe for me is a digital implementation of my analog notetaking.
I'm currently studying for my medical license exam, I tried studying using my ipad and macbook due to loads of guidelines and research articles to read on and organized note taking but I thought I can easily absorb what i read when i tried writing on my ipad, i found out there's poor memory retention in digital notes compared to my old school way of studing way back in medschool so I had to re-write my digital notes to my notebook where I retain more in old school writing. It may work for me, not in some people but traditional notebook still works best in memorizing and analyzation.
My biggest problem has been the notebooks stacking up. So I wonder if perhaps something you say might see it differently. (Still watching) I’m a Rocketbook user (I love that I get the experience of flipping through pages and once it fill up I can digitize and erase) and now recently trying the Supernote nomad.
So what would you recommend for someone who has a digital second brain but wants to switch to notebooks? How or where do you start? What do you do with all those digital notes that you want to keep? Do you write them all by hand? That seems like it would be discouraging and would make me quit the notebook route before I’ve started… I’ve kept notebooks and journals for years, and I prefer that over digital, it’s just really hard to get a notebook out when I’ve got chaotic toddlers climbing all over me all day 🤪 Advice?
For me there is just something about handwritten notes that gives me the feeling that this thought is my thought. Probably it's seeing my own handwriting, it's a little messy but it's mine. And a physical Notebook has limited space and the pages are not infinite so I have to think about how to use that space. Again, it may be a little messy but this little inconvenience makes it more enjoyable to me. Using a Notebook feels real to me, I can touch the paper and flip through the pages, I can feel where the paper is uneven because the pen left marks, I can put stickers on the cover and can watch how they peel of again because I carry the notebook everywhere loose in my bag. It's just so much more than organizing myself or collecting thoughts.
As a software engineer, I use Obsidian saved to cloud storage for noting "codey" things like SecDevOps, Java, Angular, Configuration Management, etc. I Bullet Journal on paper. For work business notes, I commonplace them in a separate notebook. I have a commonplace for the humanities with a separate commonplace for books. I love paper and fountain pens.
I type all my notes in uni. Due to chronic tendonitis writing by hand in lectures isn't a good thing for me. But as soon as I need to study - my notes are handwritten either on paper or tablet (preferring paper). My study journals for French, Italian & Yiddish are physical as are my numerous journals and a calendar where I track my reading and general good things that happened that day. I think tech in general is great but at the end of the day, it needs to be simple and must work for you.
I do a mix of both depending on the timing and the kind of knowledge I'm trying to capture. I currently work in healthcare, so digital note taking while providing patient care isn't always practical for privacy reasons. I use a pocket sized notebook (LT 1917 pocket; square grid) for quick capture based on Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal Method, and a larger A5 digital notebook via goodnotes for commonplacing that eventually gets migrated to a Notion/Zotero database. I also have a separate A5 notebook for long form journaling to help process and explore more complex topics as well as for reflection for goals and other happenings throughout my week. Paper and pen is when I feel most connected to the work I do, but it's not very practical to continually tote so much paper around when I could easily have over 50 pages of reading for both school and work. Goodnotes and its cloud features is a fair compromise for my knowledge management system!
Books are great for taking notes but less practical for retrieving and organizing them. Digital note-taking with interconnected links resembles how our brain works. I use both: books for on-the-go notes and Obsidian for long-term organization.
I love your channel. I am working own a second masters this time in theology. The digital notes do not seem to help conceptualize philosophy and theology, so I have switched to notebooks, but I don’t want to give up my digital note taking routines.
I think it depends on what you’re doing too. I work with financial systems and write code sometimes etc. I prefer using paper because of the feeling and I keep a meeting notes book on my desk (I only meet over zoom). But if you write code or anything like that, digital is basically the only way to log snips of useful code I’ve used. Plus in the tech industry at least, whenever I have notes on a project or something I will need to share it / collaborate on it. So we find it most productive and useful to use google docs, add comments and questions etc. If I’m reading for myself though or doing something only for learning I use paper and prefer it. I also log things from therapy in a dedicated notebook that I just pull out once a week.
I always thought I'm a digital "noter" because it's faster and much more efficient. Tried Digital calendar on my Ipad, totally motivated and ready. I started.... 1-2 days.. didn't look at it again.. after one week.. the same.. I thougth "Maybe I like to do it on my phone better." Tried to take notes and calender on my phone.. .. it didn't excite me at all.. So I started to buy a small binder calender... and it's so much better. The reasen why I like it more is because you can see everything you did on it. To do lists, just turn the page around and you see everything you did 4 days ago. Also it is much more faster for me. I just have to get it out of my backpack, pencil, ready. With my Ipad I had to push many buttons before I could take notes, also I didnt like it to work with it in public. So what I thought digital note taking would give me, actually didn't satisfy me at all. xD
I have iPads with Apple Pencil - I still go for paper and pen with my notebooks to draw my design ideas and take notes. So much more effective because I can just review everything as a bounded pages set I can look up. I even design numerous book organizers integrating my wallet functions, so I have one at all times.
I made the switch from digital to analog. I started trying to use obsidian to make a digital zettelkasten but i spent more time trying to understand zettelkasten and how to do it in obsidian than i did reading. But with a notebook, i can really get out of my own way and just start taking notes on things. I've come up with a bit of an organizational system for my notebook, but its not complex and its not consuming a lot of my time to think about. With the switch to analog note taking, i also turned off my laptop and stored it in my computer bag. Now that space on my desk is taken up by books. Without a computer on my desk, i read much more often and i'm way less distracted by the internet For my fiction writing i also started writing longhand because it forces me to not edit as i go along and i can instead focus on just getting the first draft down on paper.
I prefer a mix of both. I use a text editor in my computer but my on the move notes are taken in pen and paper. Then later at night, I put then in my text editor, for easier search and filtering. I keep the paper notes as an additional archive.
Just perfect Sir❤ i came across out of nowhere ❤❤❤❤ always fond of writing no matter what ... High or low just get your notebook and pen and write❤ Its great sir for guiding ..
