First off, what have I been doing since my last post?

Well as I noted in my Digital Declutter 2024 post, my focus was to read more books. And that’s what I have been doing.

During my digital declutter, I finished reading one book. That book was Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia. Great book if you’re interested in how to live longer, while maintaining a high quality of living.

A little after my digital declutter ended, I finished reading The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Excellent book if you’re trying to understand how/why we make the decisions we do with our money.

At the moment, I’m currently reading a few other books:

• C# 12 and .NET 8 – Modern Cross-Platform Development Fundamentals – Eighth Edition by Mark Price — this is work related and is just me trying to catch up with the latest in the .NET field.
• Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky — I never finished reading this, so I decided to read this again from the start.
• Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink — I finished reading this already but am re-reading just because I want to. I’m also trying to build more discipline into other areas of my life, so I thought it would be the perfect book to read.
• The Will of the Many by James Islington — high fantasy novel from the same author who wrote The Licanius Trilogy, of which I’m a fan of.
• Word On Fire Bible Volume II: Acts, Letters and Revelations — currently making my way through Acts of the Apostles book and surprised at how interesting the stories are.

What have I been doing other than reading books? Well with the extra time from not having to write on here, I've been trying to finish video games (currently near the end of Final Fantasy XV), playing video games with the kids/family (Stardew Valley is a great local co-op family game), helping the kids get better at baseball, catching up to TV shows (Jack Reacher is pretty good), taking longer naps, and many more.

So that's what I've been up to recently. Before I end this post, I also wanted to cover other things that I wrote about on this journal, namely Digital Gardens and my note-taking practice.

I'm still using Obsidian to take down notes. In fact it is still my primary note-taking app and that probably won't change for the foreseeable future.

I still have a Digital Garden, if having a collection of linked notes is what's considered one. But I don't subscribe to the idea of planting seeds or growing trees to grow my digital garden. If anything, what I used to call my Digital Garden, is now really just a personal knowledge base or a second brain. It is a repository of everything I've read and noted down, available for me to reference when I need to.

I also no longer follow the Zettelkasten way of taking down notes. I simply could not keep up. I do not have the mental bandwidth at night, nor do I have the time to go through my notes without burning out. That said, I've taken some practices that worked for me and simplified it.

I still do a daily log or what they call fleeting notes, and I still do a reference or literature note when reading a book. But I don't spend time processing notes the Zettelkasten way. I will link notes under a specific theme and leave it at that.

Taking a page from James Clear (author of Atomic Habits), my bare minimum requirement for my notes are, that they are in digital form and that they are searchable. And since I use Obsidian for note-taking, searching notes is easy. Storing notes in a text file with support for using Markdown is just icing on the cake.

So now we get to why I haven't been posting on here.

I mentioned above that I had a variety of reasons for not posting, but in this update I want to cover just one: I avoided writing on this blog because it was stressing me out.

Back in 2023-08-01, I ran into the Living a Simple and Quiet Christian Life video by Alex Wilson. Watching that video forced me to re-evaluate my online activities. It changed my perspective on blogging, especially blogging under your real name. Regarding this blog specifically, that same day I wrote this down on my bullet journal:

I don't want the fame and recognition. I mean yes, I want a little of it, but I don't want all of it. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm actually scared of the attention, the popularity, the fame. I think it is the source of stress on my websites/blogs where I don't hide behind a pseudonym or an anonymous persona.

Maybe it's time for Dino's Journal to come to an end.

This is not the first time that’s happened. I’ve always just pushed through after a short break. But I’m also aware of the fact that I keep running into this issue over and over. When I was going through my digital declutter, I was at peace, because I didn’t have to worry about what I’m writing on this blog. After my digital declutter ended, the thought of writing something for this specific blog/journal was stressing me out instead of bringing me relief.

And so that's why I haven't posting on here.

And this is why, on a number occasions before, during and after my digital declutter, I have contemplated bringing this blog/journal to a close. It’s not that I have ran out of things to share or write about. It’s just that, I felt so much peace not having to worry about something I wrote in this blog, or what I will write for this blog.

So does this mean this blog/journal is coming to an end? Sort of. This will most likely be my last post on here. I'm not deleting this blog/journal, but I most likely won't be publishing new content either.

I'm also not planning to abandon Write.as. I still have a number of other blogs on this platform and I plan to keep posting to those for the foreseeable future.

