Paper notebook
A bound notebook for thinking on paper away from a screen
Blank or ruled pages between covers. Some people run one notebook per project so all the thinking for it stays together; others pay for heavy archival paper and a sewn binding, on the theory that a page you cannot rip out gets treated more carefully. Nothing on it can interrupt you.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Austin KleonDoes it
Writer and artist · Steal Like an Artist
Four notebooks running at the same time: a logbook, a pocket notebook, a commonplace diary and a diary. He flags this as descriptive rather than prescriptive, since writing is his job, and tells anyone starting out to buy one notebook and write or draw in it every day.
Source: AustinKleon.com: My 4 notebooks - Cal NewportDoes it
Computer science professor · author of Deep Work
Really good notebooks have always made a difference for him, and he means paper ones. As a postdoc he spent about $70 on a bound lab notebook with archival paper, partly so he would take what went into it more seriously. Going back through it years later he counted seven papers or grants whose core ideas started there.
Source: Huberman Lab podcast transcript: Cal Newport - Stephen HackettDoes it
Technology writer · 512 Pixels and Relay
Field Notes notebooks for close to fifteen years, one every four to six weeks. Shopping lists, conference call notes, sermon notes and doodles all go in the same book, on a principle he sums up as leaving nothing out. Every full notebook goes onto a flatbed scanner and into Dropbox and Apple Notes. He was on number 129 when he wrote this up.
Source: 512 Pixels: The Field Notes Thing“These notebooks are a trail of breadcrumbs dating back almost 15 years. If I flip through an old one, I get a glimpse of what was going on in my life at that time.”
512 Pixels: The Field Notes Thing (opens in a new tab) · 7 Feb 2025
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
- Gear$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.Backed by 6 of 62 stacks: 6 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
- Gear$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Standing desk
A desk that raises, so part of the working day happens on your feet
Backed by 4 of 62 stacks: 3 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Gear$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.Backed by 3 of 62 stacks: 3 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
- Gear$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Phone lockbox
A lockable box with a timer that puts the phone out of reach for a set period
Backed by 2 of 62 stacks: 2 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Gear$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.Backed by 1 of 62 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
- Gear$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.Backed by 1 of 62 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
Gear entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.