One Month with a Notebook in My Pocket
Similar to many others on this site, I've made the choice of carrying multiple, sometimes older devices, around without me to avoid needing to use my phone for everything in my life. It's been a little over a month now that I've started carrying a paper notebook and pen with me wherever I go. After trying several different combinations of books, each with their own unique purpose, I realized that what's best for me was to keep it simple. I now carry two in a pocket-sized leather binder: One Field Notes book for writing down my everyday tasks, and another for everything else. Mainly free-form notes, keeping track of interesting thoughts throughout the day, or anything else I need to jot down.
And I can't ignore the assortment of pens I've tried as well. This was more difficult to decide on, as I needed something that I both enjoyed writing with and that fit comfortably in my pocket. From Paper Mate, to Lamy, to Japanese pens and pencils that I had never heard of before. I can't help coming back to the good ol' fashioned Bic Crystal. I love fountain pens, but if I had to choose one type of pen for the rest of my life, it's the Crystal.
I've come to really enjoy having an assortment of physical devices with me over just using my phone for everything. Yes, I still have to carry a smartphone for several reasons, but having these additional tools has resulted in me using them instead of my phone at every possible opportunity. Writing down most of my thoughts throughout the day has me feeling more in tune with my brain. Plus, just the act of physically writing things down on pen and paper helps me to memorize things so much better. I've realized that it's not so much about writing something down so that you don't have to remember, but more so that writing it down is what allows you to remember.
As January comes to a close, I'm starting this next month with a few more adjustments to this system. I want to implement some aspects of bullet journalism to my tasks book. I stumbled upon this video on modifying a notebook that includes some techniques that I think would benefit my current system. I also want practice writing down my thoughts even more. Write the time down next to them as well. Keep a daily log of everything that I believed important at the time.