CodeMacLife

My Digital Detox — Week 4 Update

Time away is the ultimate mind reset

This week, I have been away to the east coast of Yorkshire. Reighton is a quiet area south of Filey and Scarborough. There is very little to do in Reighton apart from explore the beach. That’s precisely where I have been most of the week.

There were two mornings where I was privileged to witness a small pod of dolphins carrying of the routine breakfast heist.

Each morning started off with a light breakfast, coffee, and gentle core exercise in the holiday home. I walked down the beach with my family. Beach access is not the easiest to get to, with a steep descent to the gorgeous beach (the uphill climb is truly challenging).

The morning exercise on the beach consisted of a twenty-minute walk along the coast, playing football, cricket and swimming in the sea. By 9am, I was ready to relax with a book while listening to the calming waves in the background. There were certainly moments of gratitude while knowing I was in my ultimate definition of relaxation.

Health

As mentioned above, the week away was a time to focus on my health. Early nights, healthy food, plenty of exercise, meditation, and relaxation by the sea made the week a healthy one.

I don’t remember the last time I walked so much, let alone experience the joy of running along the sea front.

I know when I get home I will have to increase the amount of exercise I do and change the variety. Likewise, I aim to lose more weight, gain muscle mass and improve my core strength.

Analog journaling

I chose to journal in a physical notebook this week while I was away. I enjoyed the change and the freedom to write wherever and whenever I wanted, including random doodles. My journal entries have been scanned into Day One for future reference.

I miss my journaling in a bullet journal. The time sitting down with my Bujo was deeply personal, freeing, and calming. However, I remembered quickly why I decided to go digital — media, links, locations, mood-mapping and ease of access. Still, the experience this week has been fun.

Medium networking

I said I would avoid all forms of social media during my digital detox. I see Medium as a publishing platform for writers to post and readers to consume. I guess those who use Medium frequently would say they are both.

I caught up with my reading list on Medium and explored other material on Medium. I have clapped, made a few comments and followed writers on Medium. So, does this make it a social media platform? Have I gone against what I had originally set out at the start of my digital detox?

My aim was to network with people who share similar values. The platform is fantastic. I enjoy reading content on the platform more than I like any other platform, including YouTube and traditional social media outlets.

Thoughts for the final 10 days

I have ten days until I finish the digital detox. Most of the things I wanted to accomplish during my challenge have been completed.

Technically, I could finish the challenge now, but that would not be a challenge, would it?

I’m not missing the usual platforms like X (Twitter), Twos World and Mastodon. Instead, it’s the lack of YouTube, which has been the greatest challenge for me. I want to watch a few videos about an app I have been using recently for my content management- Anytype. As much as the written tutorials are good, watching a video can sometimes be more than effective for learning for me.

I am excited to interact with others online. A lot has happened over the past month, and I am sure plenty has happened online.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Mark @ CodeMacLife

I was going to mention Anytype, too.

Thanks for your thoughts. I bought the physical copy of the book. I’ve managed to read the first part before heading off on holiday. I see this book as something to pass to colleagues and friends who ask about the PARA method when I mention it. 

I haven’t kept up with the blog and newsletter, so some bits are sort of ‘new’ to me. Other parts, though, can be found on Tiago’s YouTube channel. I guess the book offers the idea of PARA to new audiences.

All of your suggestions are spot on. I follow them all, and I have done since the start of the year. The difference it has made has been life-changing. I would say the exercise and planning the day ahead were the most positive changes I made.

Thanks. I like what I have used so far. I’m only scraping the surface with what Anytype can do, but what I have done has worked perfectly.

My Digital Detox — Week 3 update

Another week, another week of events.

Switching to AnyType for content management

I noticed the way I was processing my blogs — from ideas to published — was causing me a lot of confusion because I couldn’t find the right workflow with the least amount of friction.

I tried all sorts- spreadsheets, Notion, Obsidian, Twos, Upnote, Evernote, and Apple Notes, to name a few. The problem was multifaceted. I wanted quick access, cross-platform availability, drop-down menus for progress, database structure, and above all, offline access. AnyType uses E2EE and P2P for synchronisation, so I know my blogs are protected.

Anytype is the perfect solution for me. I have managed to create a content management page that manages, organises and tracks the progression of my blog posts. Within each listed post, is the content, links, tasks, outline, and media required. Once I feel the content is ready, I export it to Ulysses, where I will use the proofing reading tool. I use it to resolve any issues before publishing from the app.

