I love the tactile feeling of writing on paper.

I use paper for all my "at the moment notes" it's just easier because actually unlocking my phone and opening a note app then starting a note takes too long and a lot of the time I need to draw a diagram or something to go along with it. Anything important gets transferred into my onenote from the paper later on. I would like to find a good app to go completely digital but so far nothing I've found meets that need as well as just carrying a notebook around.

Because writing it helps me remember. I'm never going to look at those notes again, because I'll remember, because the act of writing helps me remember.

For anything I'll need to share or search, digital.

Everything else, I remember it better if I commit handwriting to it, and I use fountain pens, it's a nicer experience.

During meetings, I find it easier to follow the discussion if I'm making notes on post-its or a notepad rather than digitally.

For longform notes, research etc I prefer to use a wiki program like Obsidian and a mindmap or diagramming tool. I will rarely sketch ideas on paper but being able to rearrange the shapes on digital canvas makes it great for whiteboarding as a software engineer.

I use a mechanical pencil. Pentel 205 for life baby.

Both, for different reasons. I use paper notes to stick them on my fridge so I won't forget about them.

I have a phone with a stylus built in and it's great- but sometimes I don't want to stare at a screen.

If I'm Journaling I stick with pen and paper because I dont want the distraction. There is also something nice about the feedback of ink on a page.

If the note is important I'll put a sticky note on my desk and copy it to obsidian or take a photo of it.

Writing by hand requires me to condense whatever I'm trying to grok. That helps in my understanding of it.

I do both, and it’s heavily dependent on what the purpose of the note is for.

I keep a yellow legal pad and mechanical pen. Stuff that goes on the pad are usually the ultimate in throwaway notes. Scribbles that are wholly transitory.

Then I have a digital note management system (Obsidian.md) and use it to maintain a personal journal and Zettelkasten.

Some yellow pad notes might flow into Obsidian, but not always.

Yep. I get distracted with my phone. I doodle on my notes. I enjoy writing in cursive, it's so loopy! I like pens, they're neat!

I also do bullet journaling, but not very strict to the original style. I just draw my own little boxes.

I do both. I use Obsidian to maintain lots of notes and links and such. But I also carry a fountain pen and a notebook in my pocket. I find when I write stuff down in there I tend to remember it more. I also carry an A5 notebook at work to take down work notes and track my todo's. More productive, looks better in meetings, and I'm less likely to get distracted by notifications or the draw of apps/social-media.

Lots of times I'll do a drawing of dimensions or an idea, then I'll take a picture of that and throw it in Obsidian later. Also if it's a note that I want to keep later I'll transcribe it into my digital notes.

I just enjoy the act of writing and getting to own a pen that I won't just lose or loan away. I'll also pick up old notebooks sometimes and be reminded of things I wanted to do or ideas I had that got missed, and the reminder is way more tangible and impacting that being reminded by found digital notes. It comes with the tactile memories as well.

Yes, at work. Healthcare --> HIPAA All notes shredded at the end of the shift or whenever the patient no longer is on your unit.

I pretty much only take notes with pen&paper. Never really thought about doing it otherwise. Seems like it would be much more inconvenient on my phone since I don't thumb type and I hate laptop keyboards.

Yeah of course. Especially if you’re in dirty or wet places a waterproof pad and pencil are fantastic.

But even in everyday normal life, having a little notebook is good.

I'm a millennial and I still write notes with pen and paper simply because I can't be bothered to learn how to format in a notes app of any kind.

All of my notes are formatted in a bizarre way that makes sense to me. Applying that format in a digital space is always a giant headache.

I am switching to using Obsidian. Skipping the formatting all together and instead linking all my disjointed ideas to each other seems to be working pretty well.

I'm 53. Never got the hang of typing fast on the phone, so whenever I'm in a meeting and not having my laptop with me, it's pen and paper for me. 🙃

Yes, typed notes don't stick as well as written ones

Yep.

not to sound like a boomer, but i just like to write with pen once in a while so i dont forget how to

I use a tablet for most my notes but there's a pretty obvious reason for paper/pen - you don't have to charge a notebook.

Yes. It's faster, I have an easier time remembering stuff that I wrote by hand instead of using a keyboard, I can't be arsed to use a phone most of the time, and I can even apply some primitive "encryption"* to keep a certain overly curious person around me from messing with my notes. I can also use them when I'm designing writing scripts for constructed languages, way faster than doing it in Inkscape.

