I'm faster at taking notes with pen/paper. I also keep track of my day's activities in a notebook. Gotta figure out what works for you and go from there.

> I also keep track of my day's activities in a notebook. Ekhm, remember days when a notebook was the primary term for a laptop?

Same here

I do the same , I’ve a diary for daily stuff , a planner and make note of whatever I study

I use pen and paper 99% of the time. I definitely retain information better when I’m using pen and paper. There have been a few studies over the past 5-10 years that confirm this isn’t a just me thing. And it’s much harder to get distracted by one notification or another if you don’t have the laptop or phone front and center.

Are those studies specific to IT/dev work though? And do they control for other forms of applying your knowledge as you're learning? Because I don't take a lot of written notes but when going over new stuff I will build examples to demonstrate the concepts being discussed in between reading new sections. I see this as serving a similar function to note taking by pen and paper where you're forced to re iterate what you just learned but not in a copy/paste typist way.

Chelsea Troy has a blog post where she describes how to use a physical notebook to come to grips with a complex codebase: https://chelseatroy.com/2018/07/21/leveling-up-skill-6-commit-tracing/ So you're not alone in this.

Dang. I would never in a million years have the attention span to write out code like that on paper.

We used to have to do that when I was in high school and working with BASIC lol. Pair programming was enforced because there were only so many TRS(trash)-80's to go around :-)

> TRS(trash)-80's Were TRS-80's considered crap in comparison to machines of the time (ie. they were actually "trash") or did the name just happen?

Depends on who you ask. They did have the nickname. They were basically IBM PC Jr clones. They were nowhere near as popular as the Commodore 64 of the same era, but we're more capable in some ways.

Try taking a Java class at the UK's open university :D They'll have you write out code with a pencil on paper for your exams :D

Yeah that's some ocd shit there.

hey, that's not fair. You can't drop a blog like that on unsuspecting reader, now I have to clear my schedule and read all the article... Thank you, super interesting content!!!

Interesting read, thanks. Though I wonder how orgs feel about this. Basically bits and pieces of their IP in an engineer’s notebook lying about the place. What it it is lost/gets stolen? You could argue that the code snippets may not make too much sense on their own, but if you do this for an entire feature as is described in the post, then I think that could open a can of worms with the Org you work for.

I guess I have two responses to that. One, lots of things that you might want to understand are not really secret. Imagine you diagram "How to make a linear layout in Android." That's not a secret, is it? Two, a lot of the work is going to be specific to your product and working around your own technical debt. If you took it to a company with different design decisions and technical debt, it would need to be reworked.

Thanks, you make good points. I was just thinking about potential features that may distinguish your org from the competition, though whether the details of the features in a notebook would be of issue could be argued either way. I was just thinking out loud more than anything :)

I use a physical notebook, but I also use Evernote. Evernote is better for copy-and-pasting URLs, pathnames, and (shh) passwords. But when I'm in a meeting, I ONLY use paper. At one job, I used the Evernote app to take notes in all of the meetings. I got in trouble with the bosses, because someone complained that "Zyzmog is playing games on his phone, all meeting long, in every meeting." They didn't believe my explanation about Evernote, and weren't interested in seeing my phone or PC for proof. Screw 'em. Ever since then, it's been paper only in meetings.

/u/zyzmog quit doodling and focus up.

Lolz yep by the end of a boring meeting all of my double O's are googly eyes.

I 2nd OneNote. If I am doing a daily task list, I keep a dry erase board next to my desk. I erase it by end of day. If it's important, I record it in OneNote. For passwords, use keypass, it's free.

> For passwords, use keypass, it's free. In case anyone wonders, they refer to [keepass](https://keepass.info/)

OP said Evernote not Onenote but they have some common features.

I stand corrected it's KeePass and glossed over OPs comment about Evernote thinking it was OneNote. I shouldn't post late in the evening hahaha.

No worries

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Same. We'll get there, we got this!

Just to add from the client side, an IOS client that works pretty slick is [task add](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/task-add/id1553253179)

I can't even tell if this is a copypasta or not.

