[kcindric]

I'm looking into buying a iPad with a pencil for better organizing my work and personal notes with added searchability. The only thing I'm afraid off, as I have ADHD and as a result trouble learning/retaining information, is that the iPad + pencil won't have the same effect as pen and paper. Anyone made the switch from paper to iPad and can't share their experience?

[filchermcurr]

I tried to switch but I never use it anymore. There's a weird... I don't know, almost burden to it.

Pen and paper is always on, always available. The interface is completely blank and unassuming. You have a page, you have a writing utensil. Text is always visible, nothing needs charged, there's a pleasant tactile sensation, minimal noise.

On the iPad, you have to turn it on. Launch the application. Navigate to the right notebook or page or whatever. (Unless you use Notes, maybe, and there's a double tap to launch option) There are ambiguous icons everywhere. Sometimes palm rejection doesn't work and you zoom, move the page, or mark on the page. There's a bright backlight, distracting notifications, the sound of the pencil tapping on the glass. It doesn't lie flat without a case. It all just feels very unnatural to me. I never got used to it.

Of course there are benefits. Optical character recognition for instant search, backups, unlimited 'paper', multiple notebooks in one thin place.

[criddell]

If you tap the Pencil to the screen of the iPad when it’s off, it turns on and launches the notes app.

[PetitSasquatch]

For ADHD, externalizing thought / basically everything can really help.

Notepads and pens are always on, cheap and disposable.

I try to use writing not for cataloging information but rather thinking aloud.

This particularly applies to reading. I print, then read with a pen in my hand, marking up and jotting down thoughts.

Once I've ordered my thoughts, a markdown wiki is where all the long form writing happens.

This system works great for me.

Once I've organized and stored my thoughts, the paper can be thrown away / recycled to reduce clutter etc..

I wish I had adopted this strategy decades ago, I use to laugh at old timers who printed everything ... now I know why.

[m_eiman]

If you're going to be writing a lot, I'd recommend something like the Paperlike screen protector - the increased friction makes writing noticeably easier.

[komali2]

I've gone through a bajillion iterations of this: notebook + pen, tiny carry everywhere notebook + pen, surface pro + pen (this was really good for sitting down studying and class, not good for quick notes obvoiusly), and right now am on samsung zfold 3 and pen as a replacement for all classes of notetaking.

I have three note taking times:

1. Meetings, online or in person 2. Instant. Examples: vet suddenly telling me medicine mgs for my lizard. At hackathon and someone telling me some new software I wanna try. Unexpected philosophical insight from podcast while at gym. 3. Reading book (anywhere: cafe, train, desk, couch) 4. Studying time (at desk)

For said methods, the crosssection of effective note taking strategies I've found to be:

Spiral notebook and pen: meetings, reading book, studying time. Too big to have on me at all times for instant.

Smaller notebook (like, traditional moleskin sized) with pen: effective at all, including instant IF I had my backpack on me, so not truly great for instant.

Surface pro + pen: good for meetings and study time, somewhat ok at reading notes, phenomenal at reading notes if reading on the device itself (splitscreen reading app with onenote). EXCELLENT for classes and meetings because of quick multi-color pen functionality.

Upgrade to notebook resulted from surface pro: use multi-color pen instead of simple black pen. Now same study benefits as smaller notebook, with increased effectiveness in meeting and classes. Missing: cut + paste from surface pro, uploading to onenote to read on phone, etc.

Teensy tiny notebook + pen: best at instant notes, kinda shit at all other notes because so tiny, like think detective notebook. Possibly improved by better strategies, just had conversation with actual detective who made me realize I was probably using the notebook wrong.

Foldy phone with samsung pen thing: Similar to surface pro in effectiveness, better in terms of portability and always having on me (making its instant effectiveness better), worse in terms of its simply kinda small. Would love to use this for reading notes as well, right now can "kinda" split screen but it's really too small for that, would prefer in-same-reading-app note taking feature, yet to find good app for that (considering my books are epubs, this is probably impossible. PDF markup not bad though! in samsung notes app. Surpsrisingly good app). Thing about instant notes is, it's hard to hold, and still slower to get going than a tiny notebook + pen. I'm going to attach a little ring to the back and see if that makes me feel more confident holding this absurdly expensive device in one hand while writing on it while standing up.

TLDR: Technological investment cost of ipad + pen could be worth if you really like the digital features of cloud, multi-device, organization etc. Otherwise, recommend much cheaper option of smaller ipad-sized notebooks + multi-color-in-one pens (check jetpens). Also, this is more fun imo than using digital device, and retains better tactile experience (good for me with ADHD: can click pen as fidget activity).