pen, paper and 2026

Yes, I still take notes on paper in 2026.

Not really some unexpected thing honestly. A lot of people still do it.

But for me, the day starts when I write the date on the top left corner of an empty page.

That’s the real start of the day for me.

Then I start scrolling through emails and messages and slowly things to do start appearing.

Some are business related. Some are personal stuff. Some are random ideas I get during the day.

Usually I just write everything down.

I tried so many apps over the years. None of them gave me the same feeling. Still don’t know why honestly.

There’s something different about physically writing things down and putting checkmarks next to them during the day.

Feels calming.

At the end of the day the paper looks completely destroyed.

Random notes everywhere. Crossed lines. Half readable ideas. Stuff added sideways because there’s no space left anymore.

Then I crumple the paper and throw it in the trash.

Weirdly relaxing.

Because nowadays we’re all hustling all day long. Emails, calls, notifications, problems, people asking things constantly…

Then nighttime comes and you sometimes ask yourself:

“Okay but what did I actually do today?”

That paper answers the question for me.

The whole day is sitting there physically in front of you.

Maybe that’s why apps never gave me the same feeling. I don’t know.

Maybe the brain wants to see physical proof that the day actually meant something.