It’s different for everyone, but I can tell you why I now use paper, after years and years of playing around with digital tools.
COVID was a catalyst for me. I work in a library, so for half of 2020 we were completely shut down. I had zero work to do. I had projects I could tackle remotely, as my job is on the administrative side, and half of my work is virtual anyway. But, because not all of our staff could work remotely, it was all entirely optional, and we were encouraged to focus on our mental health first. So, most of my task and project list sat. And sat. And sat.
When I looked at my task list throughout all of this, it looked completely foreign. I had typed the tasks in myself, and read the list time and time again, but it always felt like I had never seen it before, and I couldn’t remember what was on it if you asked me to rattle it off from memory. I was completely and utterly dependent on the tool to get work done.
And then I realized I never have that issue when I write my daily task list in my notebook. I have kept a work journal for 10 years now, writing out the tasks that must be done each day, meeting notes, etc., and 8 years ago it took on a basic bullet journal format. But I could always remember stuff I wrote by hand. Sometimes years later, when asked, I would remember writing that thing down, on the bottom left of the page, in red ink… etc. It was crazy, the difference between the two.
That, and when writing in my notebook, I had a level of focus and clarity I have never gotten from a digital tool. In a notebook, I can’t swipe and end up on Instagram. I can’t lose myself in emails and surface 45 minutes later, wondering what happened. The notebook only contains what I put in it. And I realized that is what I need.
So for a few years now my tasks reside in a notebook. I use a digital calendar and file storage, but my task lists are all tracked on paper. And I feel so much more in control of my system. It works for me, at least.