A Time for Paper?
The folks over at DIYPlanner.com are really into paper, and because I wrote a piece for them, it caused me to really analyze what I do in my life with paper, and what I do electronically. I’ve come to realize that in my case, there’s a time for paper and a time for a more electronic means.
MindMapping
I am a fiend for the process of using mind maps for visual thinking. I draw out little mind maps on paper when making a decision, such as whether or not to purchase a new piece of computer gear. I use mind maps to help understand the process flow of things in my group, which helps because I can often see things through these drawings that I don’t catch when starting with a linear, list-based mode.
And in this case, I use paper for the right-brained part of mind-mapping, but then I use MindManager6 by MindJet to get the map into something more useful and something I can pass on to others.
Lists
I have two flavors of lists: things I might need to remember for a short shelf-life, like a few days, and then things I might want as reference for a period of time, such as library books and movies that people recommend to me in the course of a week. For the short-term lists, I use paper, because it’s so much faster and easier to whip out my handy pad of paper and write a note than it is to struggle with the current state of PDA technology out there. Sure, I can use the Graffiti language, and yes, I’ve heard of Tablet PCs, but I can sit on my notepad, bend it, mangle it, and it still willingly accepts and instantly recognizes my writing.
In the case of Getting Things Done, I use 37 Signals’ Backpack software. I use this because it gives me a stronger, more permanent record of the things I’ve got left to do, and the things I’ve completed. Having this available in electronic format lets me move around tasks and priorities without muddying up a paper list.
Project Management
I’m not sure who’s doing this with paper formats, but more power to you. I use strictly digital means to manage projects, because paper dies about as soon as you print it, and managing projects (with more than one person involved) is a very fluid endeavor. I need something electronic and updatable.
Drawing
I love drawing and illustrating, and I’ve got a graphics tablet attached to my Mac, but I’ve recently come to accept that I get much better art out of my efforts if I start with paper, scan the illustration into a program, and then do the finishing work online. No matter how sensitive my graphics tablet is, there’s something much more controlled in my ability to put lines to paper. All my painting on the other hand, is 100% digital. I can’t stand cleaning brushes, getting charcoal out of my clothes, etc. I much prefer electronic formats for the messier media.
In Review
So in the short examples above, you start to see a theme. When it involves something a little more right brain or creative, I tend to use the paper format of a process first, but then convert eventually to digital. If it’s something more left-brain or project/GTD oriented, I prefer to use digital tools. There’s a hybrid ground in there, as well, and in that way, I imagine it’s like lots of things in life. Sometimes it’s easier to do one, and other times, the other.
What are your preferences? How do you use paper in your day? Or do you?
–Chris Brogan writes about self-improvement and creativity at [chrisbrogan.com].
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Comments
Kelvin Quee says on May 9th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
It seems that you have a very strong inclination towards electronic form of organising. I’ll be writing from another PoV soon.
paul merrill says on May 9th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Good tips, Chris.
I went from using a Palm to using little notepads. But my computers are indispensible for so many things. It’s definitely a both/and situation.
Krissa says on May 10th, 2006 at 9:03 am
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I’ve gotten utterly out of the habit of using paper; after a year working as an online writing tutor while working on a dissertation, I now type very quickly, and writing on paper seems inexcuseably time-consuming. On top of that, I have osteoarthritis in my hands (already at a young age), and writing on paper for even brief periods of time can be very painful.
And yet, I can’t help feeling I’ve lost something. Even when doing simple thought-to-language tasks, like typing my lists on Backpack, I feel spaced-out and less focused than I used to feel during all those years in high school, college, and grad school when I was writing notes, drafting papers, and planning my daily agenda on paper. I can tell that an entirely different part of my brain engages when I’m writing by hand (especially since I once took great pride in the aesthetic quality of my manuscript and handwriting) than when I’m typing something onto a keyboard. I think the lyrical, chatty quality that my prose once had has been replaced by a crisper, more economic — but perhaps less readable — style. And I wonder whether I’m making the same creative connections I once made.
To me, that writing by hand taps into our artistic, creative minds is at the heart of the paper versus electronic dilemma. If I had a choice, I’d go back to paper for at least some of my work. In the meantime, it seems to me, we are moving inexorably toward a less-paper culture. I can’t help but wonder what we’ll lose, ultimately, in the transition.
Claire Tompkins says on May 11th, 2006 at 4:24 am
Chris,
I think it’s time for us hybrids (mutts?) to come out of the closet! Sometimes clients (and even colleagues) will look askance at me when I say I use my Palm for appointments, contacts and lists, but I use paper for daily to do lists and information I need now (i.e., posted on my monitor). As if I’m pitiably unable to make up my mind between the two camps.
I think not only does each medium have its strengths and weaknesses, but each user has her own needs, natural preferences, abilities and quirks. I think the best productivity solutions are the ones that don’t try to make you into someone else but that refine and enhance the way you already do things.