One of the worst afflictions to have is the ability to argue with yourself into oblivion. I’ve done that exact thing on the least important of all subjects: note-taking. Well, I don’t believe note-taking is useless, but given the sort of renaissance on the topic, I know I am not the only one. For instance, what to do about the seeming GAP between taking analog or digital notes?

Some choose the extreme. They go “all in” on either paper or digital tools, others, (and I believe is the majority) frequently cycle through note-takings current and past technologies and (hopefully) just choose the ones they need the most in their situation. I am unfortunate enough to go down the many, many rabbit-holes—it is practically a burrow—on how to take good notes and on what kind of medium for what particular outcome. Some good authorities on the matter are actually paper-enthusiasts (some may say existentialists though that is in jest)—@Annahavron who runs the blog analogoffice.net, and Rachelle from Rachelle in Theory who has a course I wish I could spend money on just for the curiosity of it. I find the advice I learned from them to be solid in understanding this gap, but leaves me some questions when that gap between digital and analog is not so “obvious.”

Three Steps to Mind the Gap

Step 1) Its a Brainstorm, not a Brain-Dribble

I believe Rachelle is right when she so often talks about working through something on paper first. Ideas, plans, events, anything that may take extra steps, should be considered on paper. Havron suggests the same thing because the paper itself is a finite space, without distractions, that lets you be messy.¹ Essentially, the physicality of working a project out by hand allows you to focus on the project itself. It doesn’t mean you need to keep the piece of paper, you can scan and recycle it, or just transcribe the action items you identified in the process.

If learning new material, it goes without saying that writing it down is often better. If you are in the practice for it, writing out arguments makes you better recall what was said but also what was meant by the author. I’ve recently been handwriting my reading notes and even if I do not finish a book by the time it is seminar, I have lots to say about it despite that.

Step 2) Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity

If I were to sum up most of my troubles, it is not knowing what simplicity “actually” means. Simplicity is doing what works with things that have worked, and the feeling of fulfillment that comes from just getting the project done.

If you know what “#RS" or “#LR” means in your notes, do not change it. If you require a new obsidian vault for a new project, do not listen to everyone who says you need “one vault.” Same for notebooks. If you have been using a program and it has not bothered you the slightest, do not change it. Do the bare minimum you need to keep going. No need to “revamp” the system. If anything, it means you may be avoiding it. That’s how I do most of my procrastinating actually. We use both analog and digital tools because of the integrated world we live in today, but it also means there are many “options” out there that make us feel as though we may not be getting things done fast enough or aesthetically enough. I love experimentation, but, experiments are best done when there are few variables.

This tip is to keep the “woops I collect [insert stationery/electronic item] now, but don’t use them” kind of mentality. Get creative, and have fun with the things you do have, and do trial runs at appropriate times. Ask your friends (better if in person!) how they go about doing things. It is how I lightened my reading load by trying something new with my reading notes. I no longer use page flags, color-coding to oblivion, but book darts for important chapters, pencil for the margins, and then write out passages, observations, summaries, and notes, in a notebook.

Step 3) When in Doubt, Write it Out

This is for anything. It doesn’t need to be by hand, it can be typed. if you have a problem, use what is in front of you immediately. If it works being digital, great, if not, you can move it somewhere more convenient. And vice versa. You don’t need to be a purist. I believe in experimenting, and one of my more expensive experiments is E ink technologies such as E-readers and E-notebook tablets. They allow me to “write it out” digitally, but without some fears that come along with certain information. This actually can be the opposite for other people, but it is the experimentation process that is important here. Do what you know works, if something is ruining that simplicity you once had, write out why, what is out there to try? Can anything make it better? Or is this a limitation you must deal with?

E-CODA

E-ink technology kind of complicates the gap between analog and digital. Inherently, it is digital, but the process of using paper, can be mimicked in rather useful ways. Whenever there is a conversation about “note-taking” systems or the best way to finish a project, E-ink seldom comes into view. One, it’s because they are niche, and two, it’s because they are expensive in time and money. The time part is important here because of the sort of ambiguity this piece of tech has. E-readers are the better known, but E-notebooks are not. It takes time to adjust to a new piece of technology or software.

To illustrate my point, there are three scenarios of how I take notes for reading after so much time spent on it:

1. Physical Book

I hand write notes in my Supernote Nomad because I want to attach my notes as a PDF into Zotero where I inevitably use to write papers on my laptop. I often still pencil in marks that help break down the text, but only if its a book I own. Having a digital and persistent copy of handwritten notes of physical books within Zotero, is amazing for how I work as an academic. It is also great with borrowed books too.

