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> Buy a whiteboard and write the goals for the day on it, for instance As a solo dev the biggest productivity booster for me, from a physical and mental aspect
by petargyurov 7y ago
> Buy a whiteboard and write the goals for the day on it, for instance
As a solo dev the biggest productivity booster for me, from a physical and mental aspect, was purchasing a whiteboard. It honestly feels like some sort of hack. Prior to having one I would use pen and paper but that didn't quite scratch my itch - if I made a mistake I would have to scribble it out and that space was now wasted. I can't quite explain why but on a whiteboard my brain juices just flow. Made a mistake? Wipe it off. Need more space? Wipe it off (or purchase additional whiteboards).
My high school maths teacher once said something that has stuck with me since - "When you're stuck on a problem, start fresh on a blank piece of paper." - he must've meant a whiteboard ;)
- globular-toast 7y agoMy PhD supervisor had me do all my writing in pencil. I still do it to this day. Being able to erase is great, but I prefer the permanence and limitless space of paper.
- enriquto 7y agotry a fountain pen with erasable blue ink
- cpach 7y agoI had no idea that erasable ink (for fountain pens) is a thing. That’s awesome!
- enriquto 7y agoInvented by Pelikan in weimar germany!
- kaybe 7y agoYou're going to need this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink_eraser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink_eraser (We called it 'ink killer' in school, you were however not allowed to use it the first few years after switching to ink from pencil.) addendum: And you can get ballpens with the ink as well.
- ajnin 7y agoErasable blue ink tends to fade away after a few month/years if the paper is left a bit exposed to air or humidity, since the eraser uses a chemical that is also present in the atmosphere. So be careful if you intend to use it.
- lamchob 7y agoWhats even more awesome: The ink is not erased, but literally made invisible by manipulating the molecues in the ink "responsible for the color". By reverting this chemical process, the ink can be made visible again!
- vicmiclovich 7y agoI too still use pencil and paper
- TheOtherHobbes 7y agoI have an absolutely huge project folder split into hundreds of topics, and a master ToDo in Excel used as a kind of Kanban/white board, with development notes in Word. It's clumsy AF - the Excel part works, the Word part could be better - but it's a working solution of sorts, with everything synced across all my devices so I can make some notes on my Macbook while out and then pick up the thread at my desk later. I tried all the usual alternatives - Trello, Org Mode, paper notebooks, real white boards, and so on - and so far this is the most productive.
- agumonkey 7y agotake that UML
- rubidium 7y agoI had the opposite experience in research. I switched from pencil to pen. Reading later (e.g. 15 page math derivations) I could see some of the dead ends I took and mistakes made, while still following the thread. Additionally, some research results should be stored in an immutable material.
- bschwindHN 7y agoThe Frixion pens they sell in Japan are incredible for this. They're truly erasable, not like the shitty ones I remember from my childhood. The multi-color pens are especially useful. All the fun of brainstorming and erasability, without the bad smells and imprecise lines of whiteboard markers. http://www.frixion.jp/lineup/work.html?pid=product_ball-3-slim http://www.frixion.jp/lineup/work.html?pid=product_ball-3-sl...
- petargyurov 7y agoI've used those. I would say that they're not perfectly erasable and it still takes more effort to erase compared to a whiteboard. I think the biggest thing here is the size of the canvas and the speed at which you can make changes. Sure, markers can be messy and smelly, I will give you that. Regarding the imprecision: when I am brainstorming I am not looking to be precise and I would argue that noone should be aiming for that; prototyping should be messy and quick to mutate.
- dmm10 7y ago>I would say that they're not perfectly erasable and it still takes more effort to erase compared to a whiteboard. I think the biggest thing here is the size of the canvas and the speed at which you can make changes. Some FriXion colors do erase less well than others. But to address your concern about effort to erase I recommend trying a little butane torch lighter. Little puffs (quick clicks) of a lighter on the FriXion ink is very effective as an eraser. A continuous flame strafed across a page will erase large areas without damaging the paper. While a lighter might seem a bit inconvenient its much less cumbersome than carrying around a white board and eraser.
