Why I moved from note apps to pen and paper? on record keeping
Tech Addict
I am addicted to screens and technology. Just like you, I am a zombie to the algorithms. It is not my fault, as these tech companies like FB, Google, and Microsoft have spent billions of dollars researching human behavior and hijacking our natural thought patterns and boredom cycle to feed new information they want directly into our brains. So, let's be careful not to lose our happiness to someone else's dream. However, counteracting this force is also possible if we become choosy in what we are going to search, look at, and remember. This is why I bombard my blog every day with new ideas that are worth remembering, instead of calisthenic ads.
My record keeping habit
Everyone needs record keeping. If you are going to be a king, there must be a record of all your peasants, taxpayers, and numbers of soldiers, their place of living, etc., etc. Otherwise, your memory will not suffice. Part of any professional body is to maintain good records; otherwise, sophisticated systems cannot function. So, if you are trying to live a life, other than like a monk, you need records to keep everything in line. Memory is notoriously unreliable, and every civilization started with some form of record keeping at its core.
So, when I started writing this blog, I needed a place to keep my thoughts as they would arise in unusual places, like in the bathroom or when out for a walk. It seems the phone was the correct place to go, so I saved these thoughts on the phone in a note app. It was a harmless habit at first. Other than ease of access, there was no advantage over a book. But recently, I have noticed that this system has more problems than a traditional book. So, I moved to pen and paper.
Why I moved to pen and paper.
These apps are too complicated; a simple notebook is elegant by design. There are no unusual pop-ups demanding your attention when your book is open in front of you, but with the phone, I would always end up watching YouTube after 5 minutes of writing. There are so many other apps demanding attention that there were not enough times per day I was motivated to open the note app. The pen and paper feel remarkably physical. After a few days of continuous journaling, I can see ideas in my brain have skyrocketed in number. There are so many things that I have noted down, that during the day, I often come back to it to savor myself with a thought. I can call it a treasure trove, a fertile ground, and a philosophical garden. Part of the reason why lies in its structure. I can flip through an entire month of thoughts in a few seconds. Every thought is in a designated place, and I can create maps and connections of ideas, as they are all there staring at me each time I open the book. Naturally as it is very rewarding act to put it on paper, it has become a habit. I can literally see the notebook is getting bigger each and every day creating an illusion of continuity.
I would not go back to the notetaking on the phone. I am sure, if you are a person, you should do the same. Let us give less opportunity to these tech scammers, to steal our time. A book is a proper place for a thought to be planted. I wonder it would become a forest in a decade.
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