They say people start writing to a journal when they're going through something important in their lives. I guess that journey for me has come to an end, this journal has served its purpose.

I appreciate everyone who've taken the time to read my posts on this journal. It has been a blast. Thanks for reading and peace be with you all!

Tags: #SiteUpdates #Reflection #Blogging #DigitalDeclutter #DigitalGarden #NoteTaking #Zettelkasten #TheEnd

“We lost!”, my son said as he finished 10th place in a Mario Kart race. He said this happily by the way, in a way that only a child could ever do. This is what we lost when we grew up. We lost that childlike innocence. We lost the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child. We lost the ability to be happy in any given moment like a child could.

The question I have is, how do we get it back?

#Reflection

I noticed that I write down notes with the expectation that I'll be publishing them in the future. This causes me to write longer, fuller sentences in an unconscious attempt to make my notes ready to be published with minimal editing.

I think this bogs down my note taking process. Instead of writing down notes for the purpose of referencing them in the future, I write down notes with the purpose of stringing them all together into a future blog post. I think that if I stop writing “ready to be published” notes and instead go back to writing notes just for myself, that will make my digital garden a lot easier and less exhausting to maintain.

#NoteTaking #DigitalGarden

After taking down my public digital garden, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I cannot explain it. I didn't realize it had that effect on me. Maybe this was another case of oversharing on my part, similar to what happened with my previous Journal Entry series.

#DigitalGarden

Saying I don't Know Is Okay — when you're in a meeting or job interview and somebody asks you something you don't know the answer to, instead of faking an answer, you can say, “I don't know, but I'll find out and follow up with you”.

#Work

hobbies for the hell of it — excellent read on seeing hobbies for what they are; an activity that brings you joy.

#InterestingReads

Monday Master Class: Rapid Note-Taking with the Morse Code Method — great note taking method from this blog post.

#NoteTaking

I just realized, with my digital garden now offline, I don't have to put in too much effort making sure the references and citations in my notes look polished and ready to be published online. I can leave them as a link if I want to and worry about attribution later on, when I actually have to publish something online. In the event that the note doesn't even make it into a published post, then I ended up saving time not having to add a polished, proper looking citation that wasn't even needed in the first place.

#DigitalGarden

Most good choices feel like sacrifices in the present, but reward you with something good in the future. Most bad choices feel good in the present, but has potentially devastating consequences in the future.

#Reflection

Using the Zettelkasten method for taking notes, as opposed to the basic “save the notes in a searchable format” method, is like going the micro-services route as opposed to building one big monolithic app. Both still work. And both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

#NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy

In the end, this shadow is but a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty, forever beyond its reach. Find the light and the shadow will not find you. ~ Bronwyn, Rings of Power, Season 1 Episode 6

#Quotes

The truth sets you free — Interesting take on the truth setting you free. It is not the truth that sets you free, but the Truth Himself (the way, the truth and the life He said) is the one who sets you free.

#Christianity

I was contemplating trading in my old Nikon D3200 for a newer mirrorless camera, like a Nikon Z5. However watching this review made me realize, that the D3200, being the cheap entry level camera that it is, would be a good one to let the kids use if they want to explore photography. Instead of letting them try out photography on a newer, more expensive mirrorless camera, let them try it out on the D3200.

#Photography

Finally figured out how to use an if statement on an Excel spreadsheet. It basically works just like a ternary operator in programming. If condition is true, return first value, otherwise return the second value.

Source: IF function

#Excel

What's the point of working out, or taking walks, or trying to be active, when I'm not even losing weight?

For those days when you have that question on your mind, here's a different perspective: All that walking and working out and moving around, is what's stopping you from gaining all that weight back. You might not be losing weight now, but you'll be in a much worse state if you decide to stop living an active lifestyle.

#Reflection #HealthAndFitness

What I'm liking about note taking apps with the bi-directional linking option (like Obsidian), is that it helps me avoid writing redundant information. It does so because it allows me to simply add a link to another note from the current note I'm on. It kinda supports the “Don't repeat yourself” principle of software development.

#NoteTaking #NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy

Series: #JournalEntry Tags: #Reflection #NoteTaking #DigitalGarden #Work #InterestingReads #NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy #Quotes #Christianity #Photography #Excel #HealthAndFitness

This idea, if memory serves me right, came from the book “How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers” by Sönke Ahrens.