The combination of AnyType and Ulysses together has reduced the friction, saved me time, and stops me having to look in different areas for my content. I am so happy with my setup.

Health

I have managed to stay away from the sugary snacks I wanted to avoid. It has been stressful because I am at home all day with plenty of treats in the cupboard. Once I go back to work, I will be too distracted to think about eating.

My exercise has been consistent over the summer holidays. Fitness is an area of focus for 2023. I want to improve my fitness through cardiovascular exercise, core toning and weight training. The fact I have a cross trainer at home has helped massively. If I feel bored, I can go on the cross trainer for half an hour or 10K, whichever comes first.

I’m enjoying my daily walks. The fact I am getting outside more, instead of looking down at my mobile screen, is a considerable bonus. Dare I say I am more sociable with people in the community?

Reading

I thought I would revisit my Building a Second Brain book by Tiago Forte this week. I’ve read it twice already. Furthermore, I wanted to pull out some information from the book, preparing for the PARA method book arriving.

Tiago Forte’s PARA method book arrived on Tuesday morning. I was excited to receive it after waiting a few weeks since pre-ordering it. I have managed to read part 1, which talks about the fundamentals of PARA.

Tiago is right about creating a system that is easy to maintain and simple to use. Only the simplest, frictionless habits endure long term, as he put it.

I like how Tiago emphasises the need to break projects into bite-sized actions. I get where he is coming from. Not only that, but I have experienced projects, both personal and work-related, where the actual project is seriously overwhelming. Breaking the project into smaller chunks and identifying the actions needed to complete it helped significantly.

Learning

With the spare time, I had gained through purposely avoiding social media, my time has been used to catch up on learning. I mentioned in my last post about my intention to complete Your Digital Life 3.0 course by Carl Pullein. The course had me intrigued, especially with his Time Sector System.

I completed the course and must say the Time Sector System (TSS) is incredible! I have fully implemented the key principles and I feel organised, which is something special.

Completing the course unlocked more courses by Carl Pullein. I have used the codes to get the other courses for free. I’m currently working through a course on social media strategy, with the hope to complete another by the end of August.

Week 4 update

I’m away next week and the place has next to no phone signal. This is a great time to ditch my phone, like I had done on my last trip to the coast of Yorkshire, England. Hopefully, it will give me time to handwrite my experience and journal without any distractions. I will most likely publish my week 4 and 5 posts together at the end of August.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Mark @ CodeMacLife

My Digital Detox — Week 2 update

Boredom and creativity are the perfect mix for a productive week.

As promised, I have logged what I did in my second week of taking a step away from social media, YouTube, etc. It’s been a productive week. I have managed to complete jobs I have been putting off for months, which is always a positive.

Writing

I haven’t done as much writing this week because I wanted to focus my attention on reading and exercise. I have set up a content management system in Apple Numbers. In addition, I have worked on a system (the process) of how I turn thoughts into actual posts (more to come on that one). I think writing had always been a chore. Now I find it quite therapeutic and perfect for me daily routine. I write in my journal each day, which is nice to start the day and end the day on.

Reading

I have been reading into digital minimalism, catching up with the articles I had saved on Medium, as well as going through all the articles I had saved in Upnote. I have a habit of collecting articles, studies, information snippets and tweets, only to not read them. They have been collecting dust and I decided to reduce the amount of content I have gathered as part of my digital minimalism adventure. I found there were 16 articles on Medium that were not relevant to me any more because they covered topics such as Obsidian, Todoist and Windows 11. I don’t use any of them now. By deleting them, I was able to focus on reading four articles a day this week. Now my Medium reading list is set to zero. What an achievement for me!

My Upnote articles, which are clipped using an extension, have been organised, deleted or read. They were mostly related to meditation, coding, exercise and minimalism. I had half a dozen articles related to ASC/ADHD for work purposes. I’ve kept the coding and exercise material for reference.

Obviously, I can’t do anything about my tweets currently with my digital detox in full swing, but I have set a time in September to go through those. I’m sure it will be similar to Medium and Upnote, where a handful of tweets are not relevant to me.

