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Comment by MarlonPro | Hacker News Reader

I've been trying to "go backwards" with my note taking and writing in general. I've been using OneNote on my workstation and/or Evernote on my smart phone (HTC One at the moment).

Recently I upgraded my note-taking tools from Moleskine + Sharpie Pen to Midori Traveler's Notebook + Fountain Pen / Blackwing 602 Pencil. I also carry a couple of Field Notes on the go; you just don't know when that next-big-thing-idea will strike you. I make sure to capture it in ink when I catch it!

I found out that I am more inspired to write/take notes when I have better writing tools. Here's my current "system": https://twitter.com/ProductivityBit/status/38016214069634662...

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MarlonPro, if you're ever in the market for a new or replacement fountain pen, check out the Lamy Safari[1]. I have written with very expensive (OMAS, MtBlanc, Caran D'Ache, ...) fountain pens and the Lamy Safari is better than most (and dirt cheap!). http://www.lamyusa.com/fountain_main_safari.php

@RokStdy I have the Lamy Al-Star Black Special Edition filled with Noodler's Black Bulletproof ink! FTW!

One data point (me): Try one of the cheaper Pelikan fountain pens. I like the Safari, but my Pelikan is way smother (but x3 the price)

>I found out that I am more inspired to write/take notes when I have better writing tools.

Very interesting. I worry that I'd be affected in the opposite way - if my paper is too nice, I wouldn't want to waste it on notes with marginal value, whereas if the paper is crummy copy paper, I have no reservations in scrawling all over it.

Agreed. There's an emotional reward I get from not only writing with my Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen on a nice piece of Rhodia paper, but also from seeing a clean and well-organized task list or set of notes written with good penmanship. That emotional reward really helps reinforce and perpetuate good habits, and it's something that's sorely lacking from working with electronic solutions.

That being said, my phone is much better at automating my repeating reminders.

> not only writing with my Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen on a nice piece of Rhodia paper

> That emotional reward really helps reinforce and perpetuate good habits

Please take note of the fact that a large part of the "emotional reward" is the fact that you use a Brand Name fountain pen on a Brand Name paper.

In my opinion, the "good habit" that rich people like you should reinforce is charity and not generating happiness just from the fact you're able to purchase premium vanity objects.

One thing at a time.

Also, buying expensive items is not touted as a good habit, but as a mean to perpetuate a good habit.

Charity is a very good habit, and there are other ways to reinforce charity. Having a better personal life because of awesome note-taking could be an enabler.

What a hilariously irrelevant, tangential, presumptuous response. You must be fun at cocktail parties. Do you also tell people about how they shouldn't enjoy their shoes because they were stitched up by some poor sap in a sweatshop? I hear that goes over like gangbusters too.

Do many people's minds really work like that? You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later?

If I think of something important, I will generally remember it for a long time. It's only things like errands ("What did I need again...? Oh yes, butter") that I tend to forget.

"You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later?"

Not Great Ideas, no.

But faint echoes, suddenly noticed connections, things that 'ring a bell', yes, I can lose those. And I need to 'listen to faint signals' in teaching.

Think little used synaptic pathway glowing for 30 seconds then dimming...

So I have an A6 notebook and pen around.

I would say not great ideas, but small ones. One's I'd like to revisit in 6 months' time and mull over, connect the dots, etc.

I've been keeping a "sparks" log (can't remember where I read this, somewhere on HN) where I just jot down small ideas for side projects, etc. when I have them.

Then when I have some free time, I pick an idea off the list and try working on it.

You might be talking about the "Spark File" https://medium.com/better-humans/8d6e7df7ae58

Yup, that's it!

> Do many people's minds really work like that? You are struck by a great idea out of the blue, and then you lose it minutes later?

I've found that as I've gotten older (and more busy) it's really important to keep notes. In my younger years I was more mentally agile and also more single-focused, and I got away with being not-very-rigorous with note taking (either digital or analog).

I think you would be amazed at the sheer quantity of stuff that you forget. Looking back at old journals is always surprising and fascinating, even the stuff that back then seemed mundane. Writing is a way of augmenting one's working memory. Things that would otherwise flow off like water on a duck get another chance.

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