If you're not familiar with the PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) space, this book is recommended reading for anyone wanting to get into Zettelkasten or PKM in general. And so of course I read it and tried to incorporate what I've learned from the book into my note taking process.

This idea though, of not having to re-read source material because you took down notes correctly the first time, goes against another idea I ran into recently from James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) — that idea is to actively re-read books. James argues that great books are worth re-reading. And you know what, I agree with him.

It's true. Great books are worth re-reading. But it also goes beyond that. When you re-read a book, you are not the same person that you were the first time you read that book. Life moves on. We experience new things. And then we learn from those new experiences. By the time you read that book a second or third time, there's a great chance that you will learn something new, or find a new interpretation for something you've read before.

So all those times I felt like a failure because I had to re-read a book, because apparently I didn't take down enough notes, now I see those as folly. It's perfectly fine for me and everyone else to re-read a book.

Tags: #Books #Reading #Notetaking

Where to write it down, is not as important as being able to write it down.

Processing thoughts and ideas, while trying to keep everything in my brain, is hard. I could spend a good amount of time thinking about something, then my brain will switch gears and think about something else, and I lose most of what I thought about prior to the new idea popping up.

That's because we can only hold on to at most, four to seven items in our head at any time. Which means our brains are not designed to think through or remember multiple things at once. It also means that if we try to keep everything in our head, we will be taxing our brain. It is not an efficient way to think. And so, I have to write my thoughts down.

Writing down my thoughts and ideas helps clear them off my brain. This frees up my brain from having to make multiple context switches between different thoughts and ideas. This allows my brain to focus on thinking through a specific topic or task at hand.

It's been a boon for me really. I've noticed that I'm able to think through things better when I write it down. And so I'll end this post with what I use to write down notes these days.

• For pen and paper, I prefer the Zebra Sarasa Grand Retractable Pen and a hardcover Rhodia Goalbook. I have found these two to be the best combination, when it comes to writing down notes the old-fashioned way.
• For digital note-taking apps, I mainly use Obsidian. It's what I use to archive all my journal entries. It's also what I use to build and publish my digital garden. If for some reason this is not accessible to me, and I don't have my journal with me, I use OneNote.
• On my mobile phone, I previously used OneNote, preferring it over Apple's Notes app. But now that there is an available Obsidian app on iOS, I only use OneNote as a backup.

Tags: #NoteTaking #Notebooks

So, my aim with the new format is to make writing Weeknotes posts quicker. I want to spend no more than 30 minutes writing one. — This post still took close to an hour to finish, damn.

The new format is simple. I start with the highlight or highlights of the week. Followed by at least one thing I've learned during the week. Then lastly, at least one interesting read during the week. And that's it.

Let's see how this goes then.

Highlight(s) Of The Week

The main highlight last week was getting our 2nd dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.

I had to take a sick day the day after, because I was not feeling well. The side-effects of the 2nd dose of the Moderna vaccine are pretty rough. It felt like I had the flu, minus the fever. I felt really tired. I had body aches everywhere. I had chills all day. I felt hot and cold at the same time. It was tough.

Now, take all that I said about the side-effects I felt above and double it. Oh and add some nasty headaches as well. That's how my wife felt. Normally, she doesn't get sick as often as I do. So, it was surprising to both of us that she had a much tougher time dealing with the side-effects than I did. I'm so glad it's over, for the both of us.

A minor highlight was finally upgrading to a new phone. After 5-6 years of using an iPhone 6s Plus, I was ready for a new one. I did not realize how slow my old phone had become. Opening OneNote took like 10 seconds before it would allow me to type in a new note. On the new phone, it loads in an instant. Wonderful!

Lastly, paid off a couple of debts last week. One step closer to becoming debt-free, yay!

Something I Learned

Physical activities like exercise, will raise your blood pressure momentarily. Doesn’t matter if it is an isometric exercise, body weight exercise or free weight exercise. They all raise blood pressure temporarily.

The key is to always focus on breathing in and out deeply during exercise.

The fitter a person is, the faster his/her blood pressure drops back down to normal after an exercise. This also means that people with already high blood pressure, should exercise with less intensity, just to be safe.

