Why nothing beats pen & paper for my creativity, reflection and getting things done
Do you have a thing about notepads?
I do. Whilst I use a lot of digital tools for writing and capturing ideas, I couldn’t live without my notepads. Nothing beats writing by hand to really capture the quality or energy of an idea, a story or an observation.
I had a great chat with my friend Cali last week when we geeked out over our love of stationery and pads. Like Cali I’m a bit of an obsessive - I’m very intentional about using the right pad for the right situation.
This morning I’m working in the coffee shop with three notepads at my side:
Pocket (Moleskine or Leuchtturm). This comes with me everywhere, seven days a week. Ideas, observations, Good Times. This pad is My Life! I get through four a year and keep these in a drawer. There’s gold in these pages.
The red pad (Leuchtturm). This one’s for reflection and inner work. I’m using it as I rethink my life/ work life. Serious thinking happens here. If it goes into the red book, it’s a sign that it matters! I’m also using it to write down the important stuff on the Conversational Leadership class I’m taking at the moment.
My daily desk pad (cheap supermarket pad). I use this to record everything in my daily client meetings and calls. Anything important from here goes into a Google Doc. Then these get thrown out when I’m done.
And whilst I rely on the superb TeuxDeux app for my to-do list - that sits across all my devices - I still use paper and pen (Sharpie on an A5 scrap of paper) for my daily must-dos. I love crossing out what I’ve done!