I tried digital when I started with uni because I was too slow at writing physical notes. Later, I switched back to physical because you remember more from a lecture by writing physical notes instead of typing them on a computer. Now, I do both. During the lecture I take physical notes and after the lecture I transfer my physical notes into digital notes because digital notes are easier to review since they look cleaner. I personally never tried taking notes with stylus or pen on a digital device during a lecture because of the sound it makes. There is nothing more annoying than hearing the constant tapping of plastic on glass during a lecture or in the library. I do, however, use an old Ipad to annotate the books and articles I read because it's way easier when you are able to zoom in on the margins. Annoyingly, a lot of books don't give you enough space in the margins to write something. However, for primary sources (longer books where I need to flip through quickly) I make physical annotations but mainly on paper tabs. You just can't easily go from section to section in a digital book.
i really love what you said on 14:14. i have been struggling for a while to decide between analog and digital notes. i have 3 notebooks that i use regularly for different things and i use notion to organize digital stuff, but sometimes i wish i could centralize everything in one place. i started to read the book "second brain" by tiago forte and it got me thinking a lot about "the world of digital notes". have you read it and what are your thoughts about? honestly lately i think it would be best to just decide what fits better for different types of information i want to keep.
Advantages of digital notes : 1. Infinite canvas on digital notes app, gives us a broader thinking when studying University subjects. 2. In digital we can have multiple backups of the same notes . Both local backup and cloud backup. Where as for analog notes if we lose the diary , our all hardwork of note taking is completely gone. 3. Digital notes helps saving environment, cutting of trees .
Cal Newport seems to be using a Remarkable tablet to the philosophical section. I really like notebooks and the remarkable, but also see people complain all the time about the device breaking, and think about all the cyber and company/cloud issues you discussed, too. For now, I’m not sure, though maybe a bit more on the notebook side after hearing Moriarty used a Smythson notebook!
I currently use both! As a biology student I mostly need visuals with my notes so for lecture notes I like to use my iPad with goodnotes. For essays or other projects though I prefere to use my Leuchtturm notebook, since I like to brainstorm on paper better
I think it depends on what you’re doing too. So I work with financial systems and write code sometimes etc. I prefer using paper because of the feeling and I keep a meeting notes book on my desk (I only meet over zoom). But if you write code or anything like that digital is basically the only way to log snips of useful code I’ve used. Plus in the tech industry at least, whenever I have notes on a project or something I will need to share it / collaborate on it. So we find it most productive and useful to use google docs, add comments and questions etc. If I’m reading for myself though or doing something only for learning I use paper and prefer it. I also log things from therapy in a dedicated notebook that I just pull out once a week.
I bought a iPad mini for note taking and getting into drawing and editing photos but when I became a first time dad I started using Goodnotes 6 for notes and writing but it’s hard since it’s all hidden away in an iPad. on a physical notebook it’s at a turn of a page no distraction. For my that’s the difference. So I choose a physical. From daily carry notebook to journal and common place notebook. I’m still learning and getting use to since I still get drained into my phone.
Not much notetaking but i have the same thoughts with reading! I bought a kindle a while since i wanted to declutter and stop stocking up on books since my room has limited space, but i often found myself not paying much attention when reading through the kindle. When im holding a physical book i feel much more engaged and proactive in the act of reading and also annotating. kindle does have the notes annotating feature but its not as convenient and feels clunky
I love note taking in physical paper more than the digital note taking. I use Apple Notes, but not mainstream. I only use to take ideas that occur to me where I do not have access to my notebook, like when I'm in a subway. Later I expand that idea to my physical journal.
I could have just stayed on the digital but the feeling of making physical notes plus I will have more access to it in a sense I don't have access to an electronic device (which happens a lot) . And when I think about my eye health too
I would love to get your thoughts on single-use notebooks vs travel - I do quite a bit of travel and I like the idea of single use notebooks, but I find it impractical for travel, especially since I'm the guy who tries to pack everything into a single backpack. When you aren't at your desk for a few days and you have multiple projects in flight, what do you carry with you?
I use both. I have found I can't do one or the other. They have their advantages and disadvantages. Lots of the digital drawback you mentioned in terms of cloud or apps doesn't apply to me fortunately. I use Logseq (I will admit high bar to entry) and it is an open source app for one, but more importantly it works on plain text files. However just using Logseq doesn't work for me, so here's a quick run down. Digital: archive, searchability, discoverability and linking things together easily. In short looking back on things and through things. Analogue: presence of mind, overview, flexibility. In short, being in the moment and creating clarity of mind. I mostly take notes about what needs to happen and what did happen. Planning the next period of my life (whether that's on the length of a day or quarter) I much prefer paper. I can scribble and sketch and put things on paper just the way I need for that moment. However recording what did happen I do digitally, it's less messy of a process and more for future me to look back on, or present me to reflect on my day. Often random stray thoughts and such get recorded in my paper notebook and if valuable will get transferred (archived) digitally. After having tried to do only analogue or only digital, I have found this is my preferred way of working.
10:40 you have to keep in mind that this was on your third masters degree, so you definitely got better at studying in general. I don’t say that taking notes by hand wasnt beneficial to you, but there are other factors at play. Maybe your note taking skills were much better and you could have had similar results with an e-ink tablet or something like that. Another thing is that physical note taking can become costly both monetary and physical space. I returned from digital to analog but for example the app good notes is less for a year than one single notebook and you can potentially fill hundreds of notebooks and still not run out of space on your iPad. Good stationery has become very expensive.
I love taking hand written notes with a fountain pen, then I run the pages through a laminator to preserve them and mark them up with a colored sharpie. It works for me.😅
I tried a digital notebook, and while it was fun, I didn't like that it didn't always upload my latest notes to the cloud. I also was asking too much of it apparently, as I like to add a lot of visual reminders to my more complicated notes. I don't like the idea that one day the app may be defunct and I'll wake up to find all my notes locked forever in a program I can't use. That's happened a few times already, and I have plenty of notes that can't be read on modern computers. Also, you can accidentally delete a page, never to be recovered. When I'm writing in a notebook, I feel more focused, and I love having all my thoughts and ideas for a season in one place. I color code my notes, so that I can later transfer my notes to other themed notebooks if I think they are important enough. However, I usually remember which notebook holds whichever inane idea I came up with. I have a much harder time finding my notes on PC. Its like my brain can't fully process the vastness and yet finite space of PC and cloud storage.
To understand complicated concepts, to think things out, or to memorize I like to use pen and paper. If I have to write a memo, essay, or paper, I like typing. For storage and retrieval, I like digital.
i love taking physical notes but i’ve recently swapped over to ipad/stylus notes for my physics undergrad. i just go through SO much paper and it’s too difficult to keep it organized at that volume 😭 these days everything is submitted online anyways so it streamlines that process as well. of course school is a bit different than creative projects & i always keep my sketchbook (doubles as a commonplace) on me which helps lol
My only reason was that I am working as a CEO and have to manage lot of e-mail, call etc. I thought that digital note taking will be better. Also tried iPad with pen even with paperlike front but also decided 6 months ago to go back to paper. Not just note taking but task management as well. And some reason since that time I am even more productive. I do daily journaling since 6 years that I always kept on paper. This was my best decision to move back from digital to analog.
