Tag Archive for 'paper'

Circa Notebooks

Published
by
J.D.
on February 5, 2008
in Lifehacks
. 2 Comments

IMG_0426 After seeing it recommended on Lifehacker and 43 Folders, I decided to try out the Circa notebook system. The difference between Circa notebooks and ordinary notebooks is that Circa notebook pages are bound together by eleven individual plastic rings.

Circa notebooks combine the best of a 3-ring binder with the best of a spiral-bound notebook. Like a 3-ring binder, you can easily add any printed page to the notebook. In fact, because the rings are so close to each other, you can attach smaller pieces of paper, like 3×5 cards or even business cards. You can also easily rearrange or remove pages as needed.

But unlike a 3-ring binder, the Circa is compact and easy to carry. It sits on your desk just like a spiral-bound notebook, taking up half the desk real estate of an ordinary binder.

IMG_0432The biggest disadvantage of the Circa system is that in order to add your own pages to the notebook, you have to buy Levenger’s expensive hole punch. I looked at several other sites and at similar systems like Rollabind, and this is the most economical option.

Fortunately, it’s also a high-quality product, which is why you’ll find so many enthusiastic supporters of the Circa system on the various productivity web sites.

As much as I love computers, I find that nothing works as well as paper for planning my day. I just get more done when I use a paper to-do list than when I use anything digital; paper is just more flexible.

And with the Circa notebook, I can keep everything I’m working on organized together in a neat, organized, and portable package.

Beauty in Engineering: The Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 and Life without Permanent Paper

Published
by
J.D.
on November 18, 2007
in Lifehacks
. 0 Comments

I always love it when I find a well-designed tool. A device works elegantly and without problems is even better than a work of art: Art’s just pretty. A well-engineered tool can make your life demonstrably better and be pretty. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 is a perfect example:

Scan Snap

oldnotesThis is easily the best scanner I’ve ever used. I spent the day scanning in my box of old notes from school (kept on the theory that it might be useful someday). The scanner had very few problems chewing through page after page of notes, from printed handouts to deteriorated notebooks.

And this thing is fast; I could never, ever have done this much scanning with a traditional flatbed scanner. If I had to scan each page, one at a time, first one side and then the other–I would never have bothered with this project, and I’d probably have dragged this box with me for the rest of my life, because "I might use it some day!"

Now I’m free of a box of clutter, and I’m much more likely to use this stuff, because it’s in easy reach. I have it in my computer sorted by class, rather than in a box where I’d almost certainly never find what I need.

norbauer at 43 Folders has a great post that goes into a lot more depth about the ScanSnap and when to use paper vs. computers. And he’s right: I’m a lot more likely to use paper for brainstorming and note-taking now that it won’t pile up and get in the way later. Just think, write, and scan.