Paper & Pen
Written by Alice Seba
Perhaps you’ve heard of these items from the olden days.
In today’s digital world we don’t rely on paper and pen very much. But personally, I love my handy-dandy notebook and pen for my online business for a few reasons:
- Writing things down on paper means full concentration. There are no Internet distractions with good old fashioned paper. No Twitter, YouTube or email.
- You get time to really review and think before you publish anything in digital format. Normally, you log into WordPress, type something and hit publish without much though. Paper gives you the opportunity for more well thought out content and copy.
- It’s accessible anytime. I have an iPhone and it has built in notes, but it’s not quite the same. Getting my thoughts out on paper whenever the need arises just feels right. It’s also easy to refer to and add ideas. Some of my best notebook pages are a mess of crossed out ideas, arrows and extra notes. It’s how my brain works!
Now, I’m not saying I write everything on paper before I publish it. It’s just an extra tool for organizing thoughts and ideas…and sometimes comes in very handy.
Here’s what I use paper and pen for:
- Business planning. I take stock in what I’ve going on, what can stay, what I can do better and what needs to be scrapped.
- Promotion planning. I work out a schedule for promotions, what emails will be written (and what will be said) and any freebies that need to be put together.
- Content ideas. I love making lists of topic ideas (you know, an editorial calendar). It makes it easier to crank out the content later when I’m in a writing mood.
- Article and blog post writing. I get paper out when I’m having trouble focusing, am out and about. Sometimes I write full articles and other times, just point form ideas.
- To do lists. Again, we’ve got all kinds of digital options for to do lists, but writing it on paper makes me slow down and think about if something really belongs on my to do list.
Keeping Your Notebook Organized:
If you’re using a notebook for all kinds of things I mentioned above, it can become a mish-mashed mess and you might prefer to have a few notebooks. Personally, I work from one notebook. I find it simpler, easier to carry around and refer to whenever I need. My high-tech and very sophisticated trick is simply to use post-it flags. The flags make it easy to find my current to-do list, my business plan, editorial calendar, etc. The folks at 3M are geniuses.
Of course, we’ve all got our own preference, but if you haven’t used paper and pen in a while, I highly recommend it. The focus, the extra time to think and brainstorm…it’s priceless.
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Everybody says "Content is King", but what does that mean for you? 
Lisa Hartwell says:
Absolutely I still use a pen and paper. I love my laptop but I think I will always prefer a notebook and pen for some things:
- taking notes during seminars, training etc.
- business planning
- making “to do” lists
- planning article, blog post and podcast series
- fleshing out reports and courses etc.
- noting down ideas (I always carry a notebook with me)
I agree that I have greater focus with pen and paper because I am less tempted to check twitter, emails etc, AND there is less temptation to self-edit than when I type.
Shannon says:
I love using pen and paper and prefer it for making to do lists, mapping out sites, and writing down ideas. There is nothing quite like being able to take a pen and physically crossing something off your list.
Jessica says:
I like this article, Alice. Thank you for some great reminders.
Alice Seba says:
Thanks for your feedback ladies. Sounds like we use paper in a similar way. For me, it just feels good to be focused and like Shannon says, “There is nothing quite like being able to take a pen and physically crossing something off your list.” Yeah!
Also, I thought of something else I often use paper for and it’s editing. I really hate printing more paper than is necessary, but for sales pages, I often print out the document and mark it up all over the place…sometimes while on the elliptical machine at the gym.
Of course, editing on paper isn’t a groundbreaking idea, but I mention it because I think my editing is much more effective when I use paper.
Liz says:
I use to think “Get with the 21st century and stop writing things down, that’s what your computer is for.”
But in reality, having a notebook and writing things down the old fashioned way with pen and paper just works better for me and it helps me avoid distractions. I read it, I do it and things just seem to get done.
Now keeping it organized can be a challenge, I like your post-it flags idea Alice. Think I’ll give that a try
John Soares says:
I type so fast and effortlessly that it’s much easier for me to write — and make lists and take down ideas — with my computer.
A key advantage of keeping everything in documents: no worries about losing or misplacing pieces of paper.
Alice Seba says:
Liz…I know what you mean. I used to do everything on the computer. Paper is a shift for me in the past couple ears.
John…I’m a typing speed demon myself, but sometimes pen works so well for me.
Michelle Howard Smith says:
I love paper and pen for when I’m commuting. Long 2 hours to and from my day job. It helps me keep my thoughts together so that when I am ready to implement, it’s all in one nice little book
Lynette Chandler says:
I love my paper notebook too. But that too is supercharged – special notebook that works with my Livescribe pen does that count? LOL
But yeah I love writing in that and it is a mess. Mind maps, plans, articles, appointments, full brainstorming sessions, emails, checklists… you get the idea. A ton of stuff.
Alice Seba says:
Michelle – what a great way to use that long commute time for sure.
Lynette – Of course, Livescribe counts. Makes it easier to get those written thoughts into type. Ken told me that there is a way to convert Livescribe into written text, instead of just audio…is that correct?
Lynette Chandler says:
Yes, that is correct and one of the main reasons why I use it to write articles/blog posts. It is an extra plugin costs $30. I got lucky and got it as a bonus when I bought the pen in store. It gets more accurate if you print. That works out well for me since my writing is a mix of print and a little cursive.
Another reason why I love using the Livescribe + notepad is because of the ability to search and archive. Getting old. Much rather have the computer search through my scribblings than remember it.
There are down sides though. Once you put it on that paper it is permanently archived… well pretty much, because you cannot delete a single page. Gotta be careful what you write
but for business use, gotta love the archiving.
Alice Seba says:
That’s really cool Lynette. One thing I noticed and why I still like paper so much, is that I like to add additional thoughts, possibilities, etc. Lots of arrows and notes in the margins. I’m thinking Livescribe would make a jumble out of that or how does it handle that?
Lynette Chandler says:
That shouldn’t be a problem. Livescribe doesn’t care when (I bet the time does get recorded somewhere but it’s not relevant within the current software) you write something down. So if you write something on page 1 then days later come back to add stuff to that same page, it will record them. The whole paper is recordable, it doesn’t matter if it is margins or not it will get captured.
Oh and another thing. A lot of people think you must use audio with the pen. Not true. 90% of the stuff I write on the book is non-audio. I use is primarily as a way to digitize my hand written notes.
I made two of my notes public if you want to see how they turn out. Pardon the chicken scratch. Good handwritng not my strength
Here’s one with audio…
http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=FpVLh4tsWCmh
and another without – just a checklist for myself.
http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=lptWZbm6DtZh
Ginny says:
Very well said. Even these days that I already have an iPad, I never ever forget to put a notebook on my bags everywhere I go. Its still better to write down your notes there than diresctly on any gadget that you have.
Gladies Moreno says:
Paper and pen is very important most especially if you need to take down important notes. This will also serve as a reminder notebook because you can always bring it along with you.
edith says:
Sorry I am using this space, but…. If I have a q. or an inquiery regarding my PLR – whom Should I address????
Alice Seba says:
Hi Edith…our support center is at http://internetbasedsupport.com