Those are interesting studies on paper vs. technically. I am with you, I prefer notebooks. I also find if I am using my phone to take notes, I get distracted by the notifications or phone calls & lose my thought at that moment.
I've got to ask how do you track your projects and everything with your smythson notebook? Do you just have a page dedicated to each project and put the things you need to do for it or is it more like you put some general information/starting points you want for your video or blog?
How do you keep track of the various notebooks with different topics/styles of note taking? That's been the only thing keeping me with digital, the ability to cloud sync and quick search. I would love to be on paper!
I went from paper to digital and back to paper cause I find myself getting distracted with digital Journaling. But with paper I just love hearing my pen writing against the paper and it just feels good to use paper.
I personally use a mix of analogue and digital, analogue for my own thoughts and digital fir the thoughts of others at present. I simply can't go all in on analogue because I really can't go longer than a few sentences of handwriting before my hand starts hurting due to my dyspraxia.
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I have used all mediums - laptop, wacom tablets, phone, desktop - but I find that when I am creating and thinking, nothing beats paper and pen. Pen allows you to slow your thinking but also speed up if you want to create diagrams, paths and side notes. The feedback of a fountain pen nib as it moves over the paper will never be replicated, and for me it is the best feeling in the world. It quiets and focuses the mind.
I find the same. When I'm creating/writing a new book/story that paper is THE only way that really works. It's easier to flip a page to go back to read something than to flip screens/files, etc.
It helps your thoughts and feelings to transfer on a paper
Try eink note devices, which are totally paper-like and feels like it.
A little additional color on analog vs. digital in a lecture. In law school, I tried both and strongly preferred taking "full transcript" notes on my laptop. I believe that immediate summarization and reflection on paper is a more meaningful and engaging "live" experience. However, this also makes an assumption that a student's immediate and real-time reflection on the meaning of the professor's words is correct and comprehensive. When I study later, I prefer to have a full transcript of the *professor's* words so that I can reflect more at length and often discover additional concepts and insights that were not immediately apparent in the lecture. If I have limited my notes to my initial understanding, I may be twisting the professor's words to my own biases and cutting off my full (eventual) understanding. But I do love paper notes!
Yeah leverage all the tools available. Why limit yourselves to one or the other!?
I went through an old journal of mine from 20 years ago. It was like traveling in time.
That's wonderful! I keep tiny Japnese accordiion style notebooks when I travel and just make a few sketches and comments with a date. I love going back to these! They are lightweight and small too.
I literally just searched up “Analog vs Digital Note Taking” and this video from 2hrs ago popped up. Perfect timing!
Haha let's go! I figured it'd be a popular search prompt because I get this question at least once a day in my comments
Me too!! So weird
The biggest advantage that a notebook has over digital notes is flipping through it to find stuff. That, more than anything has led me to find interesting possible connections between ideas. Plus, for me, it’s much more intuitive to have my notes on paper as a reference next to my iPad as I write my sermons. As back up, I have started scanning the pages so I have them electronically as well.
Just started a psychology degree and had to write an essay on the difference between active and passive learning, it's true being more engaged helps with memory.
Wait until you start doing reports on forms and client analysis, all hand written on forms then scanned in as a grad student😅
I totally agree with everything you said here. I’ve long since been a user of notebooks. But during my PhD I found the paper demand to be huge. But just writing and reading on my laptop was terrible. A tablet didn’t make it much better.
So I was happy when Kindle brought out the Scribe. It’s made a big difference. Now I use my analog notebooks very intentionally to make effective summaries and notes. I read all my academic texts and journal articles on my Kindle but turn to my notebooks for writing.
The key really is to find a system that works best for you.
@@VelvetGirl1407 I use my kindle scribe for annotating academic papers because I got sick of printing them out haha it works well enough for that, I still try to get physical books though. I totally agree you gotta find a system that works
I returned to paper a few years ago. For me, smaller notebooks work best for most things. I enjoy using my fountain pens and having a dedicated notebook to a task or thought has been integral to organizing myself. It’s also a gateway to thinking and then thinking more deeply. That never happened in the digital environment. I didn’t always have my laptop or tablet with me. The phone is a rabbit hole of distractions and overstimulation. There is always a notebook with me. Returning to paper and having multiple, dedicated notebooks was one of the best things I’ve done for myself.
I went back to physical notebooks when Goodnotes decided to go forward with a subscription model. I purchased Goodnotes 5 for "lifetime". I was really pissed at that announcement.
Also, writing with a fountain pen just feels nice.
Goodnotes 6 can be bought with one-time purchase though. And you are getting some discount if you own 5th version.
And 5th version still works. I believe it's the same 'app' technically, but you are locked to 'ui version 5'.
New features are only for the new major release though.
It's been about 4.5 years between 5th and 6th versions. So overall it's not too bad, I've seen worse (like their's main 'contender')
@ Thanks for your response. I'm aware of everything you wrote. However, I don't trust them anymore and won't give them any more money. As I wrote I purchased the app for „lifetime" and expected all future updates and features, like everybody else did. Goodnotes never clarified that the lifetime access was only for version 5. Also on their website they state that they will stop pushing updates for Goodnotes 5 after „a period of time".
I think it's funny how hypocritical they are. They mocked Notability and gave out discounts when Notability added a subscription model and now they are doing the same thing. 😆
@@romanthekat Thanks for your response. I'm aware of everything you wrote. However, I don't trust them anymore and won't give them any more money. As I wrote I purchased the app for „lifetime" and expected all future updates and features, like everybody else did. Goodnotes never clarified that the lifetime access was only for version 5.
Also on their website they state that they will stop pushing updates for Goodnotes 5 after „a period of time".
I think it's funny how hypocritical they are. They mocked Notability and gave out discounts when Notability added a subscription model and now they are doing the same thing. 🤣
@@romanthekatI was literally just about to say that lol.
I still have Goodnotes, even though I love paper, sometimes it just makes more sense to make some notes digitally. When I know that I may need some of the notes when I’m not near my notebooks. Plus it is a space saver and if I want to I can always print my hand written notes from Goodnotes 😊
I did the same thing. F Goodnotes. I still have Goodnotes 5 but knowing that it'll basically be useless in 4 years because it doesn't get updated anymore is annoying.
Seeing as you've been writing outlines of your written works and short stories with notebooks, I've been wondering if you could ever make a video on how to plan or outline stories with the use of notebooks? I'm particularly curious as to how you develop ideas for stories inside a notebook and how you process them into complete works.
