Asklemmy

If you have to write equations and drawings, pen and paper is still better for me. I'll scan it to onenote afterwards.

95% digital. Work journal is in Tiddlywiki and that's basically it. Todo lists I do tend to do with pen & paper.

I like pen and paper but searching is always such a fucking hassle and my hand writing is garbo. If I know I don't need to actually find anything later then it's great (doodling and thinking about something). I guess I could do pen and paper and layer save into digital but meh.

When I need to learn something and think it over I use pen and paper. If it’s noting stuff down to read later or record somewhere, then it’s digital.

generally no, but sometimes yes - mostly jotting down phone numbers, or if one of my many different passwords change until I can memorize it, (ie: at work), etc

other than that, the only time pen touches paper is when I write a check.

Here’s the biggest reason: we are evolved from savannah primates for whom the ability to make eye contact and hold it was a signal of “you can trust me, I’m not about to bite you.” Paper and pen don’t signal “I have decided to break this evolutionary/social contract” in the same way a phone or open laptop does.

I help mentor a lot of young people in early career and their generation with a phone is an excuse for an x-er/boomer interviewer to punt them waiting to happen. It’s career and comp limiting, right or no.

Also if one finds a taken note is missing something, contact the original party. A conversation that begins with: “you got me thinking about this more deeply and I think I may have missed something…” is the key to mentorship, advocacy, and growth.

In short from a transcoding of bits perspective, other media may be better. But for those they acknowledge human constraint and opportunity a nice notebook and (a cheap shill from me) a Lamy Safari medium nib fountain pen will do you quite well.

I did take all my notes for university on pen and paper because I don't have a laptop with a touchscreen and pen. But I was never quite happy, since I would lose some notes or not find something specific that I knew I wrote down somewhere. This semester I tried using Obsidian and I and it has been great so far. I am now able to search my notes by text and I can back them up somewhere safe. When I'm not on my laptop I take quick notes on my phone but the important ones will then later be transferred to Obsidian.

No, but I'm using the reMarkable 2 instead as a designated digital notepad, so you would probably argue I still have to carry stuff around.

As to why - I can write fast than I type (in meetings etc.) without losing focus.

Often times I keep a notepad beside me. It is my preferred way to store ridiculous length passwords for stuff I care about. I'm usually on a laptop and I may switch it up and use another device to look up stuff. I don't mix my workstation with socials or shopping. Those three activities are all done on different devices, with different networks. So I don't care too much about what can be scaped from here. I don't see value in a small amount of convenience exchanged for connecting my devices, I'd rather just jot down a note and look up the item when I need it.

Writing on paper helps me to make sense of the chaos in my head.
I have a big notebook in which I write out a first draft of new projects in as neat a handwriting as I can manage. It takes time, but it helps me to order my thoughts into something more coherent. And while writing, my subconscious usually comes up with other points that I might have missed earlier.
I enjoy making my notebook look as nice as possible, using a ruler for lines and tables, adding little illustrations in the margins when idling, etc. I want it to be something I’ll keep after it’s full, because it’ll represent a big chunk of memories from my professional life.

I kinda meet in the middle and just digitally scan my handwritten notes. It makes for easier backups and still have all the benefits of writing paper notes

Yeah, but it's more like when I just don't have my phone or I'm at my desk and have a pen and paper more handily available than digging it out of my pocket. Most of the time, I use the phone. Especially since I can have my note app remind me about the notes.

Writing with a notepad is better for those who need to be freeform, want the ease of opening it up, and/or have privacy concerns (a phone of any security can be hacked, but a notepad can’t if you write in a code only you can understand, which can’t be done on a phone without an unlimited resource of special characters). As for reachability, it’s what you make of it.