We have long since left the days of the Industrial Revolution. However, we have not left the argument of whether we ought to fully adapt and change to an ever modernizing world, embrace the digital lifestyle yet secretly continuing to stroke the books we find in bookshelves, hoping no one will see us whispering sweet nothings to it as we take a big whiff of its innards.
Are you a Kindle or are you a book?
iPhone or address book?
iPhone or Desk Calendar?
iPhone or notebook?
iPhone or tape measure? You get the gist.
Despite the mass production of digital devices, and much to the detriment of our environment, paper planners are not only still around, but are making a comeback. I've read plenty of bloggers rather bigoted points of view which categorize those who use paper planners as "defunct" "outdated" "antiquated" and have even REFUSED those who enter meetings with a paper notebook and writing implement because they would be "slowing everyone else down."
Let us then first create distinctions between Analogue and Digital objects so that we can better relate to the world around us. The following information is stolen from a Scientific American article, entitled "The Reading Brain"dated April 11, 2013.
Analogue vs. Digital
- Information Processing and can be identified as analogue if it is
discrete rather than continuous pieces of information. The purpose of a piece
of information or object one is looking at can be readily understood without
explanation such that even if you don't know what it does, you can determine
what is "most likely" used for.
- Digital information or objects can be simulated by a digital computer
or algorithm and their purposes are not easily identifiable just by looking at
the object.
ALWAYS ALREADY OBSOLETE is the mantra of digital devices and feed the
consumerist mindset making users crave and reject an item simply based on
modifications that hold the promise of a "productive"
lifestyle.
In "Proust and the Squid" by Maryanne Wolf, the author delves
into the story and science of the reading brain. She very clearly states
"using one kind of technology does not preclude us from understanding
another." And so perhaps a combination of collection devices is best for
humans who live in an analogue world but have brains that are both digital and
analogue simultaneously.
Our brains respond differently to onscreen text than to words on paper
and the evidence collected in a Scientific American article dated April 11,
2013 called "The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper
versus Screens" we see that although people have embraced e-readers for
their convenience and portability, they admit for SOME REASON they still prefer
reading on paper, even those who have already vowed to forgo tree pulp entirely.
But handwriting and reading text on paper as opposed to e-ink allows us
to establish mental map generation, a physical landscape of the material that
if laid out would very much have hills, valleys and mountains, much like
topographical map. We carry the "cities" of books in our heads
allowing us to rest, exert and most importantly retain the information in way
that cannot be manipulated digitally. The four or eight corners of a page or
book allow us physical limitations within which our brain remembers that the
butler murdered a guest at the bottom left corner of page 59. Paper is a
dynamic medium, much more dynamic than touch screens. We as human beings are
more dynamic than the smartphones we carry, which is why we still crave dynamic
mediums and print out emails.
Understanding this, and how our own handwriting
The research results may seem common sense or obvious to
many of us. If you're interested in the biology behind writing's effect on our
achievements, though, here's a little background: Writing stimulates a bunch of
cells at the base of the brain called the reticular activating system
(RAS). The RAS acts as a filter for everything your brain needs to process,
giving more importance to the stuff that you're actively focusing on at the
moment—something that the physical act of writing brings to the forefront.
In Write It Down, Make It Happen, author Henriette Anne Klauser says that "Writing triggers
the RAS, which in turn sends a signal to the cerebral cortex: ‘Wake up! Pay
attention! Don't miss this detail!' Once you write down a goal, your brain will
be working overtime to see you get it, and will alert you to the signs and
signals that […] were there all along."
Which brings
us back to figuring out what kind of system would work best for you in lifestyle modularization. See if this chart can help you.
Things That Can Happen To Your Device Or Your
Device Can Do
|
Digital Devices
|
Analogue Devices
|
Lost, damaged, stolen
|
✔
|
✔
|
Killed with a magnet
|
✔
|
|
Used without electricity
|
|
✔
|
Transmits information
quickly and internationally
|
✔
|
✔ Scan and send!
|
Quickly duplicated
|
✔
|
✔
|
Carried through airports
with no additional fondling by security
|
|
✔
|
Dynamic interface
|
|
✔
|
Can be used within .01
seconds of opening
|
|
✔
|
Indicates how much space
is used without opening
|
|
✔
|
Must be stowed away on
take off
|
✔
|
|
Personally, I use the Filofax (with a hint of Mulberry thrown in) brand of
paper planners. I tried a variety of brands and ultimately settled on a
system I can trust. Even at 2:00 in the morning when I used to wake
up wondering if I forgot to "insert panicked thought here". My planner has all
these details. The more time I spend with my planner the more I understand how my brain works and the easier I can begin to compartmentalize and
break into do-able chunks the uncultivated areas of my life. Ann Vital has a
wonderful Infographic that includes 7 areas of life that can be streamlined
into processes. (Here is a link to her infographic: http://notes.fundersandfounders.com/post/59500063068/productivity
We will discuss productivity and GTD in future posts. Let me know if you have an intense desire to want to print out the infographic. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