I've been using a notebook myself, supposedly dedicated for developing written works, but often do I find myself making unfinished and overlapping ideas.
Perhaps a video concerning that would be greatly helpful.
I'd love to hear about that too! It's definetly always worth it to be a part of the creative process.
I 100% agree with you. But on the other hand, I'm getting more and more into minimalism itself - and I don't like to keep dozens and dozens of notebooks around. Sure, I could discard them when they are full, but then, I lose my journal. I also like to take my notebooks with me. That worked for a while with a Traveler's Notebook setup, but they are plain to quickly full. I write a lot of "stream of consciousness" during the day, I keep written to-do lists and a written planner. That makes already for a rather big setup to carry around.
Recently I've switched to an e-ink tablet. It gives me the satisfaction of writing my notes by hand, of using a relatively elaborate planner setup (a year is over 800 pages. And it's still compact and lightweight and reads pretty much like paper.
What I'm missing is the aspect of the physical note location and the physical aspect of turning pages, but the rest is pretty much all there. A planner, a journal, to-do lists, specific notebooks for specific topics that get archived when the topic is no longer relevant and so on. With the advantage of not having to refill my fountain pen all the time and replacing notebooks on a very regular schedule. I write about 50 to 60 pages of journal per two weeks. The pages are on a 10.3" e-ink display. I write larger there than in a physical notebook, but it's still around 40 pages of just journal every two weeks. That fills a standard sized traveler's notebook within about four weeks. Not great for economy and for carrying notes around and having them at hand a few months later.
So, part of why I switched to a Remarkable 2 is plain practicality. I travel a lot and taking five to six notebooks with me is just not practical. It's fine taking a phone, the Remarkable, and a laptop though. I still carry a Field Notes notebook for the times when I don't carry a backpack, but other than that, everything goes into the Remarkable. Plus I have a backup in case my bag gets stolen (again, it happened before).
Gosh, I have the same problem. I even uploaded my old bullet journals into Goodnotes, but guess what.. I still can’t throw them away!!! I want to keep my notebooks minimal (my house is not big) but I also love paper 😫
I prefer typing my notes over handwriting on paper with a pencil or a pen. I am a software engineer, and most of the stuff I take notes on is related to programming aka code snippets.
Digital note taking makes it easier with identation, structuring or in general - the program flow; also digital note taking method allows me to edit, making the note taking process less messy. I can easily copy paste any portion of my notes in a second to any other notes I intend to, without having to rewrite the whole thing, which makes my life so much easier...
Digital note taking also allows me to add images/screenshots (not the same as drawing on paper), which means that I can take notes on a deeper scale and enhance my understanding of a particular topic.
There are a lot more benefits that I can discuss here, but I think I have clearly shared my pov!
(psst - If anyone's wondering what software i use to take my notes - it's LaTeX)
It's really refreshing to hear such things linked to the question of depth and to humanities. Most of the youtubers you find talking about notebooks are productivity gurus and self-help masters (if not hacks or salesmen). I know you gain money from this channel but I really find your content relevant to me because for once someone is not promoting those things in order to become more productive or organized or whatever (as important as these may be). You promote notebooks to develop your thought, its depth and its clarity. You're in that sense still a bit old-fashioned and precapitalist, which I love and respect. Being productive is just a means, the end shouldn't be that but true leisure as the Greeks envisioned it.
This is seriously encouraging. I was hoping people would see the difference! Thank you!
@@ParkerNotes My pleasure, I also discovered you grapple, you truly embody the Greek ideals promoted by philosophers of that age haha! As an avid reader and fighting arts practitioner I can only applaud you for this!
By the way, another notebook that is very useful and not mentioned here (although you may put it in the thoughts department) is one soldiers use. During my formation as a reservist I actually got shouted at on the first day because I was not using a notebook all the time (I was responsible for my squad that day). The tool becomes necessary for your daily organization, studies and tasks especially as a (sub-)officer. It needs to be waterresistant, durable, light, small and easy to use: no electronic gadget can ever achieve that.
I'm in-between moving from analog to digital and am feeling the pull back to analog. I love the feel of holding and opening a notebook. Writing with a pen or pencil is unmatched against even the Apple Pencil and paper-like screen covers.
I told myself I'd try to go a full year with digital-only notebooks, but time will tell. There are so many benefits to it. They're searchable. They're backupable and then printable if I want a physical copy. Reorganizing is so simple and easy.
But man, there's nothing like a good notebook.
I’ve begun using the first couple of pages in my notebooks for an index. It only takes a few seconds to add create a one line synopsis of what is on each page. It does help with finding things, but it wont re-shuffle them. 😉
@@lensmith6699 I've done this in the past and I've never been satisfied with it as a way to search for things in my notes.
I think Parker mentions toward the end of this video that essentially he doesn't view his notebooks as encyclopedias that he has a desire to sort and search specific bits of information out of. I think if I move back to analog notes that it'll be with this in mind.
Also, I read books digitally (I used to use a Kindle). Now, I have my iPad-with an Apple Pencil-which contains my notebooks and my reading books all in one. I used to carry a notebook, a physical book, my computer, and my phone. Now, I have my computer, iPad, and phone, but if I need to leave my computer somewhere for a bit, that's no problem because I have the iPad. Whereas before, I had to take my computer with me as well as the notebook AND my reading book if I were to need it for some reason. It's really attractive having all of that functionality in one place.
I’m with you here! Struggling big time..
I went from paper to ebook tablet. I like writing with pen and the Link function helps me to connect all my notes as a handwritten Zettelkasten system. So it's so easy to browse through and connect concepts.
Ive been curious about getting one, what model do you have and how do you like it?
@skullhunter0x751 I have a boox ultra and a smaller note air 7.8. I don't know if other tablets can also link their notes like in the Boox software. For example I didn't found any app to link like this on iPad.
I tried digital only note taking for about six months. One of the biggest reasons was convenience. I always have my phone.
However, I never went back to reread. I find that reviewing and rereading my notes helps me to process my thoughts. Whether academic or personal, the process of reviewing is powerful!
I bought an iPad Air 13 recently and returned it 2 days later.
My main use was for Uni, especially math notes and solving math problems. The ability to correct mistakes quickly, moving stuff around with ease and having infinite space for writing is amazing.
But, the feeling was off. The biggest negative point for me was the limitation through the display. The display was 13“, which is big, but not nearly as big as a bunch of papers laid out on my desk. It just felt restricting and limiting. Even Split View is nothing compared to all that physical space that paper provides.
