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for everybody still on physical medium (be it paper, board, whatever), did you try to leverage digital tools thinking it would allow wider expressiveness, faste

for everybody still on physical medium (be it paper, board, whatever), did you try to leverage digital tools thinking it would allow wider expressiveness, faster iteration, more precision and yet came back to paper ? Dude, I have been trying digital tools since I thought that one of these things[0] would replace my Franklin Planner. I'll save you a click, that was over 30 years ago. Yeah, I use the hell out of some digital tools ("hey dingus, add bananas to the <shared family> grocery list"). But the first thing I grab in the morning is a paper notebook[1] to plan my day, using the "bullet journal" style that I've settled on these past few years. Every digital tool I've tried just turns into an abyss-like dumping ground where tasks go to die (and never get completed). I don't know why, maybe it's the lack of spatiality with digital tools. Or an abstraction too far, I don't know. I just know that I'd been pounding that square peg into that round hole for decades, until I finally just gave in went back to paper. Bullet journal style, nice notebook, and a nice fountain pen works for me for most of my organization, and it's probably what I'll stick with. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_Wizard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_Wizard [1] https://www.leuchtturm1917.us https://www.leuchtturm1917.us

bluGill 3y ago
Digital is worse than paper because with paper you need to copy and clean up your todo list often (typically daily, though other things can work) That means every item you didn't do is reviewed to see if you still care enough to put in the effort to copy it. digital systems make it easy to keep a long list of things you want to do eventually, but in reality never will, and soon you can't find in the long list things you really must do now. If you use your digital todo list for things that you must do by a deadline it works well. Digital tools are good for the yearly tasks list "buy birthday card for my sister" - knowing that you can then decide when it pops up if you will buy one or not. Digital tools make it too easy to put things in like "investigate interesting widget you just heard about when money isn't so tight", and then they clutter the list with things odds are you won't do. If you have a digital todo list you are allowed to have 2 things that you must do today, and 10 things you must do sometime in the next week (numbers are debatable). If you have more than that something must go. If it isn't in the next two weeks put it on the calendar not the todo list so it doesn't pop up until you need to do it. (todo lists that integrate with your calendar are good at this!) Actually I've found my todo list works best if instead I use my calendar to block of time - I have a short presentation to give in a couple weeks so I have one hour a week to work on it. I have dysgraphia which means I cannot read my own writing. As such digital solutions have a higher interest for me. However there are things people using paper can do that I do not have a good replacement for. Things are working for me, but writing is a much better system if only I could use it.
agumonkey 3y ago
So far I observed two-three things about computing in regard to human experience: - it removes stimuli (you move less, you touch less) - it removes cost (undo is near free, unlike erasing on paper) - it offers too much distraction / choice I really feel that my brain loves (deeply) having to deal with multiple sensory inputs and making sense of them from physical to conceptual. Maybe that's why having tools "too powerful" is detrimental somehow. Just a thought

bluGill 3y ago

Digital is worse than paper because with paper you need to copy and clean up your todo list often (typically daily, though other things can work) That means every item you didn't do is reviewed to see if you still care enough to put in the effort to copy it. digital systems make it easy to keep a long list of things you want to do eventually, but in reality never will, and soon you can't find in the long list things you really must do now. If you use your digital todo list for things that you must do by a deadline it works well. Digital tools are good for the yearly tasks list "buy birthday card for my sister" - knowing that you can then decide when it pops up if you will buy one or not. Digital tools make it too easy to put things in like "investigate interesting widget you just heard about when money isn't so tight", and then they clutter the list with things odds are you won't do. If you have a digital todo list you are allowed to have 2 things that you must do today, and 10 things you must do sometime in the next week (numbers are debatable). If you have more than that something must go. If it isn't in the next two weeks put it on the calendar not the todo list so it doesn't pop up until you need to do it. (todo lists that integrate with your calendar are good at this!) Actually I've found my todo list works best if instead I use my calendar to block of time - I have a short presentation to give in a couple weeks so I have one hour a week to work on it. I have dysgraphia which means I cannot read my own writing. As such digital solutions have a higher interest for me. However there are things people using paper can do that I do not have a good replacement for. Things are working for me, but writing is a much better system if only I could use it.

agumonkey 3y ago

So far I observed two-three things about computing in regard to human experience: - it removes stimuli (you move less, you touch less) - it removes cost (undo is near free, unlike erasing on paper) - it offers too much distraction / choice I really feel that my brain loves (deeply) having to deal with multiple sensory inputs and making sense of them from physical to conceptual. Maybe that's why having tools "too powerful" is detrimental somehow. Just a thought