My Notepad

For such a high-tech guy and self-professed nerd, I've had no bigger revelation in recent years than I take notes best with a notepad.  You know, that bundle of papers, bound in a cover, with a small writing instrument called a pencil.  Quite deflating for my image, I suppose.

Hey, I've tried every electronic solution.  I've taken notes on a laptop, for years, in the meeting reminders on Outlook.  That actually worked okay, but then in Office 2011, Microsoft changed things that killed my ability to do this.  Plus, I couldn't doodle.  Yes, I've tried Evernote.  Even subscribed to their über-package, and it, like many other new fads, over the years, eventually ended up on the shelf, collecting dust.  I've even tried Evernote and Instapaper, which I like, to get around printing out all the online articles that interest me but don't currently have the time to read.  No dice.  They didn't stick.

Having admitted these shameful truths, I realize that I was programmed at a young age.  I remember taking notes in second grade.  Like, I wrote everything the teacher said, regardless of importance.  I'm not sure how much I actually go back to review the notes, but I'm sure that the act of writing the notes onto a page helps engrain the thoughts into my brain, more than anything.

It's nice to finally come out of the electronics closet.  It feels good to know who I really am.  Plus, with a notepad instead of an iPad, at least the people I'm meeting with know I'm not sending email or playing Flight Control!