On Handwritten vs. Digital Notes
Bible, Bellboy Sleeve with Field Notes notebook, and iPad mini 6 with Pencil.
I have been a note-taker since college. Before then, I have no idea how I got by without taking notes. Up until recently, all of my note taking has been analog, in notebooks or on paper. I still keep a Field Notes notebook on random things that I fill up about once every quarter (I’m an Education Minister, so I live in quarters). But for my Sunday and organized note taking, I’m wondering which direction I need to go.
I have three primary purposes for my note taking: 1) To pay attention better and retain more ideas and information, 2) to be able to look back on those notes and use or interpret them correctly, and 3) to pass these notes to my boys when I’m gone. I’m not sure which direction to go.
Let’s start with digital note-taking. I have been using my 2018 iPad Pro with a second-gen Apple Pencil (the matte white shorter one, not the shiny white longer one). I used GoodNotes at the beginning, but I have since switched to Notability. I don’t like Notability’s icon, but I do like the tools and writing a bit more. I have a Paperlike screen protector on it that really does make writing with the Apple Pencil a lot better. I initially used the iPad Pro 2018 up until the new iPad Mini 6 came out. I found that I flip flop back a forth a bit, but for the most part, the iPad Mini with a Paperlike is a very good Field Notes-style experience with the smaller screen.
I like the experience of digital notes, both typed and handwritten, but as with all types of digital files, I worry about preservation. Backups aren’t usually a problem, but if I want to pass on these notes, where would someone go to get them? And where would notes inside of Notability live if not transferred or backed up to other storage? I worry that my note would no longer be accessible after I’m gone, and that’s the one thing that really pushes me to analog note taking.
For analog notes, I have almost always used Field Notes notebooks in my Bellroy sleeve. I usually always have it with me, but when I don’t, I seem to always need it. One of the biggest advantages with digital notes is that you can probably always have it with you, because whatever app you use, you can back up to the cloud. And since you’ll probably always have your phone with you, you wouldn’t have to worry about that.
A few people have remarked that the Field Notes notebooks are small. They really are. But I write very small, and I scan every notebook with a flatbed scanner, essentially making them digital and (mostly) searchable in Microsoft OneNote, which has powerful OCR (Optical Character Recognition). So in a sense, I have the best of both worlds. But I usually don’t scan a notebook until I’m done with it, so if I ever need the physical book and don’t have it, I’m up the creek.
But the biggest factor by far is that I can put these notebooks on a shelf when I’m done with them. Then my sons (and grandsons hopefully) will be able to pour over my thoughts in written form.
If you’re wondering what kind of pens I use - I use the Uniball Ultra Micro - extremely fine point pens that are really wonderful for tiny writing like mine.
The debate will rage on for me, more than likely. I am a big fan of putting pen to paper, and I will likely continue that for a long time. Digital note taking will be a convenience for me when I don’t have my physical notebook.