2. PDF

If I have a PDF with stable page numbers equal to a print book, I annotate with my Note Air 3C within the Zotero Android app, because of my robust color coding system is helpful when looking for particular information at a glance. Zotero also allows you to make a “notes” file for the annotations that you made in the document. I do not type these annotations, but write them by hand using the “handwrite to text” feature available as a keyboard input. This is the second most ideal way of taking reading notes for me, because it can be quick and flexible and immediately has stable page numbers. If I can take my time, I treat the PDF as a physical book and try to handwrite as much as possible in the note file made on the Supernote for that book. And of course, that file is linked to the citation and PDF in Zotero.

3. E-book

If have an e-book on Kindle, I use either my Paperwhite Kindle or my Note Air 3C to read and annotate. I then export those annotations using the Kindle to PC desktop and put them in Zotero. If possible, it is best if I take handwritten notes, and link them to Zotero as well. ePUB’s are the least ideal because of the lack of stable pages.I use Google Book’s search (or using InterLibrary Loan to get a physical copy) to find the phrase to a stable page number. It is just a little bit of extra work if it turns out a book is important for some piece of research I am doing.

The goal of my use of e-ink is to get the benefits of writing by hand (memory recall, better engagement, better planning to be able to do it), and the immediacy and expanse that digital tools provide (uploading the notes to Zotero to link to the citation, using essentially perfect stationery for every session for little decision fatigue, no paper “wasted”). There are also benefits from using a screen that doesn’t emit light, but reflects it like paper. Once I paired back how I annotated after being hesitant about it at first, I got more out of what I was reading. This all came at the expense of time, of trial and error, but it was worth it when an issue came up. I wasn’t getting the most out the reading material I had to go through each semester. I am not sure if anything will change once I graduate, given that I have a prospect of a job requiring me to research often lined up, but that is an unknown I’ll get to eventually. How do you mind the gap?

A lot of the research I do is influenced by my belief in what imagination can do. I love science fiction, history, and especially the imaginative power of the arts as a whole. It is why—unsurprisingly—I like niche technology. The beauty of niche technology is the “taking back” of technology as a skill and art form, it is both a refreshing of old tech, and a curiosity that challenges technological determinism with craftsmanship. Niche technology that is “old” or seemingly obsolete like the famous iPod, Alphasmart Neo 2, Nintendo 3DS, or I’ll argue, pen and paper. Or even technology that is niche now, such as E-ink or open source projects going back to the foundations of dedicated single-use technology. These two examples of niche tech are often used by those who follow Cal Newport’s idea of digital minimalism. The idea of using technology deliberately and if possible for a single purpose. I’ve skimmed Newport’s book Digital Minimalism, it is a rather popular idea for anyone and everyone who is either: One, wanting to be more productive, or two, wanting to be more present. I tend to see conversations about the best note taking applications, the best e-ink tablets of such-and-such year, or even what is the best planner and what should people put in their “journaling ecosystem.”¹

The most concerning aspects of these communities is the unhelpful conversations of “over-consumption” and also the blind belief in “productivity.” Particularly in the analog stationery community (notebooks/pens/stickers/etc) there is a rather mind-numbing conversation about “overconsumption” a term I am sure other hobby spaces have felt the presence of. The issue of the conversation is that it only bubbles down to: “Let people be happy” or “We need to be more mindful to what we put in our lives,” all while a majority of YouTuber’s who spearhead the conversation then do a sponsorship deal. I don’t think there is an issue of “over consumption” when it feels like that is what is supposed to be happening.² The only remedy is in craftsmanship, and the respect for the time it takes to truly make something. Which means, being patient and steadfast in using what we have. It is hard to be mindful of what we buy when most people only share what they buy and not what they do. Yes, be mindful of the things we use, but who really challenges themselves to do that?

This brings me to productivity. The idea that we need to output consistent work on a regimented basis, and that anytime not optimizing, is a waste of time. Which means people can blaze through their options by introducing new tools and tech too soon and abandon them just as quickly. It is also a great way to procrastinate. I’ve done it countless times, and it is also one of the ways in which I feel I have wasted money. Not overconsumption, we are always overconsuming (and I do think that should change) but I am investing in an idea that will never be: perfection. That is a waste. Perfection is the issue at stake here for both “overconsumption” and “productivity;” perfection is the antithesis of the future. If we can only imagine ourselves in the future as perfect, there is no real way of progress. We are missing out on a lot more.