The second thing was the vibe of studying itself. Theres a huge difference between using pen and paper vs using an iPad.
I found the constant light shining into my face (Even on low brightness) from the display, quite annoying, and not nearly as satisfying as looking on paper, especially when using it at night.
Thought provoking videos. I use both digital and paper. Both are good but the day 1 digital journal is exceptional. Thanks for this and look forward to future videos.
I really needed to watch this video. I started my master's degree in Arts recently and I've been facing some issues related to learning new and difficult concepts with only digital note-taking. Only going back to physical notes that I could finally slow down my mind and understand things in a much deeper level. Thank you so much!
I have that "page positional" memory for things I read *and* write. It's definitely not eidetic memory - I don't remember the location *everything* I read & write, but when I think that I might want to remember something specific, I usually remember its location to within 1/4 of the page and left side or right side.
Yes!! Loved your insights on this topic. I've replaced nearly all of my social media time with journaling and commonplacing in analogue notebooks. It feels amazing! There's nothing quite like the tactile sensation of pen on paper.
I use paper for thinking and digital (plain text files) for storing the condensed notes from my paper. I discard the paper afterwards
I had a Kindle Scribe, and then later a Supernote A6X2. Ended up selling both as although they're both fantastic, nothing can replace a real notebook.
As a mental health counselor, I've found the compartmentability aspect really useful in the Remarkable. And because it has e-ink, it's not hard on the eyes and I can have books and different notebooks all in one. The organization for my brain helps. Its great for professional use I think. With that said, I do a lot of art and "commonplace" type travelers notebooks and i always go back to it because i can be more creative with it. I can journal and paint and add stuff to it that is not feasible to do with the e-ink notebook tablets. I love both though for different reasons.
Love your videos Parker! Fellow philosophy grad and your work helped me finish my undergrad in a sprint. You talk a lot about 'how' and 'why' to write and learn from what you read, but I would love to listen to you talk about 'what' to read! Same way doom-scrolling on my phone gets me, every time I finish a book it's always "what next?" Cheers!
I used to take my notes for university in a physical notebook, but i then switched to using an ipad, purely because i am very unorganised and the digital medium allows for very easy organization. If you have any tips on how to organise your notes in a physical notebook, im all ears. I really like the feel of pen/pencil on paper, but the convenience of moving around your notes, and using different colors and such on an ipad is also really useful.
65 and just finished my second Masters. ALL of my note taking is longhand, all my papers are written and edited longhand before putting them on computer. All the research papers we were assigned got printed so I could underline, highlight and take notes,,, Kids today have lost touch with the value of the written language.
i have been binge watching your videos to fling myself into a more analog lifestyle, and am loving these new uploads!! keep it up my favorite notebook youtuber
5:52 Smythson notebooks are ridiculously expensive. His little red notebook costs $95 each.
I’ve gone back-and-forth between digital and paper, notetaking and event keeping, and it’s taking me a while to decide what things I like about digital and what things I like about paper. The right combo for me seems to be to keep my master calendar, digital; that way, I can easily move events which happens a lot, I can share it with my husband, and I can access it from different gadgets, meaning I can only take my phone if I want. But everything else I do better with paper notetaking. I’m one of those people, who remembers things better when I write them down and I enjoy the feel of writing. I can also keep variety of things in one place and be able to look over them at the same time, which I can’t very often do with digital products. I got tired of switching back-and-forth between apps.
Heavy digital user swapped back to paper:
TLDR:
Brain health.
Chronic illness brain fog + mom brain = forgetting every damn thing every second of the day. Using my phone and computer seemed to make things WORSE. Greatly reducing use of screens made my mood better, leveled out memory somewhat. I also have less guilt writing in a notebook than I do cramming my facce into my phone or laptop when the kiddo is around (We are trying to demonstrate healthier brain habits).
Paper gang here. As a pastor who also has a tech channel, so much of my life is digital, I love going back to analog to get focused so all sermons and yt vids start out on paper. Great video dude!
I love looking through all my notebooks from 10+ years ago. It made me fall in love with writing.
But I had notebooks everywhere. Notebooks from my personal life, work notes and volunteer notes. I kept looking for one.
Note taking om my iPad or laptop also didn’t work. I kept being distracted.
Then I came across the remarkable. I love that thing. No distractions, all folders and it feels like writing on paper.
Biggest downside of remarkable, no pretty notebooks
Started paper then went to digital "Supernote" e-ink then back to paper because I use color to distinguish the different types of entries. I leaned that color was very important for my note taking. But now that reMarkable has started to introduce color e-ink, I will give it another try but holding out for the "Supernote" brand version to come out with their own color e-ink.
Ooh this is really good! I'm still kind of hoping reMarkable will reach out so I can try theirs but I'm really leaning towards a new IPad because I want to use procreate. Probably still wouldn’t use it for notes 😅
I switched from a paper notebook to Remarkable. I’m sorry because I love writing on paper with my fountain pens, but Remarkable is amazing.
I think a key differentiator for me has been the spatial component to paper note taking. Like you, I have done digital and paper for everything from journaling to studying, scheduling appointments and creativity/content creation. There really is an upper hand in working with paper in my experience and the only thing I can conclude is the tangible / spatial component of the process. I have ceased trying to replace paper and pen. To be clear I do still add appointments to a digital calendar as a backup for the reminders but that is only after entering them in my paper planner.
I have used both and always come back to analog as the primary place for storing information. I have had digital notes crash and lose an entry I was working on, the notification distraction that comes with every device, causing you to lose thought, and device size. The bigger the device, the easier to write, but harder to carry regularly. Ie phones v tablets. What works for me is reviewing the info periodically and placing it into a digital commonplace book in my notes app so I can easily search the information later. The review also allows me to further flesh out ideas or discard that not so profound thought I had while out and about.
Nothing beats pen and paper for the love of writing itself - can’t help but to romanticize the whole process. Good fountain pen, Tomoe River Paper, Traveller’s notebook, that’s what I use for my daily journal. The tactility of the experience too, indescribable.
BUT, (1) when it comes to notes for deep thinking and for work, digital handwriting has worked better for me. “Objectively” reviewing my notes and thoughts to traceback my thought process, find faults or ingenuity in them, to see what I missed, see where I was mentally 4-5 years back are so much better when i can zip in and out of hundreds of pages with a few taps/clicks.
(2) I’m a “nomad”. I move to different countries every 2-3 years or so. Collecting paper notebooks is practically impossible. My daily journals and my sketchbooks are important enough to my identity that I’m willing to compromise on that. But for work and commonplace, planners, morning pages and braindump? If I have separate notebooks for all of that, in 4 years’ time I’ll have to carry an extra luggage just to keep them with me for when I want to review or look back on them.
