Digital to Analog: Goodbye Gadgets, Hello Paper.

I’ve long been a huge advocate for digital note taking. I remember consulting in the late 90s and forcing our whole team to use Palm Pilots for data entry while on an Y2K inventory project. In 2000, I used the painfully slow Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC, which quickly got replaced with the Compaq iPaq Pocket PC given its portability. Eventually, I gave up small form factor devices and started using my laptop to take notes, until the iPad came along. But for the next few years, I went from device to device, from app to app, from notebooks to tablets to smart phones, stuck in the never-ending loop of trial and error. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology; but it didn’t seem to completely replace paper for ad hoc writing and doodling.

Over time, I found myself even more distracted trying to take detailed notes while reading text messages, composing emails, tweeting, skimming the news, etc., and felt that I was no longer engaged or paying enough attention in meetings. We’ve reached to a point that we just can’t keep up with the amount of information that gets sent to us, which is exasperated by Gartner’s Nexus of Forces — social, mobile, cloud and analytics. While these are all great things for an organization, we tend to forget that we as individuals aren’t machines, and desperately try to consume more content every day. Now, I consider myself a pretty good multi-tasker, but digital technology has completely consumed me.

Two weeks ago, I simply cut the cord. I just got tired of people asking me “Nathan, what are your thoughts on this…” and I would just deliver a blank stare because my brain was fixated on some HBR article on leadership, emotional intelligence or innovation along with the 5 ways to do it well. While it may seem like common sense to most people, there are a fair amount of people including myself that are convinced that taking notes on a device is a better way. I knew what had to be done, so I just did it. I completely ditched my digital devices in meetings and now only carry a paper notebook. My findings will most likely provide the same results for you and your team:

1. You actually pay attention to the presenter, and your peers. Even if you are an avid multi-tasker and think that you can do it all at the same time, this will make a difference, and even your peers will notice it.
2. You take copious notes, and because of that, you remember more about the meeting
3. You ask more thoughtful questions and are engaged in the conversation or the debate
4. You aren’t distracted by social media, email or the news
5. You retain more content
6. You start becoming painfully aware at how distracting other people and their devices are, with all the typing noise, lack of eye contact, lack of attention and lack of engagement

While I haven’t figured out the best process of getting my analog notes into the digital world, even retyping everything will help retention, and I’m leaning on that as a solution. I used to wonder why some technology-oriented people continued to use paper all the time and now understand why.

Try it yourself and ask your team to do it with you; everyone will notice a huge impact to meeting productivity. This is my new (old) medium and I am beginning to embrace the relationship with paper again. I would love to hear what works for you and your teams in the comments.