The big con is that one of my cats thinks that paper is toy, and the other thinks that any large enough sheet is a bed.

*it's just Italian with ad hoc Cyrillic. Good enough for handwritten notes.

yes, there is music in the sound of pen across paper and magic in the scratch of a pencil. I still use my phone to take quick notes but I love the sound and feel of paper.

I use paper for shopping lists, to keep track of dimensions etc, and to-do lists for work.

I tried multiple note taking or to do list apps over the course of a few years before going back to paper.

Benefits: No risk of scratching/dropping my phone because I have it out. Can easily emphasize text, star/cross off items, and mix diagrams and text. Can quickly scan many items by eye. Works when my phone battery dies. Works when no cell service (unlike some collaborative to-do/list apps) Can hand the list to my partner. Instant sync. Satisfying to physically toss out completed lists. Can reference the list while on the phone. Not distracted by phone alerts. Never get spam email or pop ups urging me to pay for an app, or rate an app; no terms of service or privacy policy!

I tried many times to "go digital" at work, using different apps and methods, but it comes down to 3 things: I take notes and jot down ideas nonlinearly. For example, I'll start taking a note from a meeting or lecture, then have an idea that I'll jot down elsewhere, but go back to the original note to finish it then go and complete the idea. It's stupid, but it works for me. The second is that I infrequently need to review my notes that are written since they get committed to memory. Unfinished ideas are different. Third, I can find notes faster when I wrote them vs typed them. I have a photographic memory. My desk is a huge mess, but I can usually find what I need because I remember it's physical location in the pile.

For work I used to have an agenda with notes but over time I realized it's impossible to actually keep organized and have the most important things be the most easy to find. I moved to onenote and never looked back.

For personal notes I use a tablet with pen because it's fun to write by hand without wasting trees and it still being digital it's easier to organize and move information around.

I love fountain pens so much and journaling with them. Extremely therapeutic.

Yes. There's something about putting it in paper that makes me grasp the concept in a more personal manner.

Sometimes i need to hand info to someone, or paper is just nearby, or i need to draw a diagram.

I do have an ipad, but if you are brainstorming with other people, they don't always know how to use it/touch the wrong thing.

All other notes are digital, because i am bad at keeping track of pieces of paper.

I agree with a lot of peoples take about the convenience of paper notes with the ability to handle them, physically share them and so forth. But I still never use physical notes any more. And 100% of the reason is that I'm always carrying my phone, but I never carry a pen and notebook. My need to take notes is spontaneous and unpredictible, so paper and a pen is never within an arms reach when I need to take a note.

So I have this OCD thing where I just have to have a perfect order of things to do, I'm talking about things like what to watch, what to read.

It's helpful for me to list them all on paper cuz the excel app on my phone sucks and we have load shedding where light goes every 2 hours a.ccording to schedule and comes back after 2 hours.

Somehow I notice how I think more 'structured' and focused about the things I write down by hand. Especially useful when I try to break down tasks into smaller bits or try to plan anything through step by step

Yes, it's very useful sometimes.

Unlocking the phone, looking at it, opening the app, then looking for the info is a hassle sometimes. Sometimes it's not safe either.

As a uni student I do both. I generally type notes during lectures and live meetings, and handwrite notes for prerecorded videos and other general study.

I still handwrite because my exams are going to be handwritten and I don't want to lose my ability to handwrite fast lol.

You can also doodle/draw diagrams when you handwrite. It's harder to do that on a phone/computer.

I still use pen and paper because it just feels better than handwriting on a screen.

Simple sketches of very rough ideas are much simpler for me in a notebook. Its right there when i need it, and they’ve thought me how to use a pen ages ago so i’m pretty good at it. Noting down numbers or dimensions before i can enter them to cad in their proper places is something i do quite a lot too. The built in history feature is amazingly simple but search could be improved upon. Especially if the pages are filled with random things next to each other.

The notebook is pretty resistant to drops too and i can put plates or mugs on it without risking sratches

No.

Surprised no one here answered with just a "no". I can't remember the last time I even held a pen for signing something, even my last job contract and rental agreement etc were all digital.

AMA, all you pen and pencil people.

If I'm ever using my desktop at home, yes. I always have extra paper I can use as note paper for if I ever need to write something down, so I make use of it. I am never not around a mechanical pencil nor pen either, so that also helps.

I hand write to-do list because I can remember , my phone is a distraction machine.

I use sticky notes at home, and write by hand in an actual notebook when hashing things out. I also take notes in a text editor, though.