Paper Chase

Just over a year ago I gave up printed books and now read exclusively on my iPad. I struggled for awhile about not turning actual pages and not holding the book and all the other concerns we readers have.

I love reading e-books. I work with a gentleman who is severely technologically challenged and he only reads e-books too.

I keep a journal too. Both paper and electronic. It seems silly I know. Evernote is the program / app I use. I love the ease of finding things in my electronic journal. It's on my iPad, phone and computer. LOVE.

But I like my paper journal too. I like the heft of it in my hand. I like the texture of the paper against my skin. The flow of the pen across the paper. Smell of the ink. Writing the words out. It's therapeutic. Maybe it's because I have to slow my thoughts down. Maybe it's because I think more clearly when I write. Although sometimes I can't get them out fast enough.

I have used a spiral notebook and am now using a Moleskine. Both have their own merits. Obviously, there is no metal wire to worry about squishing with the Moleskine. The spiral I can write from edge to edge though. I don't like writing in the middle of the Moleskine, though I can open it all the way. 

I do try to keep the paper journal and my electronic journal synced, but I'm not great about it. 

As for organization of the paper journal, I date each page and each new subject gets its own page. I number all the pages. If a subject appears more than once, I cross reference it by noting the other pages numbers with the current page number. The guy that I learned this from is named Doug and he has a YouTube video on it. At the time, I thought his idea was genius. I still do, but I'm just used to how to do it now. Now it seems so obvious.