I’ve found a happy medium using an e-ink tablet - I get to keep writing in long hand, doing what you mentioned in the video (processing information instead of copy-pasting by typing), I get to keep a lot of the tactile experience, but in a much more practical, mobile form.
Still, pen and paper man. nothing beats it.
I just moved and it hit me like a 2x4 that I have far too too many notebooks. All types and sizes. Every November, I do NaNo (national novel writing month) where you write 50k words in30 days. I often find that I enjoy writing on paper first, then typing (only for word count). I'm not sure exactly why, but there's something about traditional paper that is far more satisfying. I've got computer files, too. I've lost far too much on digital format as tech has changed, a housefire, lost flash drives, etc. I do a mix most of the time, working it out on paper before entering digital (I just recently filled a whole terabyte of data for just creating backup of my written work.) I still keep paper files of everything.
Can you do a day or week in the life? Wanna know when and how you structure your life to take all these notes and journal throughout the day!
I use notetaking apps not to take notes, but to grow from the notes I have taken. For me they are a project resting place from start to finish. A place where it stops me from starting from scratch. My notebooks are my sandbox for starting an idea, and thinking through it before it becomes a project.
I am in constant battle between the Digital and Analog worlds. I have been journaling on the DayOne App for about two years and love it. it is easy and I can add photos and location and I can do it on my phone, iPad, Laptop etc…. Tons of features, super convenient and the first thing that I turn to in the morning. On the other hand, I have been paper journaling for about seven years. I use a Traveler’s notebook set-up (both the passport and the Regular sizes). Have toyed with Hobinichi and Erin Condren and others… The bottom line is digital is easier, but paper is more fun and meaningful. With a focus on getting off screens more in 2025, I am thinking about going all analog and see what happens..My handwriting is terrible and my hand aches after a few minutes, but the words I write seem to carry more weight when they come from my hand and not the keyboard. So the battle rages on…. But in 2025, I hope to be 100% analog.. That is the plan anyway… LOL
I tried taking notes using an e-ink version but somehow I felt...I don't know...boxed in to clicking here and there to keep up with my note taking, not to mention syncing it with this or that (OneNote, Google Drive, etc.). I always have kept a spiral notebook with me to jot down notes that come to mind at work and at home and thought having something digital might solve my problems of organizing several pages of quick notes and reminders here and there...things to do. But I finally realized that all my notes are going to eventually find themselves inside a digital environment anyway (OneNote, Google Drive, etc.) so having a pen and paper notebook at my side is the best alternative (not to mention saving me about $400). Not only does it give me freedom from syncing, electricity, battery power, etc., it gives me the freedom of just writing what's on my mind at no cost.
I currently use a mix of both digital and paper. I used notebooks for journal and diary keeping, work notes and other miscellaneous things, but I also use a tablet for brainstorming, to use more like a whiteboard.
Obsidian for PKM, notebook for journaling is the perfect combo!
I really wish I could be more analog as a high school teacher. EVERYTHING is digital. However, I did demand textbooks for our class. It was a hit with kids and parents!
The reason i went back to analog: I’m getting older in years and i use digital at work for rfp reading and markups. Digital @ work is necessary because of the need to share info, but i desire to slow down and detach from digital interruptions outside of work. I read the Bible each morning, and journaling with a pen and notebook helps me think thru what i am reading. Yes to fountain pens also, like some other commenters.
Your reasons for analog notes mirror mine. I've been a dedicated mechanical pencil + notebook for decades. But for the past year and a half I have been using a Kindle Scribe for nearly all of my handwritten notes. I don't use the Scribe to read ebooks, but only for Bible study with notes, journaling, planning, brainstorming, and crossword puzzles.
The pen on screen feel is very much like my pencil on paper experience. The e-ink screen is easy on the eyes. It's a distraction-free device. So in a very real sense, the Scribe for me is a digital implementation of my analog notetaking.
I'm currently studying for my medical license exam, I tried studying using my ipad and macbook due to loads of guidelines and research articles to read on and organized note taking but I thought I can easily absorb what i read when i tried writing on my ipad, i found out there's poor memory retention in digital notes compared to my old school way of studing way back in medschool so I had to re-write my digital notes to my notebook where I retain more in old school writing. It may work for me, not in some people but traditional notebook still works best in memorizing and analyzation.
Your video are so good!!! I was a diary lover from the start, your video gave me new and creative ideas to fill them. Thanks a lot. Keep growing 🙌🏻
Look at all the artifacts that we have found from the past... None of them are digital. I like your videos. Keeps me thinking.
Is there a way to get over the perfectionism I find with physical note taking?
Some people just scribble on a page to ruin it right away. "There the whole thing is ruined now I can just use it as a tool"
My biggest problem has been the notebooks stacking up. So I wonder if perhaps something you say might see it differently. (Still watching) I’m a Rocketbook user (I love that I get the experience of flipping through pages and once it fill up I can digitize and erase) and now recently trying the Supernote nomad.
Oh and easily being able to find information you’ve written about (with Rocketbook + OneNote)
So what would you recommend for someone who has a digital second brain but wants to switch to notebooks? How or where do you start? What do you do with all those digital notes that you want to keep? Do you write them all by hand? That seems like it would be discouraging and would make me quit the notebook route before I’ve started… I’ve kept notebooks and journals for years, and I prefer that over digital, it’s just really hard to get a notebook out when I’ve got chaotic toddlers climbing all over me all day 🤪 Advice?
For me there is just something about handwritten notes that gives me the feeling that this thought is my thought. Probably it's seeing my own handwriting, it's a little messy but it's mine. And a physical Notebook has limited space and the pages are not infinite so I have to think about how to use that space. Again, it may be a little messy but this little inconvenience makes it more enjoyable to me. Using a Notebook feels real to me, I can touch the paper and flip through the pages, I can feel where the paper is uneven because the pen left marks, I can put stickers on the cover and can watch how they peel of again because I carry the notebook everywhere loose in my bag. It's just so much more than organizing myself or collecting thoughts.
As a software engineer, I use Obsidian saved to cloud storage for noting "codey" things like SecDevOps, Java, Angular, Configuration Management, etc. I Bullet Journal on paper. For work business notes, I commonplace them in a separate notebook. I have a commonplace for the humanities with a separate commonplace for books. I love paper and fountain pens.
A passport sized book with a pocket fountain pen is always with me.