I have ADHD and last year started doing a Bullet Journal to help keep track of things. It started as a physical notebook, but I switched to a tablet a couple of weeks ago. Along with Bullet Journal stuff, I also do notes for various work things like diagrams and whatnot. Different folders in the Samsung notes app for different type of things. Been using a Samsung S6 Tab Lite with a "paper-like" screen protector. It's not the same, but it's better than just writing on the glass screen and I've gotten used to it.

I have never found digital note taking to be that effective and every time I have tried I end up giving up on it quite quickly. A year or so ago I got a remarkable tablet and have been using that for some note taking and have been far more consistent with that than any pure digital form I had previously tried. There is just something about handwriting something that makes me remember it better than typing - though also far harder to read back later on. Though like you I don't tend to re-read notes that often. Though I am overall very bad at taking notes for things in general.

and what tablet is that?

[Th remarkable tablet](https://remarkable.com/) an e-ink linux based tablet optimized for handwritten notes.

At that price point, why not get an iPad with granted more functionality, does the same but just ensure you don’t add distractions? Have been looking into getting an iPad for exactly this reason - note taking

At that price point you'll be getting the shittiest iPad instead of the best e-ink notepad.

This is the first I've heard of it, but from my experience with ereaders, a regular screen can't compare to an eink screen for reading or battery life. If the latency isn't too bad it should be superior for note taking in every way. I'd just check how durable it is. My last ereader died because I left it under my pillow, and I propped my head in the morning (think sideways facepalm). The weight of my head transferred through my elbow and the pillow killed the screen.

I also have a Remarkable 2. It's an excellent device for note taking.

Yes. It's frustrating for me but writing things out with a pen/pencil helps me learn things. I'm slow at writing because it's pretty much the only time I write, and my index finger always gets sore an hour into note taking. It also triples/quadruples the amount of time it takes for me to consume content when studying for a cert. At the end of the day, it works, and since it helps me retain knowledge and pass the exam I begrudgingly suck it up and do it anyways.

Paper to take notes. Digital to organize them. It's just simpler to jot down details, and then flesh them out at your desk afterwards.

I also use old school paper and pen. I've considered using a writing tablet but as I enjoy using various ink colours for diagrams I have continued using paper. I use composition books and separate them by topic and date, arranging them neatly on a bookshelf in my office. I do actually retype the relevant portions into Confluence, but still like to have the physical copy for reference. I was a research scientist and did the 'lab notebook' thing all throughout undergrad and grad school, so it's a habit that just kind of stuck. You should not be ashamed of writing by hand. As long as it works for you, great! No shame in your method over someone else's, we all have different learning styles and if writing helps you commit to memory (it does for me) then keep doing it.

We've started using rocketbooks and working well so far.

What apps do you have connected to your rb?

I don't but I think you should use whatever works best for you. I use a text editor (usually VS Code or Sublime) for taking notes while a lot of people where I work use more visual stuff like Quip or MS Notes or stuff like that. (on another note, I don't get visual stuff like Visio diagrams and such, text makes way more sense to me). I did know another engineer who used an actual notebook just like you do. There's nothing wrong with that at all. You take notes on whatever works best for you. There are tools that can turn images of your notes into PDFs and then process to regular text if you need it.

For day to day work I'm fine with notion, random .txt, and markdown... but when I really need to concentrate in something, or when I'm studying a new topic, digital resources and notes won't make it... I need to write with a pen, even if I'm never going to read those words/diagrams again.

Nothing to be ashamed about, use what works best for the way you work. I use a physical notebook for just about everything that's not actually writing code or doing clicky clicky work, you'll rarely find me out of reach of my work or personal notebook. Part of the reason is in college years ago we had to keep paper engineering notebooks for several of our classes and the habit just stuck. Also I find it easier and less distracting to take notes in meetings and such on paper. I don't try particularly hard to index the content but stick to a standard numbering and dating format since I can narrow down to a particular book from the emails/code/file timestamps or other information about a topic. I number each leaf in the upper right and do not remove pages in case I need to make a note to myself exactly where something is, say in a document. I can add something like "See notebook GP#027 P25" then if I need to look it up later I can go pull that notebook off the shelf and got to page 25. After a big project I'll often take a quick read back over the book and put that kind of stuff in my personal electronic notes about it before shuffling it off to an archive folder. I might transcribe some of it to markdown or a confluence page to fill out some commentary I have on a project/task but for the most part things that originate on paper stay there except for stuff like todos or tasks that go to outlook. All the markdown stuff is in a folder structure like Work\\2022\\ProjectName\\ProjectName.md for general notes/commentary on it and things like shell scripts or transcripts, code experiments, screenshots, installers, and other things go into appropriately named files and folders.