Learning

I had a discount code for Your Digital Life 3.0 Online course by Carl Pullein. It covers the essential four areas of digital organisation — calendar, to-do list manager, notes app, and cloud storage. Carl also teaches his Time Sector System and COD System (Collect — Organise — Doing) to optimise productivity. I had aimed to complete one part (six parts in total) of the course each night. It turned out my note-taking had stretched the evenings, so I managed to complete one section over two nights. I have three parts to complete, and they will be completed my the end of this week.

I have changed how I process my information each day. Before going to bed, I know exactly what I am doing on the next day. The Time Sector System (TSS) suits me because my time feels restricted. Knowing when I have to do something and not feel pressured to complete everything at once is highly important to me. TSS had helped me organise my tasks logically.

Health

The no sugar challenge is becoming increasingly challenging at home during the holidays. The combo of boredom and high amount of energy used this week has made me pine for sugary snacks. I’m not caving in, though. I’ve been working on all areas of my body, even my family have noticed the weight loss and muscle tone. There is a chance of a local group of men coming together to start a boot camp of sorts. I’ve listed my intention to go, as I feel the social element will encourage me to workout more. I have never done anything social like this before, so I am interested to see how it goes. Hopefully, the boot camp comes to surface, and I can add it to my weekly schedule.

Home improvements

I’m not a fan of home improvements, particularly painting. I did it, though. Not only that, but I managed to clear two rooms, paint them and reconfigure them. I decorated the master bedroom and our office. I say office, but my son’s Xbox is in there, so I refer to it as the games room. I think the thought of painting is worse than the actual doing of it. Once I get into it, I enjoy painting while listening to my music. My new Apple Music discovery has made listening to music so much more pleasurable.

Music

I read an article about a new station on Apple Music. It’s called the Discovery Station. Apple has curated a list of music they think you might like. I didn’t like it, I love it (puts on a Simon Cowell voice)! The station is truly remarkable, and I found myself hitting that heart button to say I love the music.

A lot of the tracks were added to a few of my playlists I have created over the years. I would definitely recommend checking the station out on Apple Music. Navigating to the station is not easy, though. To find it, you have to go to Listen Now, find Top Picks and search for the cover under Made For You. I wish there was a way of pinning the station to the sidebar for quick access.

As always, thank for taking the time to read my post.

Mark @ CodeMacLife

I pay for Apple One for my family. It is a service I value and it allowed me to cancel many other subscription services I had. Apple TV+ is underrated, yet the content is fantastic.

What a great post. I am now using Apple Notes as my notes app. I’m so impressed and the note linking as well as PDF annotation features in iOS 17 has me completely sold.

Haha. This is so true. I’m proud to be a northerner. When I go to London, there’s a significant difference. I find it weird how no-one speaks to each other in London. ‘Up North’, we’re very much a community and each other’s faces.

I’ve been thinking about getting Fastmail. It is promoted by Morgen Calendar because they have some kind of partnership. Do you have to do anything with your domain provider to get your personal domain name email address?

My Digital Detox — 1 week update

I have been productive for the first in seven days because I disconnected from the digital world.

Writing

It’s been a week since I started my digital exodus. In that time, I have written and published eight blog posts, submitting them on my website and Medium.

I have also drafted eight more posts. Usually, this amount of writing would take weeks. The time away from social media, YouTube and any other item I listed in my original post had given me the time to focus on what I valued.

I’ve got an idea to consolidate all my notes about digital minimalism into a small eBook. I’m uncertain if it would be a free PDF on a website or an actual eBook to download from Amazon (I know — dream big!). I guess it depends on how big of a project it becomes. I even made a mock-up of a front cover for it.

Reading

Moreover, I have been able to read what I had planned to read. I don’t mean read and take notes. I mean reading for pleasure. Sitting down and getting deep into a book that relaxes me. There was no highlighting, either. Just simple read and reflect afterwards, and not in my journal. If I want to go back to the book for note-taking, I will when I am ready.

Health

The time away from the online world freed up time for focusing on my health. I purposely went to bed before 10pm, exercised for an additional fifteen minutes, and meditated each day without fail.

My recent discovery of the Streaks Workout app has prompted me to sneak in a few additional workouts when I can. I like the routines on the app and how it links between my iPhone and Apple Watch. The fact no equipment is needed is an added bonus.

