I could force my life to become entirely paperless, but I choose not to. Between my workflow and my attachment to forgotten tools, I generate a lot of paper. I write in notebooks. I type journal entries and blog posts. I write notes to myself on index cards. Keeping track of it all is surprisingly easy, and I thought I’d share briefly how I do that.

Index cards are great for keeping miscellaneous to-dos and notes. I keep a stack of them near me at all times; on every desk, in my kitchen, and next to my bed. There’s no easier way to quickly jot something down I need to deal with later. I can then spread them around my desk or wherever and they are easy to spot and rearrange as necessary.

For filing I use a 43 Folder filing folder from Staples. Literally, 43 folders.

Filing something that I know I needn’t deal with until later is as easy as tossing an index card into some later date’s folder. I can then forget about it. All I need to remember is to check the day’s folder each morning. Not a “context” in sight.

I love using my old typewriters. I’m writing this post using one right now. For blog posts, I quickly type out the gist of whatever it is I’m writing about then edit and make notes using a pen.

Once I’m happy with the edits, I retype the final version into MarsEdit and publish. Not being terribly fussy about my writing, this helps by forcing me to review things at least once before unleashing it on you folks. More often than not, posts never get past the typewritten stage. Feel free to thank me for that. Speaking of stacks of papers, I then scan whatever I’ve written into DEVONthink using the Fujitsu ScanSnap, punch and file the pages into a Levenger Circa notebook, like so…

This all works quite well for me. I get the immediacy and tactile benefits of a paper workflow, digital versions of things I want to share, and a physical archive of lovely handwritten or typed documents.