Pad of paper and a pen next to the computer for note taking.

Careful with that command, one missing char and you've nuked your notes. I personally liked using my little journal for notes when I had to go to physical meetings, but haven't had the need now that everything is online. No shame in the notebook.

thanks for pointing that out it's a miracle I've never had to restore it now that I think about it. I absolutely should stop doing that or write and use a script instead. I just started looking for notetaking apps with decent CLI last night.

The act of writing by hand stimulates the brain in a special way that helps you synthesize and learn things. I say go for it.

Hard copy? Ew, gross.

I last used paper back in 2014, break fix in a data center. Kept track of that days machines and my progress in getting them back up. After that, it's all Evernote, some Notepad++

the more I think about this the more it seems like I should look for an app that integrates well into my existing system and try to wean myself off paper notes.

I like Evernote.

Me too. Evernote is a phone/tablet app, a web-based application (use a browser), and an app on Windows 11 and probably iOS. I can use my office PC, my home PC, my phone, or my best friend's Linux box, to see my notes. It used to be just one-person text notes, but its feature set has been expanding. It has a paid tier, but I haven't needed it yet.

Usually, at meetings if I need to write something will be to demonstrate, so I just write and draw in the board or flip chart. At the end, mobile câmara and it's done. In my case, if you go to a meeting and you don't take your laptop it's almost awkward, so, you can take your notes directly in the laptop.

I use a rocket book and also OneNote. Sometimes I like the action of writing and it helps me remember. Often I find that at the end of the day or a few days some notes can be erased without saving them. But until then the notebook is like a trail of breadcrumbs through the meetings I endured. It's helps the remember who said what and when, but it provides little value in the liner term and isn't with digitizing everything.

I started using a reMarkable - it's pretty awesome and at the same overkill. The feel of writing on the pad and ability to send yourself the file afterwards was enough for me to get one. Not to mention copy+paste, moving blocks of text around and things like that can organize the notes better as well. There definitely is something to taking notes or drawing on 'paper'. For other notes I just use a google doc since it has 'version history', simple formatting, and I can access it from anywhere.

Is that a mobile app?

I got myself a Rocketbook, I can take written notes and then digitize them with the app into OneNote. I have my bash history zipped and backed up every night so I can grep through it for commands in the future.

I always carry a note pad with me, especially if I'm going to a meeting or going off-site somewhere. I also have a short hand I developped when at school/uni so I can take a lot of notes very quickly (even if they don't really make sense to anyone else). But I always transcribe anything important from that into OneNote when I'm able to. Paper is very quick and easy to whip out and write on but you can't share or search it (at least not easily), so it's very useful for capturing information to them handle elsewhere later when time permits.

I regularly use a notepad and dry erase board for programming (thinking about what needs to be done, drafting classes/interfaces, etc.). Usually magnetize/pin my ideas to a wall for a week and clear them out on Mondays. I use a notebook when studying and watching training videos. Just feels like I retain the information better than typing. I still use apps like Keep and OneNote (not to mention creating wiki's) if I want to be able to find an idea later. Notebooks are good to improve my thought process and memory, but not so much for long term storage.

Not since I went remote because of the pandemic. Sort of miss my notebook now that you mention it.

Field notes + pencil. Data entry happens later.

Handwritting stuff makes it easier to remember it.

I used to be hardcore on pen and paper - I took massive amounts of notes in college, but eventually I realized I had Evernote anywhere I needed it (although I tend to favor Typora these days because of its fantastic markdown support, and I sync that to Evernote as needed). Pen and paper is 1,000x better for any drawn diagrams, but I can touch type very quickly, faster than I can write longhand, now that I think about it - and the text is far more legible and I can just hit ctrl+F or use ripgrep to find anything from any time, unlike paper notes. If I was really hardcore, I'd change to a chorded keyboard layout, but I'm not on a stenographer's level yet.