YouTube

I think there was only one part in the week when I wanted to check out a video on YouTube about using Ulysses for writing. Like I said, I would find the act of staying away from the video platform harder than anything else on my list.

In addition, I wanted to watch a video on Tiago Forte’s PARA system. I received an email (desktop app, of course) to say he had posted about the PARA system on YouTube. I was tempted, but I abstained from going online to view it.

Podcasts

I managed to listen to MKBHD’s Waveform episode about X social media (fka Twitter) as well as an Apple Insider episode about the latest things happening at Apple.

Listening to podcasts often happens when I am travelling in my car. This week, though, I thought I would try listening while sketching on my iPad. I love drawing because it relaxes me. Listening to a podcast and doodling on my iPad might be one of my new best things to do.

Future updates

I plan to write an update each week on my digital detox progression. My digital detoxes have become routine now. I usually go through two a year.

As always, thank you for reading.

Mark @ CodeMacLife

I will leave you with these short guided meditations:

5 Minute Energy Grounding & Cleansing

Meditations on Writing Breathing

Short Calming Mindfulness Meditation to Clear the Clutter in your Mind

As always, thank you for reading, and please remember to subscribe to me on Medium.

Mark @ CodeMacLife

Follow me on X (Twitter)

I’ve switched to Apple Notes after trying 12+ note-taking apps. It has come a long way and I’m excited to see how note linking works in MacOS 14 / iOS 17.

A reflection of my time on Medium

How Medium has changed how I consume content

In April 2022, I signed up to medium.com and submitted my first post. It was titled New to medium.com. It is not exactly the most original title, but it stated the obvious. In the post, I mentioned how blogging had been something I had always wanted to do, including my intentions for blogging. The post, itself, was nothing special, but it gave me a goal I wanted to achieve through the act of blogging. I wanted to be intentional, eliminating everything that I didn’t find a value in. Fast-forward to now, last July in 2023.

What have I learnt from using on Medium?

The platform looked interesting from the start. I was fascinated by the number of people who posted on Medium and the content they were producing. What I didn’t expect was the amount of time I would spend on Medium over traditional mainstream media. Even YouTube has become a distant second source of information.

What I like about Medium is that people write about their interests, hobbies, expertise, and life hacks. If I want to get a different perspective on something, I go to Medium. If I would like to learn more about a certain topic, I go to Medium. If I am eager to discover new ideas and approaches, I go to Medium. You get the idea.

Not only have I learnt new ideas, I have been fortunate to observe people’s writing styles. Personally, I like the informal, chatty style where I can get a sense of character coming from their message. I feel the platform’s recommendation engine knows what I enjoy reading.

Finally, the engagement keeps me coming back for more. Whether it is me clapping (similar to liking) a post or commenting on someone’s post, the community is supportive and interacts in a civil manner. I write on my website (codemaclige.com/blog), but I don’t get much traffic, nor do I get feedback from my readers. Using Medium, however, I get likes and comments, which is super encouraging. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my content.

Pros and Cons of using Medium

I’ve put together a list of pros and cons from my experience using Medium. This list has been compiled using my notes I have made from my journaling entries.

Pros

The user interface is clean, free from advertisements, and engaging with recommendations. I like the simplicity of their iOS/iPadOS app.

Medium has a great import tool. I am able to import blogs from personal website. Occasionally, the formatting is a little off, but it is much quicker than manually copying everything over.

With so many people on Medium, there’s a potential audience already there to read your content. Categorising my posts is an important element because it allows readers to pick specific topics of interest.

The engagement metric is helpful because I can get a sense of how much time readers spend on my posts. I know what topics engage more with the audience and I can choose to write posts around this topic.

Medium costs money to subscribe, but with that, there is a potential to earn money through Medium’s Partner Program. I’m nowhere near the follower criteria, but I aspire to reach it, so I can start earning money from my writing.

Cons

Posts are locked behind a paywall. If you are not subscribed to Medium, you have limited access to the platform. I believe it is three posts a day. With that, you lose potential readers because they can’t read your content. I get why they do it. I felt frustrated that I couldn’t read about certain topics, so I ended up subscribing.

There is no clear indication of viewing posts in chronological order. This is not helpful when I want to read the latest information about a specific topic. For example, I wanted to read a review of a piece of software I am interested in. It is not helpful to have posts from 2018 come up first. Software changes a lot, and post from five years ago have less value than those written this year. If there is a way to sort the posts in chronological order, it is not clear to me.

