I am bringing back PAPER…

Although I will be sensible about introducing paper into my workflow. Paper now has a place.

I use paper for some writing exercises for mindfulness. I use a large paper moleskin book for special ‘keepers’ of my information, notes and things that I want to get back to in the future. But for everything else, I was all in on digital. I used a combination of Notion, my Notes app on my phone and a couple of other utilities that would help me gather and hold information. It was a drama keeping all of it doing what I needed it to do. It all started to piss me off today and I asked myself why? with a capital W.

So I am making changes.

Out goes Notion. It is a comprehensive business productivity app, but it was soaking up my time. I am a one-man show, so I don’t need to have Notion in my life yet.

The other apps I have reduced. I am keeping Otter – a dictation note-taking app because it is intelligent and versatile, but everything else has been kicked out of my workflow…

…apart from the Notes app on the phone. The notes app is the new centrepiece of my workflow. With the latest updates, the notes app has taken a leap further into being the perfect app. It is a simple and effective app that you need for everyday stuff, and then it can become something you can call on when you need some heavy lifting. 

I am presently heavy lifting.

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer the negative elements in your life, don’t sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy!”

Dale Carnegie

The notes app on my phone is now my equivalent of the Batman utility belt. It does everything I need it to do and synchs it across all of my devices in real-time. I can now pick up where I left off on the phone by engaging my material on the iPad or MacBook, depending on what project I am working on. It all works seamlessly.

I am not using any electronic device for my quick and dirty notes because I am bringing paper back into my workflow for precisely that.

I now have a big slab of a notepad and pen next to my equipment, and I work using my scribbles straight onto that. The pages are disposable, and I can rip them out when I am done with them and throw them in the bin. If I need to keep anything from my notes, I can scan the paper directly into my page. I can also lift my written words directly off the page, convert them into type, and slap them into my notes. Now that is smart. That is space rocket level software engineering smart for an app developer.

This takes me back to that story (possibly a myth) about NASA spending a shed load of taxpayers money to make a pen work in space. What did the Russian do?

They used a pencil. 

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

Dr Wayne Dyer

That was also space rocket engineering smart from them damn Russkies. I always liked that story because it reminds me to keep things uncomplicated, and that is why I booted out the stuff from my workflow. 

To simplify and focus. (Cheers Steve)

Keeping it simple is always the most productive way.

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