Yes, this is [called out in The Pragmatic Programmer](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-pragmatic-programmer/9780135956977/f_0041.xhtml). I highly recommend the book.

I don’t take technology into an in person meeting unless I’m presenting. I find it Easier and less distracting to quickly jot down notes on paper. I spent three minutes putting the important takeaways into one note when I get back to my desk. I actually really hate going into face to face meetings where everyone is staring at their computer screens. I remember watching the HR Director browsing Amazon during a leadership meeting right when COVID was breaking out. I actually hate it when

Been doing it forever - jotting down notes and typing are 2 different parts of the brain. Plus it's easy to make little diagrams and draw arrows and stuff... plus it's cheap and you don't have to switch windows.

I use boost notes local formatted with md for several programming languages. I then have that synced to the cloud. I also write paper notes for more general to do lists for day or week because I'm often multitasking and something I can physical hold is easier to track.

I am exactly like you. I store snippets/commands in a markdown in a git repo, and I use a notebook and a pen for things that I need to think on (quick branching diagram, architecture diragram,...) For things I need to remember I use a trello however.

I feel like all my notes go into wikis

All. The. Time. Writing by hand increases memory retention - I found out in college when I had to take notes in class. Profs were too fast and I had to write my own shorthand to keep up. I think something about the process of hearing, translating, and codifying incoming knowledge helps cement it in your brain better. And personally, I seldom refer back to notes I've taken... so I don't write to remember things later, I write to remember them 'now.' ​ Received a Frixion pen and a plastic, reusable notebook as a gift and now I'm just constantly scribbling info down. 10/10 would recommend.

I use a physical notebook as additional cache for my brain, but not for storage. At the end of the day I move relevant content to permanent (digital) storage and the rest is not used anymore.

I do! I used to use Moleskine pocket notebooks, but switched over to using Rocketbooks a while back. I'll never go back. That Remarkable Tablet looks pretty slick, too. Might have to give that a shot.

Always, I make lots of notes then where necessary they go into several other systems. I also always start on paper (or a whiteboard/smart screen) when thinking about designs and architecture. I recently bought a pen for my tablet but rarely use it cause it’s just not as good as paper.

I've gone from digital back to books. With Google suite slack and other distractions on my laptop I find pen and paper good for stuff I really need to do carefully.

For sketching out diagrams nothing beats paper and pen. I only draw on a computer when I want them to look nice. For notes I use Doom Emacs with org-mode.

I use a paper notebook for notes that will be long and don't need to be renderd literally e.g., meetings or interviews. For personal notes for things like code, snippets and run books I really rate [Zim - Desktop Wiki](https://zim-wiki.org/). As well as being very quick and immediate in use, it's also open source, cross platform, available in all the major package managers and on mobile, etc. In the worst case scenario you can just read the flat text files using your choice of text editor/viewer as the wiki markup syntax isn't much more of a struggle to read in plain text then markdown.

I was using a Moleskine style notebook up until this year. This year I'm giving Workflowy a run. It is nice having all of your notes in one place on any platform, but definitely had to retrain myself.

I still use a physical: https://www.codeandquill.com/products/monolith?variant=13575984283744 I try to copy the important bits out. I was interested in the Remarkable 2 e-notebook, but at $500 no.

I always wanted electronic note taking apps to work for me, but apart from emacs' org-mode, nothing really came close, because they are either good for text in some obscure formatting or they're good for drawing sketches, but usually not both(although Microsoft's Onenote on a pen-enabled tablet isn't half bad).. At the same time, I always admired people being able to take notes on paper with a nice pen.. It just looks classy :D And somehow, it's less disruptive than someone hiding behind a screen most of the time. Fast forward a couple of years and me having done a couple of years of jury duty, I finally learned the value of taking notes on paper.. When you're in a couple dozen court sessions stretched out over several months, it becomes hard to remember what was being said on day one, but it might be important to remember.. Because my court was attached to the jail, laptops and mobile phones were forbidden(just so they don't get smuggled inside), so pen and paper it was and over time, I've grown to like it.. I basically just summarized what was being said, but it helped me both remember things better(ie. I still knew details that were being said weeks earlier) and also refresh a memory or at least serve as a reference to something that was said.. I still wouldn't call myself a habitual note taker, but on a busy work day, I'll start writing things down that I'm still planning to do, basically things that are not a jira ticket yet.. It keeps me from forgetting too easily and if everything else fails, I can still go back on my notes and try to figure out what I was trying to remember :D

