Found this piece about physical notebooks I wrote a year ago. My opinion on the matter hasn’t changed much since then. Actually, I’ve made even more progress towards digital minimalism, and believe it was one of the best decisions, especially at my age.
Enjoy:
I love writing in my notebook. And no, I don’t have a beautiful curved handwriting that I practice in my notebook. In fact, I have a hard time recognizing the character-like patterns transcribed with ink in my notebook. Nevertheless, I prefer my physical notebook to digital ones. Why? My notebook doesn’t ask me to create a new account, or log in every time I open the first page. It doesn’t ask me for permission to access my personal data, including pictures and files. It also doesn’t track my location. It will not become some platform or super app. Finally, it doesn’t track my activity in other apps — well, even if it wanted to, it can’t. The purpose of the notebook is to keep your thoughts on paper, and no more.
P.S. if you happen to have a physical notebook and end up filling it out, don’t throw it away right away. Keep it — it’s always nostalgic to leaf through the old inked pages depicting your thoughts.