I type all my notes in uni. Due to chronic tendonitis writing by hand in lectures isn't a good thing for me. But as soon as I need to study - my notes are handwritten either on paper or tablet (preferring paper). My study journals for French, Italian & Yiddish are physical as are my numerous journals and a calendar where I track my reading and general good things that happened that day. I think tech in general is great but at the end of the day, it needs to be simple and must work for you.
Have you seen the method called everbook? Can you do a review of it?
I do a mix of both depending on the timing and the kind of knowledge I'm trying to capture. I currently work in healthcare, so digital note taking while providing patient care isn't always practical for privacy reasons. I use a pocket sized notebook (LT 1917 pocket; square grid) for quick capture based on Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal Method, and a larger A5 digital notebook via goodnotes for commonplacing that eventually gets migrated to a Notion/Zotero database. I also have a separate A5 notebook for long form journaling to help process and explore more complex topics as well as for reflection for goals and other happenings throughout my week.
Paper and pen is when I feel most connected to the work I do, but it's not very practical to continually tote so much paper around when I could easily have over 50 pages of reading for both school and work. Goodnotes and its cloud features is a fair compromise for my knowledge management system!
Books are great for taking notes but less practical for retrieving and organizing them. Digital note-taking with interconnected links resembles how our brain works. I use both: books for on-the-go notes and Obsidian for long-term organization.
Great info. You’re doing the Lord’s work😂🗣️
I switched to a notebook for notes on my job and it changed my life
I love your channel. I am working own a second masters this time in theology. The digital notes do not seem to help conceptualize philosophy and theology, so I have switched to notebooks, but I don’t want to give up my digital note taking routines.
I think it depends on what you’re doing too. I work with financial systems and write code sometimes etc. I prefer using paper because of the feeling and I keep a meeting notes book on my desk (I only meet over zoom). But if you write code or anything like that, digital is basically the only way to log snips of useful code I’ve used.
Plus in the tech industry at least, whenever I have notes on a project or something I will need to share it / collaborate on it. So we find it most productive and useful to use google docs, add comments and questions etc.
If I’m reading for myself though or doing something only for learning I use paper and prefer it. I also log things from therapy in a dedicated notebook that I just pull out once a week.
I always thought I'm a digital "noter" because it's faster and much more efficient. Tried Digital calendar on my Ipad, totally motivated and ready.
I started.... 1-2 days.. didn't look at it again.. after one week.. the same.. I thougth "Maybe I like to do it on my phone better."
Tried to take notes and calender on my phone.. .. it didn't excite me at all..
So I started to buy a small binder calender... and it's so much better.
The reasen why I like it more is because you can see everything you did on it. To do lists, just turn the page around and you see everything you did 4 days ago.
Also it is much more faster for me. I just have to get it out of my backpack, pencil, ready.
With my Ipad I had to push many buttons before I could take notes, also I didnt like it to work with it in public.
So what I thought digital note taking would give me, actually didn't satisfy me at all. xD
I have iPads with Apple Pencil - I still go for paper and pen with my notebooks to draw my design ideas and take notes. So much more effective because I can just review everything as a bounded pages set I can look up. I even design numerous book organizers integrating my wallet functions, so I have one at all times.
I made the switch from digital to analog. I started trying to use obsidian to make a digital zettelkasten but i spent more time trying to understand zettelkasten and how to do it in obsidian than i did reading. But with a notebook, i can really get out of my own way and just start taking notes on things. I've come up with a bit of an organizational system for my notebook, but its not complex and its not consuming a lot of my time to think about. With the switch to analog note taking, i also turned off my laptop and stored it in my computer bag. Now that space on my desk is taken up by books. Without a computer on my desk, i read much more often and i'm way less distracted by the internet
For my fiction writing i also started writing longhand because it forces me to not edit as i go along and i can instead focus on just getting the first draft down on paper.
I love this. I have now done a hybrid system where I do digital and physical.
I prefer a mix of both. I use a text editor in my computer but my on the move notes are taken in pen and paper. Then later at night, I put then in my text editor, for easier search and filtering. I keep the paper notes as an additional archive.
Agreed. Time is not the enemy of thought.
Just perfect Sir❤ i came across out of nowhere ❤❤❤❤ always fond of writing no matter what ... High or low just get your notebook and pen and write❤ Its great sir for guiding ..
I tried digital when I started with uni because I was too slow at writing physical notes. Later, I switched back to physical because you remember more from a lecture by writing physical notes instead of typing them on a computer. Now, I do both. During the lecture I take physical notes and after the lecture I transfer my physical notes into digital notes because digital notes are easier to review since they look cleaner. I personally never tried taking notes with stylus or pen on a digital device during a lecture because of the sound it makes. There is nothing more annoying than hearing the constant tapping of plastic on glass during a lecture or in the library. I do, however, use an old Ipad to annotate the books and articles I read because it's way easier when you are able to zoom in on the margins. Annoyingly, a lot of books don't give you enough space in the margins to write something. However, for primary sources (longer books where I need to flip through quickly) I make physical annotations but mainly on paper tabs. You just can't easily go from section to section in a digital book.
i really love what you said on 14:14.
i have been struggling for a while to decide between analog and digital notes. i have 3 notebooks that i use regularly for different things and i use notion to organize digital stuff, but sometimes i wish i could centralize everything in one place. i started to read the book "second brain" by tiago forte and it got me thinking a lot about "the world of digital notes". have you read it and what are your thoughts about?
honestly lately i think it would be best to just decide what fits better for different types of information i want to keep.
Advantages of digital notes :
1. Infinite canvas on digital notes app, gives us a broader thinking when studying University subjects.
2. In digital we can have multiple backups of the same notes . Both local backup and cloud backup. Where as for analog notes if we lose the diary , our all hardwork of note taking is completely gone.
3. Digital notes helps saving environment, cutting of trees .
Cal Newport seems to be using a Remarkable tablet to the philosophical section. I really like notebooks and the remarkable, but also see people complain all the time about the device breaking, and think about all the cyber and company/cloud issues you discussed, too. For now, I’m not sure, though maybe a bit more on the notebook side after hearing Moriarty used a Smythson notebook!
I currently use both! As a biology student I mostly need visuals with my notes so for lecture notes I like to use my iPad with goodnotes. For essays or other projects though I prefere to use my Leuchtturm notebook, since I like to brainstorm on paper better
I think it depends on what you’re doing too. So I work with financial systems and write code sometimes etc. I prefer using paper because of the feeling and I keep a meeting notes book on my desk (I only meet over zoom). But if you write code or anything like that digital is basically the only way to log snips of useful code I’ve used.
