Stone's note-taking week in review #2
Finished my 51st note-taking app review, welcomed 8 new subscribers, sinned by going analog, and summarized Dan Allasso's new book: a good week!
Welcome to pit stop # 51 of this odd adventure that I'm on to find the best note-taking app for Android. Thanks for coming along for the ride. This week I tested Notally, I read a new book about taking notes and writing, and I sinned.
Before I tell you about my sin, I want to say a big welcome to the new folks who subscribed this week.
Thanks to each of you for joining and to those of you who continue to ride along. If you get something out of these reviews, then it makes me happy. As happy as a Developer using Kotlin.
Forgive me for I've sinned
I've been dabbling in the ancient craft of note taking using pen and paper!
With all of the revenue coming in from this hobby – $0.00 in the past week alone – I wanted to buy myself some analog tools. My simple initial requirement, before scope creep crept in, was the notepad had to fit in my jeans pocket so that I could take it with me when I go out.
I started off buying these Field Notebooks and then thought that they're going to get bent when in my pocket. What to do? Well, since I needed a new wallet, I rationalized the purchase of this Leather Journal Cover. Perfect. I had mitigated the risk of bent notes and a brand new wallet but wait! I can't be looking for a pen every time I'm out of the house.
I needed a pen that fit in that cover and that can be secured because I don't want to be the character from Kids in the Hall worrying about My Pen. After some research, I ended up buying a LEUCHTTURM1917 Drehgriffel Nr. 1. I liked the color, it looked sturdy, and it met the size requirements. But that created a new problem: how to prounounce LEUCHTTURM.
Well, I now have the tools and I'm ready to take notes anywhere, even where there is no cellular coverage or Wi-Fi. I suppose that's my next problem, where is that?!
Now that I've confessed my sin, I will get back to the book. Was it good? Yes, it was very good. So much so that I stayed up late one night to create this visualization of the first few chapters.
If you find that useful, please like my Tweet and consider buying the book. It has a lot of practical and clear advice on note taking for yourself or someone heading to college. I don't know Dan so no nepotism nor kickbacks here.
One last thing about this analog form. I need to acknowledge that I was inspired to do some writing after seeing Scott Sheper's content and his Aninet which is an analog Zettelkasten. I even bought index cards which you can see in the photo above. Sacrilege!
Now that I've confessed my analog sin and made up for it by sharing a potentially useful diagram, let's get back into the metaverse and review this week's digital note-taking app: