Do you still use a pen and paper to take down notes and navigate your way through tasks? Good news – it will actually help you and is a great 
complement to using digital means of increasing your productivity and task / time management.
I’ve talked about my personal use of notes before and how I now use a Midori notebook as a means for brainstorming and other work that I prefer to to by hand – and is usually accomplished more quickly than its digital alternative.
One of the main reasons I like pen and paper is that I can break a lot of rules when I’m writing stuff down. If I’m brainstorming an idea with a mind map or by just writing stuff down, I can fill in between the lines. I can link things together with circles and take up as much space as I want in whatever mish-mash of methods I choose. Lifehacker
Not only does using pen and paper just work for some people but it can be really handy to have a method that is ALWAYS available for getting ideas out of your head and somewhere that you can see them or refine them later. It’s a bit like the GTD process of getting tasks and thoughts out of your head so that you are not using mental space and computation working on them either on purpose or subconsciously.
Speaking of GTD:
Paper, says the productivity expert David Allen, is “in your face.” Its physical presence can be a goad to completing tasks, whereas computer files can easily be hidden and thus forgotten, he said. Some of his clients are returning to paper planners for this very reason, he added. NYtimes.com
This is another good reason that having a notebook is helpful in your day to day life – it’s not hidden away and there is no avoiding it.
If you don’t like the idea of carrying around a notebook, try just a notecard. I’ve known some people that kept a stack of 3″ x 5″ notecards and used one per day – listing out their top tasks and adding to it as needed. It’s not my preferred method, but it takes up little space and works well if you create the habit of using it every day.
If you’re trying to go “all digital” or feel pushed to give up the notebook, don’t worry about it! And if you’ve never thought about having a notebook or notecard, you just may want to give it a shot!