Reference: – The Bullworker Compendium

Something I Read

Tagging is Broken — Interesting read on why using Tags might not be the best idea for organizing notes.

Three Mental Tricks to Deal with People Who Annoy You — I read this in the hopes of finding a trick to deal with aggressive drivers on the road. I love the first tip about “getting big”. I'm sharing my note on it below.

Getting annoyed at something or someone, is like being a 2 year old who can't get what he wants. Chances are, in the bigger scheme of things, that thing or person that is annoying you is not even worth your time. Be a grownup and recognize the situation you are in. Ignore and move on to something else that is worth your time.

Tags: #Weeknotes #Blogging #PublicHealth #Vaccine #NoteTaking #SelfImprovement

It is a pretty long read, but I think it's worth your time. Especially if you have overflowing email inboxes like me. If you find yourself doubting whether it's worth your time, I suggest scrolling all the way down to the “Fifth, practice making triage decisions” section. In there you will see how everything comes together. It will give you a good idea of whether this approach will actually work for you or not.

Link: One-Touch to Inbox Zero: How I Spend 17 Minutes Per Day on Email

In this post, I share some of the notes I wrote down from when I read it. To an extent, you can think of these notes as literature notes.

Use an app that allows you to forward/send emails to it. This allows you to clear the email off your inbox, while still keeping it in a place where it can be read at a later time.

In the guide, the author mentions using EverNote for this. I found that you can do the same thing with OneNote.

One thing I don't do, but is mentioned in the guide, is to always start with the oldest email. I always start with the newest one... Hmmm, maybe that's why I can never clear out the older emails I have in my inbox?

Another idea I ran into, that I should probably apply to my note-taking workflow, is to funnel everything into one inbox.

Right now, the notes I take when I'm not at home, are either saved on OneNote on my phone, or on an Obsidian vault on a different PC/laptop. I need to consolidate and use just one app for all these notes away from home.

In that case, writing down notes on OneNote via web browser on different PCs/laptops and on my phone seems to be the best option right now.

Tags: #Bookmarks #Productivity #NoteTaking #TiagoForte

While I've already had this idea in my head for the past few months, I was also inspired by this post from Angelo.

Content moved to... Update Contents of Windows Form TextBox Periodically

Content moved to... Hide HTML Element Without Taking Up Space

I started working on an ASP.NET Core MVC website wrapper for this journal. I'm using the WriteAs.NET library that I wrote, to essentially turn Write.as into a Headless CMS. So far I have it working for my pinned pages.

Here is a screenshot of the About page rendered using ASP.NET Core MVC:

And the Archive page:

While working on this ASP.NET Core MVC website wrapper, here's another idea I had: Use it to practice Vertical Slice Architecture.

Better late than never. Found some good rock songs after listening to the Top 50 Rock Songs of 2020.

Got the Mazdaspeed3 back last week. Unfortunately, they couldn't reproduce the issue with the ticking noise on the AC fan. To be fair, the sound didn't manifest itself on my way to the dealership.

Fortunately, they did not charge me a diagnosis fee. That would have cost me $99. That's one benefit of developing a relationship with the service department. They treat me like a VIP. One of the perks I've noticed is that they are willing to waive charges and fees more often than not.

From note-taking to note-making by Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a good read on the difference between note-taking and note-making.

Note making is creating your own version of what you're reading. If you take the time to do this, to write a thought or idea in your own words, this will help you understand and remember it better.

Taking this idea further — It is not enough then, to just write down notes into a notebook. If all you do is write it down word for word, chances are you still won't remember it later. You need to re-write it and phrase it in your language, to give your brain a chance to really process that information and make it stick.

While reading Chesterton and the Vocation of Our Senses, I ran into this wonderful poem by G.K. Chesterton:

Here dies another day During which I have had eyes, ears, hands And the great world round me; And with tomorrow begins another. Why am I allowed two?

~ G.K. Chesterton, “Evening”

A wonderful reminder that even in the midst of this pandemic, most of us are lucky enough to have one more day.

G.K. Chesterton said that even those who reject the doctrine of the Incarnation (like the Pharisees) are different for having heard it. The claim that God became one of us changes the imagination, compelling a reassessment of both God and the world. This odd assertion is made, implicitly or explicitly, on practically every page of the New Testament.

Therefore, when Jesus forgives the paralytic’s sin, the Pharisees respond that only God can forgive sins, thereby, despite themselves, professing faith in the Good News.

