Hi,
I just joined and since I can see no other post (indexing issue? or is the community that recent? ;) I thought maybe I could post something.
I’m nearing my 60s and I’ve been using pen and paper most of my life. From school—even it was already on its way out back in the early 70s kids were still taught handwriting using a fountain pen, at least here in France—up to this very day.
Privacy is is one of the two reasons I still use pen and paper instead of any of the many apps and services I have tested and learned to use. The second reason being the… satisfaction handwriting brings me. I’m considered a decent typist (I got my first Apple computer in the very early 80s, and a few years before that I was quite happily writing shitty stories on my grand-dad’s already old Olympia SG1 typewriter, a wonderful machine on which I learned to type… and to stain my fingers, playing with the ink ribbon :p) but nothing beats the simple joy of writing in silent, hand on paper. Early in the morning (most of the time, I like to write between 4AM and 8AM while my spouse is still sleeping and while the city around us is still quiet)
I draft most of what I write longhand, using loose leafs (I prefer the flexibility of being able to move the sheets as I see fit, that’s also why in the 90s I was so obsessed with Filofax) and either a (mechanical) pencil or a fountain pen—those two device are friendly rivals in smoothness (depending the paper) and, unlike most ballpoint pens, require no effort at all to write, the hand doesn’t need to press hard quite the contrary, which helps write longer & with less fatigue.
I also journal longhand. I have been doing so since I was a (not that happy) little boy.
Talking journaling, I’m the admin at !journaling@sh.itjust.works which has been on a bit of a pause but the place is open and do welcome people willing to post content, tips and tricks, questions, suggestions,… The community is open to both analog and digital journaling, btw.
But my main use of pen and paper is my Zettelkasten, aka an endless pile of index card (A6) that I keep organized and indexed. It’s the place where I store all my reading notes (I read a lot, and always take notes while doing so), all the references, quotes, ideas and any type of content (text, images,...) I want to be able to quickly refer to later on when I work on one of my own projects.
Lhumann, the dude that formalized this concept of Zettelkasten (which is in reality much older than that word, people have been using it for centuries) described his Zettel as his second brain. And he was right. That thing is not just a passive pile of cards. It’s smart and it can often be surprisingly… stimulating to browse through it. Just flipping through a bunch of cards will often bring unexpected ideas. It’s a true partner with whom one can have a meaningful discussion, like when one is reading a book, a good book I mean.
Here is the two most important tips I can think of for anyone wanting to give it a try:
- Keep it simple. The key to a Zettel is the numbering/indexing. So keep the numbering simple (it can always evolve later on if you feel the need to). Also, don’t try to anticipate all categories, projects, whatever you think you may one day need. Start with what you actually need now (say in regard to a specific writing project/research you're working on) and let your Zettel grow by itself as you go along. It’s one of the things that make it so powerful: it will grow with you. And, yes, this also means some part of it will not grow that much if at all, and some may even become stale, and you need to be fine with that.
- There is no need to spend a fortune on fancy materials, a nice fountain pens, a large pack of expensive index cards and luxurious storage boxes. Start with what you already have.
- Index cards: I use the back of old letters, recycled invoices, whatever decent paper I can get my hands on that I can cut to size (one A4 sheet makes four A6 cards, and it’s easy to cut of them using a massicot).
Index cards are sturdier, that's true but they’re also (a lot more expensive and) thicker and if you start really using your Zettel you will quickly realize space in your storage box quickly becomes an issue. Also, most of the times those cards will be neatly stored in that storage box or laid flat on your desk, they don’t need to be that sturdy because they’re not, say, library cards. - Storage boxes: I made my own out of… cardboard that I cut and assemble. If anyone is interested, I may post a short guide on my blog explaining how I do that but it's really simple (one only needs some spare thick cardboard from a delivery package, white glue and a cutter/hobby knife) and it’s really sturdy. Before that, I used to use old...shoe boxes.
Edit: typos and a missing sentence.
This helps a lot I think!
I've found there's very often a sort of "writers block" I'll get if I sit down trying to like, do something like journal or write note cards or anything like that. The pocket notebook I'm using for grocery lists and everything is actually a notebook I was gifted like 10+ years ago and never used until now, when I decided I wanted to reduce phone usage and switch to analogue more, so I basically just use it as my everyday sort of pocket notebook to write whatever in (I think I've heard this called a commonplace book).
At first I didn't want to really use it for much, even when I decided I wanted to, but what made it work for me was going on a trip with multiple connecting flights, so I wrote down all my flight info (numbers, times, seats, confirmation #, etc) and other travel info, this made it easy to look up those details.
Then once I'd started with that it became easier to use for things like grocery lists, todo lists, etc, things that I used to try to save on my phone or take notes in my phone for. And now I even will like, copy recipes I'm going to make into it so I can have shorter, more concise, instructions to follow and without worrying about getting my phone wet or messy.
So in theory I can just, number everything chronologically when I write them (or by date?) and put them in a box sorted by number/date, then just have multiple category/subject based index sheets/cards to find things or refer to other notes based on their ID number or date?
I've never been good at organizing notebooks or other things like that so I can find things, I guess often because I never bother with the indexing part...
That's how it works with anything: using your notebook, cooking, riding a bike, learning to write or even learning to walk: we start slow and it feels so difficult and then, after a few failed attempts, we start to get better at it ;)
In theory, and in practice. But in practice you will probably quickly realize you may want to add a new card/notes between two existing ones. How to do that? That's easy too, no matter the numbering system you use.
Say, you use the date YYYY/MM/DD as your naming format and have & card labelled 2025/12/14 and another one labelled 2025/12/15 (you've written it today), to add an extra one after the card from the previous day, you could label it 2025/12/14-1, or 2025/12/14/1, or 2025/12/14-A, or any other way that works for you, because in the end it's your system and it only needs to work the best for you.
No guarantee it will work but maybe it's worth trying it for a while, and see if it helps?