In other news - an old man yells at the cloud
A quick YouTube search for “productivity tips” will hit you with a tidal wave of results. Most will trumpet the latest app that “changed my life forever” or wax poetic about how Obsidian will “redefine the way you take notes.” You’ll see a smattering of subscription-based tools that promise to manage your calendar, notes, and reminders all in one sleek package, syncing seamlessly across all your devices.
I will say, if you’re the type of person with the iron willpower to resist the checking email or opening literally every other app besides the one you need, congrats—you’ve found your tools.
But for me? The most time I’ve ever spent with one of those productivity suites was transferring all my notes and data from the last shiny app I swore would change my life to the newest one. I’d eagerly use it for a week before completely abandoning it. Alarms? Ignored. Notifications? Silenced. And therein lay the problem: notifications. When every alert demands your attention, none of them actually matter.
Enter the pocket notebook.
Specifically, the Rite in the Rain All-Weather Universal No. 374-M pocket notebook. (No, this isn’t a sponsored post—I just really love this thing.) It’s small, lightweight, portable, and practically indestructible. I put everything in this notebook: appointments, random thoughts, book recommendations, terrible sketches of birds—whatever pops into my head. To anyone else, it would look like chaos. But to me, it’s a physical extension of my brain at any given moment. Brain-dumping into this little notebook gives me instant clarity. Once everything swirling in my head is on paper, I can sift through the mess and pull out what’s actually important.
Why writing by hand works
It’s not just me, there’s actual science behind this. Research has shown that writing things down by hand improves memory retention. A study published in Psychological Science found that people who took notes by hand performed better at recalling conceptual information compared to those who typed their notes. Writing engages multiple areas of your brain—it forces you to process the information more deeply, which creates stronger connections in your memory.
Additionally, having a physical notebook makes it easier to revisit and reflect on your notes. When your thoughts are on paper, they’re tangible and accessible. It’s easy to flip back, review, and expand on them. Compare that to digital tools, where notes can get buried in endless folders and are rarely revisited once filed away.
The Notebook as an Antidote to Digital Overload
The biggest advantage of a physical notebook is that it keeps you offline. When you’re waiting in line or have a spare moment, your instinct might be to scroll through social media. But instead of diving into an endless feed, your notebook is there, inviting you to review your thoughts, jot down ideas, or just sketch something stupid.
This small shift makes a huge difference. Rather than zoning out, you engage with your own ideas. You revisit goals, expand on a half-formed thought, or rediscover a quote you’d written down weeks ago. It’s a productive alternative that doesn’t leave you feeling drained the way doomscrolling does.
In the same vein, I’ve also started carrying a pocket calendar. Rite in the Rain (again, not an ad!) makes an amazing pocket calendar that ticks all my boxes. Each spread has a weekly breakdown on the left and a blank, dotted page on the right. This setup is perfect for adding context—like meeting locations, quick to-dos, or notes to self—that helps me actually remember details. Unlike digital calendars, which I never bother to revisit, this one keeps me grounded and aware of my week.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I still use digital tools. My notes live in plaintext files—nothing fancy. About once a week, I review my notebook and calendar, pulling out the gems worth keeping. These go into my personal wiki (basically just a glorified folder of Markdown files) for long-term organization.
If you’re like me—struggling to stay organized no matter how many apps you try—give the humble pocket notebook a shot. They’re cheap, endlessly customizable, and more reliable than any app I’ve ever used.
Not to mention, there’s something deeply satisfying about putting pen to paper.
-— Travis