Note-Taking: Digital vs. Paper

Writing is therapy! I usually write as much as possible on my laptop because I can type as fast as I think. At the same time, my handwriting can’t keep up with my thinking speed. There is no slowing down and forgetting ideas or thoughts. On the other hand, I can reformat, re-arrange, add, and delete, which will help my thinking process which wouldn’t happen in my brain. The advantage of pen and paper is that I use different muscles and brain activities when I write, which helps me think differently. I usually use them when I need to outline my blog post, if I’m stuck or distracted on something, or if I go out in nature and only bring my physical journal.

Also, when writing journals or other ideas within my second brain, I can start connecting them. Improving my thoughts over time and generally refine easily and read them, whereas, on paper, notebooks get lost over time, and finding the right things when needed is very hard.

Read more on Journaling to Find Myself Again:

One day, DJ read some of her old journal entries and had a “cosmic” realization: she was in a toxic romantic relationship that she needed to get out of. She started writing to process her emotions and construct a path back to herself, her perspective, and a new beginning.

Currently, I have landed at either not bringing any phone or notebook when I go for a walk in nature, solely to turn off my brain or to get out of checking the phone, etc.

Other times, I bring my phone, and when I listen to a book or have a great idea (which I know I will forget if I don’t write it down), I open my Obsidian Vault and directly put it in writing.

It tested voice services like Ottr, but I noticed this is more work for me, and I always had to check if it actually understood my point, or used the right words. With Obsidian, I have searchability, and I don’t have to think about optimizing anymore. I know I will find it later when needed, as I link it to relevant ideas or books I’ve read.

The Physical Notebooks I use for weekly tasks, to mindmap, ideas, or thoughts that are less important. The different medium helps my brain to be more exploratory, or use different synapses (I guess). And if it is, I will put it back in my writing, or my Obsidian too (but that is very limited and rare).

Summarized we can say - that Paper is for: Brainstorming, walking thoughts, temporary todos and daily journal.

Where as Digital for: Long-term storage, searchable content, health logs, ideas you want to develop and anything you’ll need later.

My process is usually for a bigger article or writing:

1. Paper: initial brainstorm
2. Digital: capture the important parts (this happens long before I started the article, but even more when I have started)
3. Connecting new writing note with existing notes. See in my Second Brain what connects, what connection could be interesting to explore.
4. Re-think while transferring (don’t just copy)

Always transfer important ideas to digital.

Here’s an example for this presentation I made Knowledge Management in the Digital Age From Zettelkasten to Startup Owner.

I started off with a (createive 😉) mess, and brainstormed ideas and how I want to structure the presentation:

And then I transfered it into my digital medium which is Obsidian:

MindMap are powerful, so are digital graphs in Obsidian.

Which one do you use? Again, I use both.

Like paper, Distraction-Free Typewriter can have similar characteristics like paper in that sense, that there is nothing else you can do on that machine. Similar to the traditional type writers, that’s why there in use to this day.

Here’s my Distraction Free Typewriters:

Writing by Hand is Thinking on Paper

• How I write Daily Notes differently
• Sharing as Second Brain Note vs a Blog Post
• Writing within the App vs. a Note app
• The Lost Art of Writing as Rest - by Steven Foster

Origin: Journaling
References: Walk Everyday