~ Daily Gospel Reflection by Bishop Barron

Huh. I never even thought of it that way. Even when trying to prove Jesus wrong, the Pharisees ended up proving him right. They were professing the Good News, they just didn't know it.

In the book How to Take Smart Notes, the author relays a story about NASA trying to invent a pen that works in space. They were successful of course, but that's not the end of the story. Apparently, the Russians ran into the same problem. How did they solve it? By electing to use pencils instead.

This is a great reminder to look to the past for possible solutions. And another reminder to not over complicate things.

Update 2/12/2021: I just run into a page that disproves the story. Apparently pencils could be a fire hazard in space, especially if the tip breaks off.

On that train of thought, it’s also making me reflect on my efforts to try and make a fountain pen work for me. Right now, compared to my gel pen, a fountain pen seems to be the complicated option.

Just realized that tinkering with your own personal website is like modifying your car — it's one way to make it your own. It's a way to make it stand out from the crowd by adding your personal touches to it.

Tags: #Weeknotes #Blogging #GKChesterton #Meta #NoteTaking #Spirituality

Working with Obsidian and building a personal knowledge base has me on a high. I've been writing so much today (this week), it's crazy. And all this writing was done offline. If that isn't “writing for myself”, I don't know what is. I may be getting tired of writing blog posts, but apparently, I'm not tired of writing.

This leads me to thinking that this might be a better way to pass down my journal entries to my kids. Plain text files should hopefully outlive me. I don't have to do it through an online journal or a blog. I can just pass off my collection of text files to them.

It's interesting that, I am using a blog/journal, to post on social media to let my friends know I'm still alive. The problem is that the feed on social media runs on an algorithm. That means, my post might never even show up for my friends before they stop scrolling. Which means, what I'm using social media for, is actually not working for me.

Another interesting thing, is how logging daily notes in Obsidian, means I write down less stuff on my bullet journal. I don't know if this is good or bad. Cal Newport would probably say it is bad, because then I am increasing the time I spend looking at computer screens.

Have been dealing with WCF errors this week. I am so ready to leave behind WCF and move on to Restful API services.

I am little by little, slowly getting addicted to Obsidian. I even have it on my work PC now.

The description on my online journal was, “A peek into the mind of a software developer, husband, dad and gamer.” While somewhat true, now that I think about it, it's more of “A peek into the life of a software developer, husband, dad and gamer.” That's because a lot of the content I put out on there (here), is about stuff that's happened to me and to the people around me. There are occasional instances where you get an idea of what's on my mind, but mostly, it's about what happened to me. It is more like a diary, or a journal.

What I'm trying to get at is, the description — “A peek into the mind of a software developer, husband, dad and gamer” — is actually a better fit for a digital garden. A digital garden is exactly that, a peek into someone's mind. While a journal, or a diary, is more of a peek into someone's life.

For lunch, I ate a heavy meal from Panda Express. Later in the afternoon, I got a free Venti Vanilla Bean Latte from Coney. According to Fitbit, with the Venti Vanilla Bean Latte, I've already hit my target goal as far as amount of calories goes for the day. This shows how useful food tracking is. If I weren't tracking, I would have ate normally at dinner, which means I would have ate more than I was supposed to.

Currently trying out two other alternatives for my music blog. I'm trying one with Tumblr and another with Wordpress.

So, everytime I share a song, I try to do it on all three blogs. I find it easiest to share music to Tumblr. Next is Write.as. Last is Wordpress. Posting on Wordpress feels slow and can sometimes feel clunky. It's unfortunate because the Wordpress blog is the best looking of them all.

I'm starting to notice a difference between what I write on my bullet journal, and what I write in Obsidian for my digital garden. The things that happened to me, the things I did — those are the ones that go into my bullet journal.

On the other hand, useful realizations, ideas, thoughts that I've come across while reading or watching something — those go into Obsidian to grow my digital garden.

I noticed that Davin had a small nick on his wrist. It's close to the spot where he wears his Potty Training Watch. I'm not sure how, but we've stopped letting him wear the watch. It is unfortunate because it was pretty effective at getting him to pee on a schedule. But I'd rather not have him hurt himself in the process. Especially since he has this tendency to say he's okay, even when he's hurting.

