Last week, I set the stage for this week’s post. See here.

I was (and am) an avid note-taker. Writing is how I think, process, and remember so I write a lot. I do this in meetings, when reading books, and when alone. And I tend toward the steam of consciousness style whereby I write and annotate as I go. The markings provide clues for later processing and parsing of information into buckets such as: reminders, follow-up items, and tidbits of information that should go elsewhere for storage and archival purposes.

The computerization of these tasks felt like a godsend many years ago and given my desire to repeat the tax-exempt financing automation miracle, I was convinced that this was my second chance. Various note-taking software programs emerged, as did to do list management apps. Some were simple, some were extremely sophisticated. Some were highly integrated (notes and tasks all in one) and others were dedicated one trick ponies. No matter, I tried them all. And I mastered most.

They were awesome… yet still I searched. Searched for something that worked even better. It seems that there was always something missing from the functionality or I felt as though I was going to collapse under the weight of managing the system itself. Each program had its own syntax, methodology, and infrastructure. Oftentimes, I found that I had become adept in creating a library of information, objectives, and directives… all just sitting there screaming for my attention. My system was awesome, but I don’t know that my productive ever improved one iota. This was not a second miracle.

A quick aside related to my quest to become a better photographer. Cameras have become mini-computers allowing for the near instantaneous progression from capture to transfer-to-the-cloud to consumption. Super fast autofocus engines coupled with machine gun frame rates allow you to capture the decisive moment in stunning detail. The sophistication of modern cameras is stunning. Yet none of that made me any better. In fact, moving on from all that has made me better… because now I am spending more time thinking than doing. And I don’t collapse under the weight of all the technology.

Instead, I look into the scene more intently. I focus on composing the canvas. I consider depth of field and symmetry, flow, texture… you know, all the art stuff. All the important stuff. How? By slowing down.

Back to personal information management. There’s still a place for automation. I wouldn’t want to store lots of information on paper as sorting and retrieving is a drag. But there are ways for analogue and digital to coexist.

Which brings me to the main point here. I’m using paper again. And a pen. And writing things down. Slowly. And thinking. And not spending time managing all the time saving automation. Time saving in air quotes.

I think there’s a lot of this in the air these days as many of us begin to confront the fact that we are addicted to tech, especially our phones. And sadly, we seem to be increasingly addicted to distractions, diversions, and other ways of avoiding deeper focus.

I’m starting to fight back.

By slowing down.