It is not a real concern right now, and not really a con, but I worry about the future for Medium. What if the platform is shut down or policy changes result in smaller audiences. This is why I have my personal website. Everything I post on Medium will be posted on my site for preservation. I also have journal entries and posts that are exclusive to my site, which I have chosen not to post on Medium.

Conclusion

I have no plans to leave Medium. I value it too much to ever think about going elsewhere. Like I have said in this post, I spend a lot of time on the platform.

I want to build an audience, expand my writing and eventually generate money from my work on Medium. I believe I have not done enough to learn how Medium works and what improves user engagement yet.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope you have a great day, whatever you plan to do.

If you are interested in reading more content from me on Medium, please follow this link to my profile.

Thank you for comment. I was surprised by how many items of food have high levels of sugar in them. I've not touched any sugary treats since my little blip.

I quit sugar for 28 days

There were two goals I had set for 2023, which were losing weight and improving my fitness. I guess these two goals go hand in hand — exercise and healthier eating. The fitness part has been relatively easy, even if I didn’t feel like I got enough some days. I smashed the rings on my Apple Watch most days, apart from the 10 days I chose to ditch my Apple Watch for a basic Casio watch. I’m kept active with my job at a school with a combination of sports, outdoor education and generally being on my feet all day.

Furthermore, I have a cross trainer and weights to keep me busy in the evening, including the press-ups and planks I throw in during each workout session. Each Sunday involves a bike ride around the local area and the beautiful scenes along the High Peak canal route. Muscle-wise, I have noticed a difference through my exercise routines.

However, there has been one underlining issue I can’t ignore. Even with all this exercise, I still had a weight problem. My stomach had been growing to a point I looked pregnant. I don’t drink alcohol, so it can’t be a drinking issue. I had reduced my milk intake, so it can’t be a lactose issue. Not only that, but I reflected on what was happening, and I decided to start a food journal at the start of June 2023 to see what was going on. I logged everything I ate, and I mean everything. It hit me early in the logging with what was happening with my diet. I was aware we have triggers such as boredom, stress, comfort eating and so on. My triggers appeared to come every day after work.

The Problem

The concern wasn’t clear before the logging because I started most days with a smallish breakfast of porridge and my midday lunch always included a salad or vegetables. My family meal in the evening included vegetables or fibre-rich content alongside some kind of protein. I don’t go to establishments like McDonald’s, KFC, Domino’s and others along this description. I haven’t for over a year now. After reviewing the log, I noticed the areas between meals. This is where I saw how I had a weight issue.

Immediately, I saw the snacking and bingeing on unhealthy snacks on my way home from work. I lost how many times I would say, “One last time,” before going back to the same shop the next day on my way home. The problem was: I had a busy day at work, I didn’t eat enough at lunch, and now I had over an hour to drive home. The combination of energy drinks, crisps, sweets, and chocolate (not all at once) has affected my body more than expected.

It didn’t stop there, though. Oh no. It gets worse! You see, once at home and I had eaten with my family, I would stay up late, and I would get bored instead of going to bed. The cravings would kick in, and I would go searching for anything that was unhealthy, sugary and ‘felt good’. This is not a good thing to do before bedtime. It impacts sleep and your teeth.

Turning point

The situation had got to a point where I felt self-conscious about being seen in public, and I hated going to work because of my weight. I would add extra layers of clothing, knowing I would be uncomfortably hot throughout the day. In reality, the extra layers intensified my abdominal bulge. It doesn’t help that I have an unusual curve to my spine, so I look bigger anyway,

Financially, it is unsustainable. Some days, I would spend over £5 ($6.42) a day on junk food and drink. Other days I would spend less. Whatever way you look at it, I had spent my money on junk for 181 days (January to June). That is a whopping £905 ($1162) in six months. Just think what you could do with all that money. I had paid for the privilege of being overweight and causing damage to my body and mental health. Things had to change.

Another issue with high sugary diets is the lack of energy to get through the day. These snacks give you quick energy boosts and dopamine hits, but they suck all the life out of your energy levels. Poor diets cause low mood, mental health issues, and they are the perfect recipe to kill your productivity.

What I did next

I must apologise now for the clickbait title. My intention for the change in my life is indefinite, not 28 days as described. TDLR: I managed 28 days until I relapsed on my promise to never eat a sugary snack again.