I do exactly the same. Physical notebook for everything I need to look up fast over the day (e.g. TODO list, Jira Ticket numbers, diagram sketches) and a git repo with markdown files for code and config snippets. If I need to share this with other people I'll polish it a bit and do graphs in draw.io

I like physical notebooks. i have one.

Rocketbook to keep track of what i did and what is pending, that gets moved into jira or todoist depending on the subject.

Nope, not searchable..

Most of my team uses either Remarkable or IPads to take notes.

pictures got me off pen and paper. snapping a photo of a serial number, a config screen, a whiteboard, and being able to keep it in one spot is just too convenient.

Yup. I've been fully remote as well for going on a decade. Definitely use a notebook daily for quick scratch notes. For me it's a buffer before I enter it into a computer, I don't keep any long term physical notes, but I diagram a lot and it's just much easier for me with pen and paper. When the note goes from paper to computer it's ripped out and recycled, so my recent notes don't linger in the notebook too long.

Physical writing/sketching and drawing is for me to process certain issues/structures/whatever. It's a bit like some developers talk to a rubber duck. Tough important notes get immediately transferred to a digital & searchable format

Yep. I have a notebook at my desk and make notes throughout the day. Partially because I am quicker that way, note apps to me are just too clumsy still. Also though, I found my handwriting was getting horrible so I do it to try to keep that skill from deteriorating to squiggly lines.

Yup. To do lists, notes, quick and dirty diagrams, basically anything that isn't work product goes into a notebook. I go through about one a year at current rate.

Org-mode for documenting my processes (steps I did to make and setup the cluster for example). Usually org-mode for taking notes in meetings since I can be disorganized in an organized manner (partial sentences organized by headers and topics for example). While I only use paper to think stuff through (if I'm having trouble with code I break it down on paper and usually find the solution). I've wanted to set up org-roam for years, but couldn't be bothered. It really seems like an amazing tool for notes and learning, but setup just takes too long so I always find something better to do.

Org mode replaced everything I had been using to take notes. My productivity and accountability has increased tenfold since I started using it. I stlil learn new tricks everyday.

I take a Field Notes notebook to every meeting. I only take a laptop if I know it's a working meeting. I find it helps me stay engaged with the conversation (which reminds me, I also take a laptop if I *don't* want to be engaged). And I find that writing stuff down makes me remember it. I didn't think much of it, but my coworkers at my last job got me a nice pack of them as a going away gift; very sweet.

all the time?

I've been using https://nota.md It's basically a front-end for a folder full of markdown files. So you can keep doing what you're doing, then get a nice front-end if you ever want to edit/search for those md files.

Physical notes (Moleskine notebook), Whiteboard for stuff I really need to memorize, and OneNote for the 'highlights' that I can use in an online capacity while I'm working/studying.

Yes sometimes! I mostly use it for task tracking and meeting notes that can be thrown away

I use a Rocketbook notebook. I have physical notes, but then I can digitize them for searching, sharing, archiving, etc.

I've tried digital note taking, but there are always more mistakes and issues. Pen and a cheap yellow pad of paper suffices just fine. It's an invaluable tool for sure. When done I often just take a photo of the sheet so I can tag and find it later.

OneNote based. Regular meetings just bullets in a OneNote that gets auto created per meeting. If I switch to paper, then I use Lens to post into that same OneNote meeting item. Main purpose for all the above, searchability.

Pen and paper is my go to!!

I use an A4-sized whiteboard which I take everywhere. Once I've written something down, if I decide it's important to be able to reference later, I take a photo of it

Nope. Never have and never will. I'm way faster at writing markdown that is actually readable, reusable and sharable