Another night, another game of Protect the Pride Lands with Davin. This board game has been such a hit with Davin. He's requested to play this game every night since it arrived. It's good father and son bonding time for both of us.

You think compromise is a weakness. It’s not. It’s survival. ~ Waldo, Into The Badlands, Season 2 – Episode 4

God gives us his gifts, so we can be gifts to each other. ~ Fr. Anthony Densmore

If you don’t know about your past, you can’t shape your future. ~ Kemal, The Protector, Season 1 – Episode 5

Okay this post ended up longer than I expected. I'll try to be more selective next time. Otherwise I fear I'm going to get tired of keeping this up as well. Anyway, until I get a digital garden website up and running, this will have to do. I'll catch y'all later.

Tags: #Weeknotes #BulletJournal #DigitalGarden #Meta #NoteTaking #SocialMedia

The pocket notebooks I decided to get were the Field Notes Pitch Black Memo Books. These are small notebooks (3.5 x 5.5 inches) that can literally fit in either my front or rear pockets. The covers are flexible, so they don't really bother me that much when I'm walking or sitting. The paper is of good quality, a lot better than the paper in the Moleskine notebooks that I have. Overall a pretty good pocket notebook. And based on the research I made, people love these notebooks and they use it for note taking everywhere, even in place of their smartphones. Sounds exactly like what I was trying to achieve, right? So, what could go wrong?

The problem is/was, if you don't have a table to put the pocket notebook on, it can be challenging to write stuff on it.

I am right-handed so writing on the left side of the notebook is manageable while holding the notebook on my left palm, however writing on the right side can be downright frustrating. It doesn't help that I have big hands.

Imagine writing on the right side of a small flexible pocket notebook, using your left palm as support, your writing hand gets closer and closer to the edge, and at some point your wrist will end up floating in the air while you are trying to write stuff down. Yeah, that can be hard, and in my opinion, is a totally inferior note-taking experience compared to simply jotting down notes with a smartphone. Having a pocket notebook with a hardcover would have helped, but then it would be uncomfortable in my pockets, not to mention having to sit on one.

I tried writing down notes on my pocket notebook while I was taking a walk; nope I ended up just using my smartphone instead. Even when I was not taking a walk, just standing outside the office parking lot taking in the view, an idea came to mind and I tried to write it down on my pocket notebook; it was challenging. Honestly, the only time I enjoyed writing down notes on my pocket notebook was when I had access to a desk or table, like when I was at home, or at the office, or at a restaurant. Anywhere else without a table, jotting down notes on a smartphone was way better in my opinion.

Now some arguments can be made about the benefits of pocket notebooks over smartphones.

• They don't run out battery.
  • That's true, but ever since I embarked on my digital minimalist journey, my phone battery never dropped below 70% during weekdays, so that argument won't apply to my use case.
• They do not distract the user from the writing experience.
  • I totally agree. However, I have found that if the smartphone user is disciplined, it is possible for them to pull out their phone, open their preferred note-taking app, jot down notes, put their smartphone away and they are done. In my case, since I have no social media or entertainment apps on my smartphone, there is even less of a reason for me to get distracted with my smartphone.
• Writing down notes on paper helps you remember what you wrote.
  • There is an easy workaround to this if you recorded notes on your smartphone; you can simply migrate the notes from your smartphone into your notebook at a later time, like at night when you get home. The act of migrating notes means you will write them down on your notebook, so you don't lose the benefit of being able to remember them more easily.
• Pocket Notebooks look cool.
  • This is subjective, but I totally agree with this and I don't have anything to counter this argument. For example, just take a look at these limited edition National Parks memo books from Field Notes! I think they are beautiful, and if I didn't have 2-3 unused notebooks at home, I would be buying them already.
    

Anyway, to wrap this up, I was so convinced I would end up loving the use of pocket notebooks and that it would totally replace my smartphone when it comes to note-taking. The reality of it was, unless there was a table to put the notebook on, I preferred to use my smartphone if I needed to quickly jot down notes. This is not to say I won't use pocket notebooks anymore, just that there is a time and place to use them.

Digital minimalism is not about stopping the use of all things digital, it is about picking the appropriate tool for the task at hand. In this case, when there is no table nearby, writing down notes on a smartphone is perfectly fine.

Tags: #DigitalMinimalism #Notebooks #NoteTaking #Smartphone