I love the “seasons” of a year. I actually often use things more when I put my life in that way of thinking. Not just a way of counting time, but being aware. I only truly look forward to seasons. When it comes to stationery, that is one way I have been consistent in documenting my life and using up the items I’ve purchased. When it comes to the electronic devices I use, those are for experimentation and skill-building. But I try to keep an element of humanity in all of them. I use ‘em up. There was a great conversation on how “human” eink technology is, which I agree with. While they discuss how e-ink is a technology that aims to blend in rather than stand out, all while bridging the gap of digital output and analog thinking—it is actually human because someone thought to ask, what would digital paper look like? Community led-design is pivotal in developing solutions that are impactful, considered, and human. It is the designer going to the community and asks “what problems do you wish to solve” instead of identifying the problems for them and finding a solution. The problems are truly considered from those who experience them. The seasonality of life requires various technologies to get certain things done, to answer the problems that arise throughout the year. To be with our loved ones, and to be with ourselves. These technologies are tools, we must be craftsmen of our own lives to be skilled enough to use them.

I’ll end with an anecdote of a tinkerer I admire. On the subreddit of r/writerDeck, you will find the many curious creations by Un Kyu Lee, an innovator in the space creating dedicated, unique devices towards writing, what he calls the Micro Journal. He made the Micro Journal for himself, but has since developed various versions which have come from the input of the community. Lee’s ability to merge his love of the typewriter form as well as the needs of contemporary writers to use digital word processors away from the distraction found on the internet is unparallel in comparison to Apple-clone’s surrounding e-ink and writing solutions today, like Astrohaus’ FreeWrite or the ReMarkable team. Unlike them, he provides the Micro Journal, with open sourced files both in printing and gathering the resources of the hardware as well as the software he has made. For limited runs Lee will make a custom Micro Journal for you and ship it from his home and tinkerspace in Italy. Recently, in a post ironically titled “Looking to buy my dream writerDeck” Lee laments that he has been dejected to see Micro Journals he has made be immediately put up for sale once they have been delivered. Lee, feeling cynical, “farted around” and made an ironic, sort-of basic “dream writerDeck” with an LCD screen that closes onto a ortholinear keyboard. This ironic tinkering lead to people continuing the cycle he once thought was encouraging, people going in the comments of this post with the “meta-ironic” writerDeck he made, stating “this is my perfect writer deck.” When thinking about the work Lee puts into his creations, the efforts he makes in detailing the process of making it, and even providing an accessible labor for those who do not have the necessary tools to make the Micro Journals themselves, it is such a sadness he has to witness his craft get dumped down the toilet of the perfectionists and the over-productives of the world. Niche technology is overwhelmingly lucky to have such dedicated craftsmen both new and seasoned, working on producing solutions together. We must foster a culture that respects the craftsman, especially the craftsman invested in open tech and community directed design. No one seems to know the gifts of conscious and inspired creation, they can hardly chew it as they gulp it down with the fizzy stuff of dopamine and novelty.

I’ve been driving myself mad by not knowing where to start with my mountain of blog drafts and ideas waiting to be edited or even started. I thought I had to make the best “first blog post ever,” but it turns out, I want this to be more casual than anything else. I want to experiment. I want to write more as a habit (one of the goals of this blog actually) , and while I have the urge, material, and the time—I keep getting in the way of my own goals. I watched a great video recently that introduced me to the idea of this quadrant of ambition and curiosity, originally defined by Anne-Laure Le Cunff where basically, we can get trapped to perfectionism, escapism, or worse cynicism. These are feelings I often feel, but was interested in what “experimental” mindset would mean to me.

I like the idea of maintaining an experimental mindset as much as possible. From my own experience, it really does boil down to habit and framing of mind. Experimenting means being able to abandon what I think is proper and be okay with failing, and maintaining (my often overflowing) sense of creativity. I am the only one who cares. That is a mantra I’ve been saying throughout my graduate degree thus far, and I mean to keep it till I see myself having fun along my way to the finish line.

With that, I have had a TIME trying to get my head wrapped around this particular issue I am having. Planning. Journaling. Researching. Notetaking. My favorite topic and thing to do is to research various notetaking methods and processes. It has become my number one way to procrastinate. I am stagnating! And admittedly, most of my drafted blogs will not see the light of day outside of my Obsidian Vault because it is simply me arguing on the merits of analog versus digital notes, among other things. I am determined to experiment. It may be good to use this blog as an accountability buddy, a quick check-in, plus any other things I find myself wanting to write about. Thanks for attending this red-ribbon cutting!

Ciao, Tariq