The handwritten word is still very powerful but having everything digital gives you great flexibility. I’ll never go back to a handwritten productivity system but I’ll also never give up writing things down by hand.

You can combine both worlds and create something even better!

The other day I was in a meeting with a couple of people from our IT company. They both had laptops open to take notes with.

I found it very distracting and somewhat imposing having that screen between us.

Also you need to be very careful about using electronic devices for note taking since it’s s easy to get distracted by notifications.

I like to mix the two mediums throughout the day.

Here’s a few ways I mix digital and analog:

• Take handwritten notes then take a photo of them in Evernote.
• Review my Nozbe list but handwrite the 3 top projects I’m working on today and place them on a card which is clipped to my notebook.
• Have a physical and a digital inbox. Where do you drop that paperwork you were just handled – your physical inbox of course. Where does that PDF go for later processing – your digital inbox is the place.
• I have a physical project file folder plus a digital project file in Dropbox that syncs with PDF reader. Before a meeting  I grab the physical file folder and can access the digital file folder in the meeting.
• I can use my David Allen Notetaker wallet or use the SquareSpace Note app on my phone to capture ideas on the go.
• Get stylus with a pen.  I like the Grifiti Dootle for this purpose.

Don’t feel like you can’t have the best of both worlds. Sometimes thinking with a pen is the best way. But I also like to be able to easily look up anything on the go.

Let’s talk more about this on Twitter.