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Paper or Digital?

It's often said that paper journaling forces you to slow down and be more mindful, but on the other hand it's less portable; it can't fit in your jeans pocket like your phone can.

Digital options are easier to take with you, and in many cases it's easier to find information that you've put in there, but do they get overlooked amidst all the "noise" we're exposed to every day?

What's your preference, and why? Do you stick exclusively with one or the other? Or do you mix them up? If you combine them, how do you do that? Do you duplicate posts on paper and digitally? Or do you use them for different purposes?

I'm currently on paper only, but some of the digital options intrigue me. I used to use Evernote but I dropped it when many of the features I wanted and used went behind a paywall. lately I've been looking at both Logseq and Obsidian but the learning curve is steep and I'm not ready to launch into them as part of my regular journaling practise yet. I suspect it'll be my Commonplace book that goes in there first.

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  • I prefer paper; main reason being that if I'm on a device, it's very easy for me to get distracted. A notification pops up, I accidentally switch to a different app or window, etc etc.

    With a paper journal I can mute my phone, set it face-down or back in my pocket, and put my focus entirely on writing