Plus in the tech industry at least, whenever I have notes on a project or something I will need to share it / collaborate on it. So we find it most productive and useful to use google docs, add comments and questions etc.
If I’m reading for myself though or doing something only for learning I use paper and prefer it. I also log things from therapy in a dedicated notebook that I just pull out once a week.
I bought a iPad mini for note taking and getting into drawing and editing photos but when I became a first time dad I started using Goodnotes 6 for notes and writing but it’s hard since it’s all hidden away in an iPad. on a physical notebook it’s at a turn of a page no distraction. For my that’s the difference. So I choose a physical. From daily carry notebook to journal and common place notebook. I’m still learning and getting use to since I still get drained into my phone.
0:36 to 1:02 Do you use a folder tree structure? I'm just curious.
Not much notetaking but i have the same thoughts with reading! I bought a kindle a while since i wanted to declutter and stop stocking up on books since my room has limited space, but i often found myself not paying much attention when reading through the kindle. When im holding a physical book i feel much more engaged and proactive in the act of reading and also annotating. kindle does have the notes annotating feature but its not as convenient and feels clunky
I love note taking in physical paper more than the digital note taking. I use Apple Notes, but not mainstream. I only use to take ideas that occur to me where I do not have access to my notebook, like when I'm in a subway. Later I expand that idea to my physical journal.
I could have just stayed on the digital but the feeling of making physical notes plus I will have more access to it in a sense I don't have access to an electronic device (which happens a lot) . And when I think about my eye health too
I’m writing a crime novel right now, but in a list of book ideas I have, there’s a really cool sci-if novel idea
I would love to get your thoughts on single-use notebooks vs travel - I do quite a bit of travel and I like the idea of single use notebooks, but I find it impractical for travel, especially since I'm the guy who tries to pack everything into a single backpack. When you aren't at your desk for a few days and you have multiple projects in flight, what do you carry with you?
I use both. I have found I can't do one or the other. They have their advantages and disadvantages. Lots of the digital drawback you mentioned in terms of cloud or apps doesn't apply to me fortunately. I use Logseq (I will admit high bar to entry) and it is an open source app for one, but more importantly it works on plain text files. However just using Logseq doesn't work for me, so here's a quick run down.
Digital: archive, searchability, discoverability and linking things together easily. In short looking back on things and through things.
Analogue: presence of mind, overview, flexibility. In short, being in the moment and creating clarity of mind.
I mostly take notes about what needs to happen and what did happen. Planning the next period of my life (whether that's on the length of a day or quarter) I much prefer paper. I can scribble and sketch and put things on paper just the way I need for that moment. However recording what did happen I do digitally, it's less messy of a process and more for future me to look back on, or present me to reflect on my day.
Often random stray thoughts and such get recorded in my paper notebook and if valuable will get transferred (archived) digitally.
After having tried to do only analogue or only digital, I have found this is my preferred way of working.
10:40 you have to keep in mind that this was on your third masters degree, so you definitely got better at studying in general. I don’t say that taking notes by hand wasnt beneficial to you, but there are other factors at play. Maybe your note taking skills were much better and you could have had similar results with an e-ink tablet or something like that.
Another thing is that physical note taking can become costly both monetary and physical space. I returned from digital to analog but for example the app good notes is less for a year than one single notebook and you can potentially fill hundreds of notebooks and still not run out of space on your iPad. Good stationery has become very expensive.
I prefer writing to typing and have loads of notebooks, however since I got a Boox Note Go 10.3 I've gone digital and I love it.
I found when I was getting my BA degree many years ago, rewriting my text books in long hand helped me study
I'm really trying to transition mostly back to analog. 😊
I love taking hand written notes with a fountain pen, then I run the pages through a laminator to preserve them and mark them up with a colored sharpie. It works for me.😅
It's like a direct hand to brain connection. It goes deeper than typing.
I tried a digital notebook, and while it was fun, I didn't like that it didn't always upload my latest notes to the cloud. I also was asking too much of it apparently, as I like to add a lot of visual reminders to my more complicated notes.
I don't like the idea that one day the app may be defunct and I'll wake up to find all my notes locked forever in a program I can't use. That's happened a few times already, and I have plenty of notes that can't be read on modern computers.
Also, you can accidentally delete a page, never to be recovered.
When I'm writing in a notebook, I feel more focused, and I love having all my thoughts and ideas for a season in one place. I color code my notes, so that I can later transfer my notes to other themed notebooks if I think they are important enough. However, I usually remember which notebook holds whichever inane idea I came up with. I have a much harder time finding my notes on PC. Its like my brain can't fully process the vastness and yet finite space of PC and cloud storage.
To understand complicated concepts, to think things out, or to memorize I like to use pen and paper. If I have to write a memo, essay, or paper, I like typing. For storage and retrieval, I like digital.
I’ve learned paper out - lasts tape players & various things like blogs. Some systems have a place for me like phone timer.
i love taking physical notes but i’ve recently swapped over to ipad/stylus notes for my physics undergrad. i just go through SO much paper and it’s too difficult to keep it organized at that volume 😭 these days everything is submitted online anyways so it streamlines that process as well. of course school is a bit different than creative projects & i always keep my sketchbook (doubles as a commonplace) on me which helps lol
My only reason was that I am working as a CEO and have to manage lot of e-mail, call etc. I thought that digital note taking will be better. Also tried iPad with pen even with paperlike front but also decided 6 months ago to go back to paper. Not just note taking but task management as well. And some reason since that time I am even more productive. I do daily journaling since 6 years that I always kept on paper. This was my best decision to move back from digital to analog.
Those are interesting studies on paper vs. technically. I am with you, I prefer notebooks. I also find if I am using my phone to take notes, I get distracted by the notifications or phone calls & lose my thought at that moment.
I've got to ask how do you track your projects and everything with your smythson notebook? Do you just have a page dedicated to each project and put the things you need to do for it or is it more like you put some general information/starting points you want for your video or blog?
How do you keep track of the various notebooks with different topics/styles of note taking? That's been the only thing keeping me with digital, the ability to cloud sync and quick search. I would love to be on paper!
I went from paper to digital and back to paper cause I find myself getting distracted with digital Journaling. But with paper I just love hearing my pen writing against the paper and it just feels good to use paper.
I like using paper and pens instead of digital. When I take a digital note I always forget about it and end up writing it down anyway lol
I personally use a mix of analogue and digital, analogue for my own thoughts and digital fir the thoughts of others at present. I simply can't go all in on analogue because I really can't go longer than a few sentences of handwriting before my hand starts hurting due to my dyspraxia.