Index Cards and the Traditional Approach

[daly.d...@gmail.com]

So much emphasis is put on computerized approaches to being efficient
today.

I wonder whether there are academics out there who continue to swear by
index cards, and some of the more traditional approaches to organizing
article and thesis material?

Daly

[E. Durbrow]

Daly:

Flickr (the photo sharing site) has a bunch of people doing interesting things with index cards (I mean organizational things ;) You might try looking at these as a tag search in Flickr. Also there is a Japanese organizational technique involving index cards and there is the notorious "Hipster PDA".

Eric Durbrow Ph.D. • 90202 • eric.d...@comcast.net

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[Daly de Gagne]

Eric, thanks for the post.

Some of those pix are pretty interesting.

I'm familiar with the Hipster PDA -- a wonderful exercise in elegant simplicity, and an antidote to the overcharging of Daytimer and Franklin for basic pages.

I have seen the Japanese approach -- must admit I do not see how filing everything chronologically works, even with the little blue marks on top.

My approach is more basic -- all of my notes from reading, whether for academic purposes or just to remember, are now going on cards.

When it comes to writing articles, books, etc. I am on to the computer -- and am looking with much interest at IdeaMason 3, soon to be out.

My interest I guess is more in the specific details of how people use analogue approaches to organizing material, especially use of cards.

Daly

--
Discuss and learn about David Allen's Getting Things Done:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Getting_Things_Done/

[Darrell Rudmann]

I hear you. I struggle with this all the time. It is as if, at the
moment, to be truly effective at using the computerized approaches, you
must be an expert in your domain as well as a system administrator /
programmer. I'm sure this will change in time as the computer
approaches improve. Of course, from time to time I dedicate myself to
one computerized system, only to find a better alternative a little
later, and to spend hours changing over. This cycle then repeats some
time later. Sometimes I go back to my older system. I don't know how
many times in the past 6 years I have changed up my article notes
system. It seems to me this makes me a database manager more than a
writer.

I run into a couple of problems with purely electronic approaches to
getting work done. One is physical portability. I simply cannot assume
that I can have access to a computer or to the internet all the time,
given my lifestyle. If I feel like working, I would like to be able to
work. Paper-and-pen approaches allow this. (Even in church. Try that
with a computer.)

Another problem is one of the spatial size of the desktop. When I work
on the computer, my whole world view is this tiny little window. I
hunch my shoulders, lean into the screen, and spend all kinds of time
flipping between virtual windows. Having a large table or desk is
fabulously freeing. I can spread the work out over the entire desk and
floor if I want.

There is cost. Tinkerbox costs $192, and 500 index cards cost about
$1.40.

Then, there is my temptation to switch to some prettier-looking
software that is brand new and looks like it will do everything for me.
Has yet to ever be completely true. Once something is printed on paper,
I have no burning desire to "re-print" it in a new font or on new
stationary, but on the computer, trying out new software is a big
temptation. In the long run it's just not productive.

So, I personally have started to invest in all kinds of office supples.
I have Rubbermaid index card holders, Mead composition notebooks, a few
Moleskien journals that can fit in my pocket, and a Rubbermaid box for
toting big bunches of articles. It's all so very old school (at moments
I suddenly picture my father, going off to work at Rockwell
International as an engineer, carrying a briefcase and calculator and
sporting a pocket protector), but I can work just about anywhere,
anytime in a very hassle-free way. Fortunately I live in a small rural
city where I probably do not look as odd as someone working at a
research 1 institution doing this.

Darrell

[Daly de Gagne]

Darrell, I especially like the idea of being able to work anywhere.

I do use programs such as Zoot and MDE InfoHandler, and more recently, Surfulater for keeping articles and web pages on file.

But when it comes to making the notes that will end up in what I write -- a few good fountain pens, a pile of index cards, and a full pot of coffee seem to do the trick better than anything else.

Daly

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Getting_Things_Done/