Ben Brooks, Thinking Analog:
The way this works is simple: use a notebook and a pen when you need to work through a problem of any kind.
Not a tablet with a stylus. Not a notetaking app. Not a pencil. Paper and pen.
…
I typically juice the cycle by writing a heading, a date, or any one liner associated with what I want to think about to get things moving. From there the mess happens, scribbles and words. They are disjointed but reconfigured with arrows. In all of that, my thinking solidifies, and the idea takes hold.
(via Patrick Rhone)
Endorsed! Apps, “tools for thought”, etc. are great – don’t get me wrong. But, we all contain multitudes.
Some issues are well-defined and suited to computer-thinking. Other problems are wily and demand a hands-on approach. These thrive on “offline” thinking, gesturing to ourselves, thinking aloud, feeling the texture of paper, and engaged limited interaction modes (🤓).
Previously, taking notes on paper vs. glass:
The sensation & constraint of paper still beats glass. There is something about the resistance, the scratch, of a good pen across a finite sheet of paper. It’s easier for me to write “well” (opinions on my penmanship vary) on paper than on glass; something about the permanence of the ink or that my eyes are considerably higher resolution than glass displays. Filling notebook after notebook over the years and decades is vastly fulfilling in a way digital notes and writing aren’t.
