Chapter 1: The Quest for the Ideal Paper Solution

What is the optimal way to integrate paper with a digital productivity system? This question has occupied my thoughts for the past month. My exploration led me to the Rocketbook, which boasts a loyal following, prompting me to give it a try. The concept is impressive, and I was genuinely taken by its innovative design.

The Rocketbook features:

• A sleek design
• Reusable pages that offer long-term cost savings
• Sturdy coil binding
• An app that facilitates easy scanning to desired locations

However, it does have its drawbacks:

• It requires the use of Pilot Frixion pens for writing
• Any moisture on a page before scanning results in irreversible loss of your work
• Utilizing custom templates can be cumbersome (though Sharpie pens can be used for drawing)
• Regular pens can quickly damage these premium pages

After a thorough evaluation, I realized that while the Rocketbook could be enjoyable for occasional use, it wasn’t the sustainable solution I sought. The pros and cons may appear balanced, but the negatives would hinder my daily use.

Introducing the Paper Saver Notebook

Here comes the award-winning Paper Saver, touted as “the world’s only notebook designed to reuse paper and minimize waste.”

The Paper Saver offers:

• A compact design
• High-quality materials available in various colors
• A mechanism for reusing paper that would otherwise be discarded
• Flexibility for incorporating your own templates

On the downside:

• Printed content on the reverse side of sheets can be distracting
• There’s no built-in method for archiving used pages
• It doesn’t allow for the same double-page spreads found in traditional notebooks

This clever creation is surprisingly simple: it comprises an empty folder with a steel spring down the center, ready to hold your folded, single-sided scrap sheets. I also opted for the Organiser, which fits perfectly behind the pages, offering a pencil case and pockets for business cards and larger scrap paper.

After drafting multiple versions of my monthly planning pages, I settled on a design that allows me to repurpose rejected drafts for daily notes and sketches. I’ve never felt so satisfied with my frugal approach since learning to utilize leftover pulp from plant milk production!

Chapter 2: Merging Analog and Digital Worlds

So, how does Obsidian fit into my newfound paper routine? It remains my go-to tool for daily notes and productivity, firmly standing its ground alongside paper!

I want to emphasize that my extensive collection of plain text (Markdown) files forms the backbone of my thought, idea, and task management, rather than being reliant on Obsidian or any other application. The plain text files are my system! Various applications like Obsidian, iA Writer, Notenik, and others serve merely as interfaces for interacting with them.

With a paper notebook now in my arsenal, how do I integrate these analog and digital realms? By strategically scanning the pages I wish to retain into my computer and into my Obsidian vault—it's easier than it may sound!

You can digitize your pages using several apps, including Apple Notes and Readdle’s Scanner Pro, but I’ve discovered a useful hack with Rocketbook's scanning app. I printed their sample page on cardstock and created a frame to overlay my Paper Saver pages. The scanning process works best when pages are laid flat rather than folded.

While optical character recognition (OCR) software can be helpful, it struggles with pages that contain sketches and unconventional handwriting. Although not many pages have been worth transcribing, my typing speed makes this a manageable task.

Using double hash marks (##) before and after the title of a page effectively auto-names the scanned files. The Rocketbook app sends my scans to a folder on my Mac, and Hazel organizes them into designated folders based on their names. Specific topics are directed to my PARA folders in Dropbox, while dated notes are sorted into the Rocketbook folder within my Obsidian vault.