A very good article on Put Things Off I read is Writing things down: 13 reasons to switch back to paper today

I highly recommend the article, not really to make yourself start using paper and pencil today and throw all your gadgets/software, put because sometimes it’s useful to remind yourself how you did things some time ago. At the least you used paper in school and even though it’s not impossible it’s very hard to forget how to use it.

Although I don’t agree with all the points in the article here are my favorites:

  1. It’s cheaper - the “hardware” is cheaper, and the “software” you already got for free in school.
  2. It’s faster ( although at this moment I think I type faster than I can write ) - for most people it usually is faster. If you want bullets for something you just almost without thinking dash a few lines, you don’t need to look for a toolbar/menu or move one of your hands to a mouse to click a button.
  3. It encourages creative thinking + It means a break from the computer screen

The third point is what I think is most important. No matter how geeky I think every person enjoys a break from the computer screen and suddenly they think differently. Maybe that’s just what’s needed to review all the things you need to do or to “think out of the box” for that hard problem you were trying to fix. It also frees you from most user-interface limitations and thus you can be more creative.

There are also problems with paper which are mostly solved by software:

  • Reminders
  • Collaboration
  • Capacity

Regarding Reminders.. Why are we so busy we need reminders? Just get a grip and exercise your memory. If you really have too many things to remember each day then you have deeper problems and should reorganize your life.

Regarding Capacity and Collaboration(at least in localized teams) we have a solution: WHITEBOARDS! They can hold more information, they encourage creativity and most of all they encourage collaboration. You can have a whole team in front of a whiteboard, standing up, discussing a certain problem, and even writing on it at the same time. In my opinion every office in the world should have a whiteboard, or more. Or just plaster as many walls as you can with whiteboards like Google :)

I’m actually thinking of getting one at home and convincing the powers that be to buy more for work. It’s really the best thing without involving a computer, and with smart/interactive whiteboards you are bridging the gap with the computer.