2019-02-12 18:33:58
===================

This post is a response to [cmccabe's rant][1]. Or more accurately, a small
part of it.

> I should probably be more proactive about
> my response, and maybe swing the pendulum
> back even further by carrying pen and paper
> with me.

Do it! You should check out the Get-it-Done-Guy's Quick Tips to Work Less and
Do More (wow that's a lot to type) podcast episodes about this:

1. [Have a master system][2]
2. [Use a table of contents][3] (and threading).

I think my notebook is one of these?

    https://www.amazon.com/Journal-Notebook-Hardcover-Business-Stickers/dp/B01N8ZXUX7/

But find something that works for you? I also got some rubber bands and made a
pen case by hot-gluing some denim together, because I have two pencils and a
retractible eraser and then two Staedtler markers with me.

If you don't want to read/listen to the podcasts:

1. Do everything in one notebook. Everything. Notes for work. Project ideas.
   Todo. Grocery lists. Stick it in the one notebook.
2. Use a table of contents. Reserve the first page (or two) for your ToC. Each
   project gets its own page. Starting a new project? Start a new page. Go to the
   ToC and put the project name and the page number.
3. Use threading. You start project A and fill up two pages. Then you start
   project B, so you go back to your ToC and update it to say:

       Project A - p1-2
       Project B - p3

   Now you fill up a couple of pages of notes. But wait! Project A needs you
   again!

   Never fear! You can just start another new page. Now you update your ToC to
   read this:

       Project A - p1-2, 6
       Project B - p3-5
   
   But... turning to the ToC will be super annoying, right? Simple! All you
   have to do is go to the top left of your *new* Project A page and add an
   arrow to the left with "from p2" beside it

      <-- From p2

      Project A
      =========

   Now go back to page 2 and add an arrow to the right:


               - 2 -                  cont'd p6 -->

    Now you can start at page 1, read page 2, and know that the next page is
    page 6. Easy peasy.


There may be some other points in that system, but those are the high points,
and what I use. I have journal entries, some conversations with my wife, notes
from church, amusing things that my children have said...

Because I was concerned about the thing that often happens when you leave a
job, and making sure that I didn't have important information on the same
sheets as work stuff, I decided to flip my notebook over and work from the back
- that way if/when I leave my job I can simply cut out the offending pages and
leave them behind.

Maybe this would help your sad state of digital devices!


[1]: gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/%7ecmccabe/11-producer-to-consumer.txt
[2]: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/organization/how-to-create-one-master-system-to-organize-your-life
[3]: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/organization/get-even-more-organized-with-a-table-of-contents

ETX