

A notebook and a pen can be a highly effective personal productivity system - wenting
https://www.waterflowon.com/blog?category=1&article=43
I have seriously tried many productivity systems during my career, and I find that they all have their advantages, but they just can’t cover all my needs. Finally I had to abandon them all, and return to where I began.
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sambeau
On a similar note from 2004: Merlin Mann's "Hipster PDA"

    
    
      Building your first Hipster PDA
      1. get a bunch of 3"x5" file cards
      2. clip them together with a binder clip
      3. there is no step 3
    

[http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-
hipster-...](http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda)

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voidfiles
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw title, glad someone else
linked to it.

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fhars
My first association was this: <http://73primenumbers.com/> (earlier
discussion here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1181713> )

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kaitnieks
Actually, pen & paper have magical properties, which are probably backed up by
some psychology, which is not known to me (yet?). Obviously, things like
geometry for games & effects, drawing interface mockups and others involving
visual diagrams are much easier to do on paper, but also things like creating
project estimates by splitting it in subtasks, writing a list of features &
ideas to consider etc - basically creative induction of lists, works better on
paper even though you would think computer would be better for it, since you
can insert and move around text. It's like when I sit at the computer, my
creativity shuts, but when I sit at the paper, it starts flowing.

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rdtsc
> which are probably backed up by some psychology

Don't have actual research references, but I always remember notes I write by
hand better than the ones I type. I suspect it is a neuro-motor function of
some sort. When things are recalled the brain perhaps recalls the movement of
the fingers and that aids. It is like smell perhaps for emotional things --
very effective.

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askar_yu
hearing these two posts made my a bit happier; to be honest. I'd felt that
there is something "wrong" with me being not as comfortable in typing as I am
with pen and paper. Yes, I am more productive with plain pen and paper and I
will stick to it.

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judofyr
I only need pen and paper when I'll have to draw anything (diagrams etc). For
all other cases it's much faster and more convient to write it down in
Workflowy. I've never really liked to write things by hand, so maybe that's
the reason…

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quizbiz
How do you organize your workflowy so that things don't get lost?

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markoa
My main node in Workflowy is the work journal. The structure is year - week no
- date. Other nodes (ideas, projects, travel etc) don't get that much input so
it's easy to navigate.

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geoffw8
I recommend you buy a decent pad and pen, I have a Moleskine one next to me...
I'm almost afraid to write on it!

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MrKurtHaeusler
Moleskines are the Rolex/Montblanc of the notebook world, all brand-name with
not much behind it.

That story about Hemingway using a Moleskine is total crap.

Anything using Clairefontaine 90g paper is better, such as Quo Vadis Habana,
some Rhodias, Exacompta etc.

Especially if you use a fountain pen.

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dchest
Attention: knowing the brand of your notebook is no longer trendy. Now you
have to know the brand of the paper your notebook uses.

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v4us
and the brand of ink used in offsetting process at the printing house :-)

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bcl
I love my daily (electronic) journal, I can grep it. I love my kindle, it is
(currently) holding 93 books. But I couldn't live without my 3 subject
notebook and fountain pen. Maybe it is my age, but there is still something
special about putting ink on paper vs. typing on a keyboard that helps me
think.

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xfax
Which fountain pen, pray tell.

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bcl
Pilot 78G with a fine nib. I found it on eBay for $10 with 3 ink cartridges.
The only think I don't like about it is that it needs to be capped when not
writing.

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aaronf
So you really think software will never replace pen and paper? Surprising to
see this coming from a productivity app. What's clear is that despite
countless task managers, the to-do list problem hasn't been solved yet. Still
using pen and paper to-do lists is like still carrying a physical address
book. There are massive efficiency and satisfaction gains to be had from
digitizing to-do lists. Check out LazyMeter.com if you're interested in a
solution that's faster than pen & paper, just as simple, and actually works.

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davidw
I've trotted out this a number of times, but, well, here it is:
<http://73primenumbers.com/pencilpaper.html>

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sliverstorm
Pen and paper I find is useful only for remembering things.

If I try to use it as a part of my thought process, I find it slows me down
frustratingly so. By the time I finish sketching a 10-second doodle or making
a note, I have already invalidated the idea and come up with another, better
design/idea/process. Rinse, repeat.

I'm usually happier throwing everything around in my head, and then eventually
distilling the results.

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rooshdi
I find that dividing tasks into smaller subsets and setting 5-10 minute
countdowns for each one to be quite productive as well.

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paulnelligan
I built nift.ie a while back if you want to check it out - it's incomplete and
I think it only has one regular user, me! - but I find it very useful for
myself, which makes it worth building :D - actually I couldn't function
without it ...

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rooshdi
Great job man, looks good and works quite smoothly, only wish it had a
countdown option for sub tasks. I find that having a time limit motivates me
to get started right away and stay focused to finish before time runs out.
Maybe even have a points system to turn it into a personal game. Overall
Nift.ie works great though, you should post this and show it to HN. I'm sure
they can give you even more valuable feedback.

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paulnelligan
I already did, and didn't get much feedback :)

Anyway, right now my focus has changed - I'm launching a new service, my
second, and the whole reason I got into web development in the first place ...

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dugmartin
I've tried many, many task + notes apps and I've settled on the following
simple analog system: a small spiral bound weekly appointment notebook where
that I use to keep track of what to do and a larger spiral bound lined
notebook where I can write notes, doodle, do mockups, and work through
algorithms. It works for me.

~~~
danneu
Exact same system, here. Little notebook for general calendaring, big notebook
for specific tasks, note taking, sketching, etc.

And liberal use of checkboxes on both to trigger my OCD reward pathways.

I find computer apps to be counter-productive to me. Having another "screen"
in addition to my computer monitors gives me that import mental swap from task
management to execution. Then again, maybe I just like watching myself write.

~~~
savrajsingh
I too have the small notebook and big notebook system (let's call it SNBN).
The small notebook is a to-do list, the big notebook is for free-flowing
ideas. Online I've tried a notebook in Google docs, a tasks spreadsheet, and
workflowy, but nothing has jumped out as the clear winner.

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zwieback
Maybe not as hipster as a binder clip but I really like Rhodia notepads.

Also, to force you to slow down a bit and put more concious effort into your
notekeeping you can use a fountain pen. We were required to use those as kids
in Germany, not sure if that's still the case.

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jjm
+1 on notebook and paper, I keep one next to me at all times with a really
nice collection of pens. Ideas, rants, future ideas to flesh out later, words,
drawings, scribble, an outlet of creativity, my tao, my struggles, my desires,
all in a tiny book...

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nodata
If you want to back up your paper notebook, LiveScribe is a nice option:
<http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/>

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akat
I wonder where LiveScribe fits into people's personal productivity system. Is
anyone using it successfully?

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Zehee
Interesting point, maybe I should try it, because it sounds very reasonable.

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ctdonath
There's a reason this subject is news: so many have moved away from it for
good reason that it's now a novelty.

Maybe we'll have a subsequent thread about assembler being highly effective.

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falcolas
And at the same time, there are a lot of people so mired in the various GTD
schemes and utilities that they aren't actually getting any work done.

Writing something on paper is not more or less efficient than typing something
into the computer. In fact, it's sometimes a nice palate cleanser when you've
just spent hours mired in code.

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ujjvala
I agree.

