Six Reasons Why I Don't Write On Paper

I do a lot of writing and I take a lot of notes, but I don’t ever do any of that with pen and paper. While many others out there still swear to writing by hand, here are six reasons why I don’t write on paper.

I work on laptops all day and everyday

First of all, a laptop is my most utilised tool in the workplace. I always have it with me, and I’m always on it. Obviously finding a pen and paper to write on while I’m already on my laptop is useless.

The paper gets lost

When all your files are stored in one place, it’s harder to lose them. However, a piece of paper can get lost among other pieces of paper, piles of books and are easier to leave behind and forget where you’ve put them. It’s easier to lose a sheet of paper than it is to lose a whole laptop.

The notes have to be digitised eventually

Important information needs to be readily accessible, meaning that notes written down on a piece of paper need to be transferred to a laptop at some point. Again, this is a waste of time. It’s far more efficient to have a laptop and type notes.

The paper is not searchable

Handwritten notes would be so much easier if they had a Control+F function! Even if the paper is scanned, it’s not searchable, and you can’t copy and paste anything. Even with OCR, it’s not going to recognise my scrawl. Using my laptop, I can quickly jot down notes, and at least be able to read it later.

Pens are unreliable

When notes need to be written down right there and then, the pen is either nowhere to be seen, or somehow runs out of ink just when you need it the most.

Meeting notes need to be accessible immediately

It’s a lot easier to take a laptop to a meeting. Notes from my meetings with clients or potential clients need to be immediately accessible. If I don’t put the meetings somewhere that can be shared or accessed as quickly as possible, it can be damaging to the business. I store my notes in text files, ‘wiki’s, and Google sheets, but ideally I prefer to use Google docs.

Electronic meetings are the best kinds. Everyone should be digitally documenting their meetings as they happen. In all honesty I think that every meeting these days should be electronic.