Analog Versus Digital

Over the last several months I've been trying to decide how I want to keep my notes and my journals. I've gone back and forth between using a notes app and a moleskine notebook.

Physically writing is appealing. There is just something about physically writing something down. It's kind of cathartic. The downside though is that I'm not always carrying a notebook around with me. I do however always have my phone on me.

I've been journaling for the last year or two, keeping track of how my days are going, what I did, and anything else that happens to cross my mind. If I was out and about and wanted to make a note something down, it is highly unlikely I have my notebook with me. I like to think I have a decent memory, but there’s just so much I’ll forget if I don’t write it down.

So for the moment, I’ve been keeping most of my notes in Obsidian since I always have my phone on me. It does have a lot of handy helpers like templates and many of the same shortcuts I so often use in Visual Studio Code. There are so many niceties of having an app that syncs notes across devices. I can access my notes on my iPhone, iPad & my Mac. I use iCloud to sync the notes which makes things easy.

The ability to search through my notes is also incredibly useful. In a few keystrokes, I can so often find what I'm looking for. With paper, I'd have to page through and hope what I'm looking for jumps out at me.

With all the positives of digital notes and the ubiquity of a smart phone, you'd wonder why anyone would even consider anything else. Despite all of it, I can't help but yearn for a notebook and a pen. I still consider switching back to handwritten journals and notes.