- 7839284023 7y agoI would never use those to write something important in a notebook. I did this and left it in my bag, the sun shone on the bag and because of the heat most of my notes got erased. Well because friction = heat, so it was the same thing.
- 7y ago
- anonsivalley652 7y agoHere's some good low odor dry-erase pens in bulk ($20 USD for 60)... because I lose them, or the monster that also steals remotes and New Zealand from maps has a taste for whiteboard markers too. Not an affiliate link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NXVH31G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NXVH31G
- andruby 7y ago> on a whiteboard my brain juices just flow. Maybe standing up is also key in making your brain juices flow? Or the act of stepping away from your desk. (Assuming that's your setup) I have a whiteboard that takes me 5 steps to reach and that definitely helps me
- Frost1x 7y agoThere have been studies that show walking gives a cognitive boost with respect to creativity. Some related to increased blood flow. For me it's that act that helps, plus gathering stimuli you don't have at your desk which may bump you over a hurdle. Whiteboards only tend to help me when I get to a problem I can't hold in short-term/working memory.
- Insanity 7y agoI started working remotely a few months ago and I've been considering buying a whiteboard instead of the pen and paper approach. Your post convinced me that it's a good thing to explore, thanks!
- alexpetralia 7y agoAlso convinced me! Thanks as well.
- pts_ 7y agoI don't need either, my brain is enough. I sincerely believe if you eat and breathe this, you don't need either.
- threatofrain 7y agoAre there any large standing whiteboards that people would recommend?
- setnone 7y agoI move a lot so i'm carriyng a nice rollable sheet of pvc whiteboard.
- nickjj 7y agoI picked one up almost 3 years ago for my home office. Also happened to document the process of building one here: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-your-own-8x4-foot-whiteboard-for-15-dollars-instead-of-200 https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-your-own-8x4-foot-white... I don't mind spending money but it's hard to pass up $15 worth of materials at home depot and 20 minutes of work instead of buying a pre-made whiteboard for $200. If anyone is curious, even ~3 years later with a decent amount of usage it works great.
- leetrout 7y agoThe only problem with hardware store melamine is the performance degrades quickly and they ghost badly with almost any brand of marker that remains on the board for a week or so. I’ve tried a bunch of hacks including wiping the board with WD40 and have since moved on to glass write boards when and where I can. I’ve had times in my career where I didn’t have $200 to spend, and the hardware store option is great, but $200, in the end, is a small price to pay if you use the board for more than a year.
- nickjj 7y ago> The only problem with hardware store melamine is the performance degrades quickly and they ghost badly I've had mine for almost 3 years and it's holding up just fine using EXPO markers (also listed in the post). I haven't counted an exact number of times I've used it, but it's a lot. Hundreds of times for sure. I just make sure to clean it semi-regularly which takes about 20 seconds once a month. Maybe yours wore out quickly because you didn't clean it?
- wpietri 7y agoI've had the same experience with melamine. I'm currently liking my 3M stick-on whiteboard surface. I think it's mainly made for resurfacing old whiteboards, but I just stuck a sheet on my wall and it has been great: https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/dryerase/ https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/dryerase/ But it looks like they've discontinued the larger sheets? That's a shame.
- count 7y ago
- telesilla 7y agoI have the Trello desktop app staring me in the face all day from a third otherwise-redundant screen, it serves me well to know what is top of the to-do list. A whiteboard is on my to-buy list however.
- koheripbal 7y agoI just use a Google Doc. It allows me to link to details, paste images, etc... ... and if I actually need to diagram: draw.io. I add a new section for each day in bold, and then list todos beneath. It's the only productivity habit I've ever kept for more than a year.
- akeck 7y agoFor me, whiteboard plus phone camera equals flow. Idea -> snap -> iterate -> snap -> ...
- bardackx 7y agoI have an iPad pro with the "Goodnotes" app installed, I don't miss either whiteboard or paper
- PretzelFisch 7y agoThis is how I justified getting a Surface Hub for the wall. White board for work, TV at break time. Also nice large screen for watching virtual conferences and training videos.