I cut out all sugary snacks, crisps, carbonated drinks and focused my attention on eating as healthily as possible. I reduced my diet to three meals a day, with no snacking in between them. The experience wasn’t exactly pleasant. I spent two weeks feeling hungry all the time. I was grouchy, suffered brain fog, and felt physically weak.

Around the third week, things started to change. I noticed I was feeling positive most of the time. I had more energy. I’m uncertain if this had to do with the exercise I was currently carrying out. Either way, I felt there was light at the end of the tunnel. A surprising change came in the form of better sleep. I felt less restless during the night and fresher in the morning. I could manage the demands at work and still have enough energy to complete a 10K cross trainer exercise. Likewise, I was happy, like all the time. Positive energy radiated from me. This was the best form I had been in years.

Temptations

When you start a diet, you will find every sugary snack you like will be on show. Everywhere I went in public I could see all the snacks, drinks and other temptations paraded in front of me. Have you ever noticed the classic junk food is on display at the front of every store? Seriously, this did not help me in the slightest.

The petrol (gas for those in the US) station had a crazy number of snacks on show as I would fill up my car. I wasn’t impressed with this assortment of food. Why not promote healthier food like fruit? I decided I would use stations where they allowed me to pay for fuel at the pump, completely removing the need to expose myself to these temptations.

By the 20th day, I was able to walk past any isle in my local supermarket without even a twitch for the food I would previously jump for. Instead, I headed to the fruit section before going to get some Shredded Wheat and porridge cereal. Nice.

Setback

By the 29th day, I had messed up. The failure to prepare for my school trip meant I was aimlessly feasting on what was in the goodie bag and what the theme park had to offer. Chocolate bars, juice, fish and chips, as well as a can of Dr. Pepper meant I was at square one again. My head was racing as the sugar and other extremities of the contents flushed through my body. I felt like Jim Carey did in his film Yes Man. I might as well had been chanting, “Red Bull, Red Bull, Red Bull.” My body was on high alert and my energy levels peaked. By the time I got home that evening, I felt shattered. I’m unsure if it was the exhausting day with twenty plus people or a complete sugar crash.

Guilt and disappointment were the words I would use to summarise my feelings. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep and my gut felt off. As I woke up, I remember feeling drained and unwell. I shouldn’t have because it was the last day of the term. I am always excited about the last day of the term. I wasn’t. I spent the day eating as very little as possible. Furthermore, I called it my water day diet because water was the main intake for the day.

The future

I plan to stick with my ‘diet’ if you can call it that. I refer to it as dietary requirements, to be honest. The biggest hurdle is not abstaining from snacking and the unhealthy food choices. In fact, I would say the challenge is to educate myself with picking the right foods and alternatives, so I am able to get the energy, nutrients, and above all, enjoy what I eat.

Now that I am enjoying the summer holidays, I have to be aware I am not burning as much energy as I would working in a school. My exercise routine will have to increase to match the same level of calories I would burn when working. In addition, I need to watch what I am eating. Boredom throughout the holidays is a real thing. In work, I don’t have the chance to be bored. At home, it is a different story.

I will update you on my progression. I feel this a moment in my life where the need to stay healthy is greater than my want for high sugary snacks and drinks.

If you have any tips to improve health and fitness, please let me know.

Thank you.

Mark @ CodeMacLife.com

Don’t be afraid to write in your books

Taking notes in your physical reading books is not going to break the world

We’ve all been there. You buy a new book and treasure it, take care of it and place it somewhere special for convenient access. I get it. It feels good, and this book is definitely going to make you wiser and smarter. And what about the smell? Don’t get me started on that one!

There is something special about physical books that have a place in my heart. Admiringly, I own more eBooks than physical books. In my quest for a minimalist home, I decluttered, donated and reduced my physical book collection to a dozen books. For context, I own eighty-four Kindle books, eighteen Apple Books, and three audiobooks.

What I am about to say make shock some of you, but here goes. Don’t be afraid to write in your physical books.

I’ve had time to reflect on my note-taking and note-making recently. What I have learnt is the notes captured through annotating and commenting in physical books have had a bigger impact on my life than those I captured on any of my eBooks. You might prefer linking your thinking through eBooks and exporting to your favourite app.

