Writing Things Down

''Sometimes it can prove to be profitable in the near or far future, when one can employ a "writing things down" strategy of recording EmergentThought?" ThinkingOutLoud.DonaldNoyes.20140213

I have been doing this for more years than I care to confess, and have until a "coupla years ago" put the thing written down in a box, notebook, or another thing. My favorite has been on scraps of paper, 3by5 in size (pocket size), as well upon what I call "handbook-sized" paper media (5.5 by 8.5 or 6 by 9 inch) such as can be inserted or kept in a three-ring-binder of matching size.

In the present and near past, instead of putting the written artifact in a box, notebook, I rather put it in a "digital-box" by PaperPorting it via one of the many scanners used oover the years, flat-bed as well as sheet fed.

Most of the present format of the scanned artifact are created in a pdf format, which makes its presentation and review "browser-friendly". My latest scanner scans both sides of a document in one pass. (will wonders never cease!), and does so with or without a computer!!

Lately I prefer the "without" computer type scan, which is facilitated via insertion of a flash drive at the scanners right side. Multi-page scans make a multipage pdfs.

Each day I empty my pockets of what has been written down or received on small slips of paper (including receipts, telephone numbers, names of people and stuff, including contact and access info, and then "ScanRegisterAndShred?" the paper (the shreds are bagged for recycling) when I have scanned 100 or less pages or groups of pages, I dump the flash drive to my desktop for further processing and annotation. (The scanner seems to work faster when used in this fashion instead of connected by usb-cable to the desktop, giving further reason for the independent utilization.

The filing method used by the scanner employs automatically datetimestamp naming of the artifact(s) scanned. Thus even if I do not rename the artifact pdf, I can reference it via a remembered date of scanning, which lately is the date the scan was made of the written or received document.

ItWorks for me, while it probably does not for others. YourMileageMayVary.

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