Analog Versus Screen
How I’m Organizing my Writing for the Next Year, Part II
I used to do everything through my phone, or could at any rate. I use several apps which have online or desktop interaction so everything stayed smooth, up-to-date, and I could always pick it right up whenever and wherever I sat down to work. All digital. Clean. When I look back over the last few years though, other than what I’ve published or purposely recorded, I have no record at all of my process, what I did with my time, major life events, and the like. This is unsatisfying and unacceptable.
I’m taking my calendar and planning back to analog, while my work stays on the clean digital mediums. It will mean having to track my notebook and risk loss, theft, or damage, but I’ve missed having my messenger bag along anyway — being able to bring a water bottle, extra pens, emergency gear, my poncho, and all the old kit has been missed. We make room for what is necessary, not what is wanted. I wanted all these things along, but never made room until my bag became necessary again. Wants typically fall by the wayside while the day’s Musts are dealt with. I’m happy with having a backup I can literally jam a sticky note into, or reference even when my phone is out of juice. I have a day job that uses my devices so I’ve gotten a little paranoid as my business has ramped up! The stress removed by keeping the essential part of my organization outlet-free is amazing.
Another great element is that I have the division of labor back in my process again. If I’m in the book I’m managing, if I am on my screen I am producing. I don’t juggle my calendar events or rummage back and forth from email to social media and back again if I am on my terminal. This removes a lot of distractions, and I keep my notebook right beside me. If I have a stray thought for manager-me, I can pick up the pen and leave the cursor right there. Opening or swapping to a new tab was jarring and threw off my groove.
My favorite element though, is how my five-minute dive into my book jump-starts every work session. Right before I touch the keyboard, I see which piece of my grand plan I get to put in place today. It makes the planning time feel good instead of rushed too, with the pressure to produce shifted over to the screen — I haven’t tracked whether it hastens me to get off social media faster than it used to but I’d wager it has.
Remember, though: The most important factor in my decision was memory. I am building a legacy. I am going to make a name for myself and succeed. Tracking my progress in analog, filling up a shelf with journals of my work, lets me see how far I’ve come and draw daily inspiration and courage from my past, multiplying the momentum I’ve worked so hard to build. Analog organization is a mandatory reflection that ensures I will never be afraid to face my actions or evade the consequences — the facts are right there for anyone to see. That red notebook is from the year I found out I operate better this way; the green notebook is from the year I had a string of bad luck and had to work on the fly to make things happen. Those are things I want to be able to access when someone else asks, “How did you get here?” I have to face myself squarely every day, zero weaseling, and there is no clarifying and focusing force quite like the sunshine of honesty.
I may be small now with small goals, but the notebook will be a fond memory and a teaching tool for protégés when I reach my tomorrow. Remembering what I went through is amazingly hard after the fact — think of how much hindsight is biased just with the invisible causes and effects are for the black swans in our lives! Let an analog practice be the first commitment to growth and forward progress, and start building your future with its help today.
PS — For the curious, I use a Bullet Journal. Here’s more information:
