I have gone through a lot of ups and downs with regard to analog tools. They come and they go, sometimes they fit and sometimes they don't. Right now, they're saving my brain.

I started using a notebook for work when I realized I was in the mud. I have been filling pages with stream-of-consciousness journaling and not taking. As I've been trying to get better at finishing my tickets while also learning new ideas, it's become an essential companion.

I'm on my patio right now reading a technical doc from a friend, and found myself reaching for a notebook, any notebook, to take notes and externalize my thinking. I realized then how much that habit has already started to help my brain get by.