As a 2.0 person, I can’t help but to say that the top one reason to use hi tech and not paper is…

Search.

However, if you can provide a way to find that one note written a week ago in a 150 page hand notebook, I’ll surely throw away my PDA ;-)

Great blog by the way!

Ah! Good one. Well I don’t know if this really counts, but I tear pages out of my notepad as and when they are no longer applicable, so though I may have to flick through a few pages to find what I want, it’s never an excessive number.

One more thing that speaks in favor of my PDA is flow. I have never been comfortable with a paper calendar. When I get into the flow, I hate to keep appointments in mind. I want to stay in the flow state of mind until an alarm goes off.

Oxford Easybook, perfect paper GTD system, plus indexing. Try its Denos 3.0 software.

I wrote a similar post in the tech blog of the first Italian newspaper. Check it out :D

I fully agree with you. Searching in a notepad could be easier if you use indexing. Additionally, it’s faster and easier to capture things with a pen than with a keyboard (drawings, mindmaps) and it also avoids the psychological barrier represented by a laptop, in a meeting, between two people.

Incidentally, I published an article some months ago, that could have been a spin-off of this one.

I pre-number my pages and keep an index at the back working my way to the middle. The index looks like:

Bus sketching 401, 523, 542
Blog ideas 321, 322, 401

That’s my solution to the analog search question.

Why not use both? I use an iPhone and a Filofax. Contact information is one area where my iPhone shines over the Filofax. I can’t stand not being able to reorganize paper solutions (the only one that has this feature is Rollabind). But there are other things a digital device can do that you’d be hard pressed to accomplish with paper and pen:

• Web browsing
• GPS/location/map lookup
• Telephony
• Media player
• Calculations (beyond basic arithmetic)
• Photography

@Dave that’s a clever approach. I’m fortunate in that most of my work is in the here-and-now so I rarely have to flip back through all my pages to find old notes.

@Michael exactly. Why not use both? A lot of people (myself included at one point) feel it’s necessary to have one item that does everything. It’s not necessarily easier or quicker that way.

Agree that lack of search is problem, as is lack of backup. Losing a paper appointment book can be a disaster. On the other hand, I’ve never lost a paper appointment book in all the years I’ve used them, and I didn’t use search that often on my Palm (have an iPhone now). Guess nothing is perfect. Good article though.

While you make very good points, I don’t think it’ll ever catch on. PDA’s and other smart phones (like the iPhone) are here to stay and only going to get more popular. Plus, guys might not have enough space to carry pen and paper around if they’re not wearing a coat. It’s easy to fit a phone in your bucket or clip it to your belt, but adding a notepad in there will just make it too bulky.

@Jacinda you don’t really believe this, do you? I mean the big and bulky thing. My notebook (diary, address book, notepad, street map…) and a pen hooked on is pretty much the same size that my Palm was. But I don’t need to haul around hub and power supply.

@Jacinda you have a point but I should say that a paper based approach isn’t tied just to notepads. I can write down a treasure trove of ideas, information and thoughts on one single piece of paper. Fold that up and nothing compares in size.

I definitely vote for using both. If you are at a party, a pen and scrap of paper is usually more effective than a PDA. But in another setting the PDA will be on the top. I think it all goes down to making the right choices about what tool you use and when to use it. There will never be a perfect match to all needs so getting a balance is the key. I personally use both and I make every effort to put everything into electronic form. It’s time consuming at times but those notes and ideas are very useful later.

The biggest reason I like electronics is that they can send reminders about appointments and previous obligations. I am terrible at remembering what day I was supposed to meet so and so, etc. But I fully relate with the notion that often TOO much time is spent looking for the next best tool to keep track of your life. Pen and a paper is usually a great tool. Additionally, consider posting a small white board on your wall.

Tage reminders are indeed useful but usually I review my planner each Sunday to see what appointments I have during the week. And I review daily the appointments for that day afterwards so I get reminded of everything. If you do need an alarm you can set up your mobile phone for it. And if i really need an event with a reminder I put it into iCal and then sync it with my phone. I am keen for both, but if I had to choose one I would ditch the phone rather than my daily planner.

I can see how having reminders using electronic tools can be especially handy, but because I review what is on my paper based weekly planner on a regular basis, getting a reminder five minutes before a meeting is due to start isn’t really a necessity.

Hurrah for paper! I followed James here from the Life Optimizer discussion about trusted systems. One reason I keep going back to paper is that I’ve found I think, brainstorm, analyze, outline and write ideas better on paper. I edit, research, fill in, and organize ideas better on computer. So I use paper as my basic system – a planner, a notebook, a few file folders for loose notes. I transfer the stuff that I’m going to develop to the computer, and the transferring actually becomes part of the development. Then I get to trash (er… recycle) that piece of paper, which gives me tangible evidence of having done something. Maybe a bit primary level, but I work really well with tangible rewards.

As someone just starting down the GTD blackhole I truly appreciate this point. As I debate within myself as to what software, gadget, new laptop may help me be effective, the pad of paper and the pen already on the desk that I have always relied on just hadn’t occurred to me!

Duhhh!

I must agree that paper is better. I believe that what we think, we create and when we write things down we become it and create it. Putting it into a PDA, PC or notebook means it is easily forgotten. It does not have soul.

I’m a non executive director of three companies, and do consultancy for a few others. I’ve had smartphones, iPods, Google calendar and so on, but the paper diary works for me.

In terms of indexing, I have an A4 book per client – each meeting starts on a new page, with the date of the meeting in the top right, and a plan (not list) of the attendees at the top left. I can take notes, make to-do lists, and even draw diagrams as I go.

I am regularly in meetings where the technocrats try to demonstrate how they can get their hands on the appropriate documentation quickly, and am used to them being shocked when I can look up things faster.

OK, I’m sounding like a technophobe – quite the opposite – my degrees are in mathematics and computation, and I’ve been a CTO for two start-ups. I’m writing this from a little Linux EeePC, rather than the Mac or the Windows boxes downstairs… I find that computers are great for structured data – customer databases, accounts, spreadsheets – and for formal presentations… but for general organization and keeping notes of meetings and phone calls, I’ll stick with my books and pen.

It really does come down to what kind of notes you need to take, where you get them from and what kind of an environment you do your work in. It would be silly to say one thing is best for everything. Unfortunately I thought I could put everything in one place and I wont admit just how very much time I wasted last year searching and testing many different programs and services.

I am just recently converted back to paper for most of my plans and it is such a relief. Also incorporating white boards and chalk boards into my daily routine has been heaven. But there is some tech, gems I know I wont ever give up now that I’ve found them and could never translate to paper. I just want to know why I the hell I had to go through so much waste and frustration to get here!

I agree with Mark Harrison. Whilst I am a Mac chap and very much on the tech side, my degree is in ICT and I specialized in productivity software (GTD and other type software solutions to you and me). I have been so overwhelmed lately with the amount of projects, commitments and exciting things I’m involved in that my iPhone/Mac screens could not cope!

I loved using my clipboard to get down ideas but the larger Filofax is rather good for both the notes and the organization of notes. I still rely on the computer and iPhone for calendar and address book duties but my Filofax is very much a project center.

All I need to do is learn to read my writing!