A Return to Analog — The Focus Course
For me, one of the signs of health in emotional margin is how much I’m writing in my notebook each week. If pages begin to stack up without any notes, ideation, or doodling, it’s a sign that I’m not slowing down enough to think on paper.
Fore-edge painting and indexing – Austin Kleon
The outside edge of a book’s pages opposite of the spine is called the “fore-edge.” Like many things that are neglected or overlooked, it’s a place of great creative potential.
Some outside of the normal box ideas for journaling.
I have completely filled 6 journals in my life. I love journaling, but a lot of people think that they aren’t capable of doing it. So here’s my hot tips so that you too can say that you’ve filled out a blank journal completely and are a certified Journal Keeper.
I found many of these to be fresh ideas that may work better for some folks than the traditional “write daily” ones. Worth considering, regardless.
I run my entire life off of a single 3×5 card using my Dash/Plus system. I wrote a post about it several years ago but it could use some updating.
Yesterday, over on my main blog, I posted about how I manage my tasks using a single 3×5 card (with support from my Journal and Daily Log).
Highlighting in notebooks – Jack Baty
For a couple of months now I’ve been going back through my notes periodically and highlighting key words and phrases. I’ve found that if I emphasize the most relevant bit of each note, I can find most things fairly quickly.
Intersting idea.
My Notebook System – ratfactor
This year (2022) is going to see my journal/log’s 10th anniversary and 100th notebook. After manyattempts to write this up, I’m just going to disgorge it all.
Incredibly long and detailed but if you are one of those nerds who enjoy gleaning ideas from other people’s systems then this one is for you.
Analog Office – Office Toy: the Date Stamp
My master calendar and task tracking apps are digital, but I use a paper notebook for my daily plan and work log. What makes it MORE likely that I will a) record the date, and b) be able to read it later (my handwriting’s not the greatest) is using a date stamp.
Kerchunk!
Journaling is fun! // Jack Baty’s Microblog
Journaling is fun. It’s a great way to put the little Instax printer to use, also. My big journal has become a sort of scrapbook with supporting commentary.
Very cool format.
I’ve always enjoyed asking the maker of a thing the “why” behind their making. What problem were they trying to solve? What was lacking in what was out there that made them decide to do their own?
Such is the case with Dan Provost of Studio Neat. I’ve love their products and have a couple that I use all the time. They are well made, beautiful, and full of nice touches and attention to detail. So, it was delight to have him answer the above questions regarding their pen, the Mark One:
I was introduced to the Schmidt P8126 rollerball refill when a friend gifted me a Retro 51 pen. I loved the way the pen wrote–the ink flow was so smooth and nice. But I hated the pen! I shared the pen with Tom and he agreed on both counts. So we thought, could we make a pen for this refill that is uniquely Studio Neat? And thus began the design process.
Probably my favorite thing about Mark One is it’s such a “pure” industrial design product. I don’t mean that in an arrogant or pretentious way, I mean it is an object that literally has a single button on it that you press to use. Our job was to make that button as satisfying as possible.
If you are in the market for a nice pen or unique notebook designed for a life where the analog and digital coexist, it’s worth checking out Studio Neat.