Take physical notes

I read a blog post on The Wordy Habit about annotating in physical reading books, and it shocked me at first. I’m a bit of a perfectionist at times, so I like to keep things neat and ‘perfect’ as possible. But then I gave it a go.

What a revelation this moment was! I had book called How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens because I was keen to learn about Zettelkasten and how to improve my note-taking. The book had me thinking deeply about what I was capturing, and more importantly, why I was capturing what I was.

Foremost, I wasn’t ready to write in pen, so I those to use a pencil and some Post-It notes. What if I make a mistake? The inner perfectionist was sweating franticly.

Then I noticed something while I was digesting what I was reading. I was calmer, focused and underlining content that was resonating with me. I wasn’t breaking the flow with my usual Kindle routine of highlighting the text, choosing a colour and adding some notes to the text.

Furthermore, I had built my own annotating system to help with the process

Underline — highlight the key message.

Star — Important quote or thought.

Numbers — Takeaways from the page.

Post-Its — Capture larger chunks of information or my thoughts.

The system is simple enough to follow, and it avoids any overcomplexity that would discourage me from being consistent with the process. I also wanted to ensure I could remember what each system item did. I also add a few highlighter graphics/text for significant parts of a book (not many, though).

Another element to the system has been built for quick referencing — a bookmarking system for future access.

My bookmarking has four important areas I want to have quick access to. I’ve not taken this from any system out there. However, the use of green and pink come from my teaching practice in primary education.

All I have to do is use four different coloured Post-It tabs throughout my book to reference these areas I find interesting. The system has worked so far, and I can go back to content I want quicker than I would on my Kindle or Apple Books.

Blue (Mood) — I am able to record how I feel about the information. The information might invoke emotions such as inspiration, disbelief, or even contempt (very rarely).

Pink (Think) — Pink for think, as it is used in schools, is a process of reflecting and thinking about that has been read. I find these tabs appealing because I will read my past thoughts and see if my thoughts still align with what I had recorded.

Green (Growth) — Green for growth, which is another one used in schools. Growth is important to me. These pages have content that allows me to grow as a person and re-evaluate what I value.

Yellow (Future Actions) — Future actions are bookmarked where I feel a new action comes from what I have read. The content of the page may prompt new ideas and I would want to refer to them for clarity. In the past, I have set goals and my mid-year review involves going back to why I had set the goal in the first place.

Now, it is possible to have more than one coloured Post-It tab on the same page. Some content you will read prompts a flurry of thoughts, feelings, questions, and actions. This is OK. What I would say is be sparing with the tabs because the system will lose meaning if you overuse the bookmarks.

Digitalisation of notes

If I haven’t convinced you yet, you might be thinking about accessing the content wherever you are. I genuinely understand it. I also want access to my notes when I am not near the physical book. It happens more than I want to admit. The eBook options out there, like Readwise, are a creditable option. Albeit an expensive one.

I do capture my annotations for digital keeping. What I would say is you need an application that uses OCR technology because it will scan your notes for keywords.

I use Apple Notes for my notes and image captures. The application is simple to use and search is accessible through the action of swiping anywhere on my home screen.

If you are on Android, Google Keep is another great option. Just like Apple Notes, Google Keep allows you to select text from the images and paste it into another application of your choosing.

If neither of those options appeals to you, software like Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, Amplenote, and Obsidian (plugin) are suitable options.

You can decide to go with standalone OCR applications in your choose. What is important is you use what is best for you. Accessibility, especially, offline, is subject to what devices you use and how you are going to use them.

Alternatively, I would recommend Twos App to store, record and capture links, etc, to your lists (think of a Post-It note with all the information on). The application can add tags, links, images, share to the Twos World community, collaboration and so much.

Another benefit of digital capture is you can add comments to your notes. Reflecting on your notes is a good practice, and you can add other content such as relevant links, images, and videos to your notes.

Are you convinced yet?

If all else fails, I would recommend you have two copies of the book if you really don’t want to right in your books. Every so often, I have a digital copy of the book and a physical. There is nothing wrong with supporting the author with a double purchase.

The only time I will not write in a book is when I borrow a book from the local library. In this case, I will scan the pages I find important and annotate over them.

I hope you enjoyed reading my post. If you have any methods of capturing what you read, I would love to hear about them in the comments area.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Mark @ CodeMacLife.com