1 item / paper vs. save the woods?

[Candid]

I agree with others that you can use a smaller recording instrument. I noticed in the Best Practices Talk (free) that several of the group, including David, mentioned using 5 x 8 pads.

I also think creating one electronic note could work as well. I use Evernote to do this when I am out (although I do use small paper pads in some locations).

[frazierlaw]

I think one of the concerns here is focus.

If you write an item on a piece of paper, no matter whether index card size or poster board size, it is the only thing that you are looking at when it comes to processing.

For me, when I am processing, it actually is more difficult to process if I see 15 other items that I need to process, because I start wondering how they relate. That's why I refuse to process from a list.

Evernote, as mentioned earlier, creates basically, a digital list.

I capture using paper, email, and digitally, but when I process my digital items in Omnifocus, it allows me to use the focus feature so that i can block out all other items in my inbox. That is a big selling point for me.

One piece of paper, one piece of digital information... At least until I reach what I believe to be "black belt".

[mthar1]

I put one item per paper, since that is so helpful to me for staying focused when processing. Sure, I do use more paper than most people with this setup, but paper is still very environmentally friendly compared to about anything else we keep around. I haven't done the math on it, but I'm convinced that my total life consumption of paper probably equals out to something ridiculously trivial in the category of travel, food production or electronics as for environmental impact. Now, this is not to say that re-using paper isn't a good thing, but for me that's not a trade-off that is worth it.

[cwoodgold]

I like one-item-per-page, with a whole letter-sized page. It helps me focus on one thing at a time, and it provides an inviting place to write additional relevant information.

I re-use paper that already has other stuff on one side.

When I'm finished with an item, if the total amount of writing is small enough, I erase it all and re-use the page. I've re-used pages multiple times. I use 2B (soft) pencil leads, which erase well.

My system is partly based on Martin Ternouth's paper-based project management system, described in the 2nd email by Ternouth on this page: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-...?msg_id=00008c
(on most browsers, use control-F to search for Ternouth, or scroll down to the
13th entry, which begins "This is a follow-up to a post I made on this thread eighteen months ago.") There are also other interesting comments about paper
on that page, including one at the bottom about the advantages of pale
grey paper with white lines.

[ellobogrande]

Scratch pad paper is thin, cheap and designed for disposability. Just toss in the recycle bin after you process it. I get mine at Office Depot; it comes in a pack of ten. The pads are roughly 4x6 (perhaps a little less)

[kkuja]

Every paper sheet has two sides, and I'm heavy user of the unprinted side of prints. At least here paper is very often printed only on one side. So next to home workstation I have 3 cm stack of one sided prints, from my school (I graduated 6 years ago) and work. I use those papers for doodling, brainstorming and other temporary stuff. When I'm on the road I have a notebook with me.

[mcogilvie]

I remember vaguely that David said something about writing only one item on a piece of paper - why should we do this even if we are concerned for our environment ?

If you are worried about it, use small pads. However... when you consider the torrential downpour of paper in most of our lives and the fact that paper is recyclable, to say nothing of the need for carbon sequestration, it becomes clear that using small amounts of paper for the purpose of directing our lives is not all that important. If you really want to do something for the environment, stop using fossil fuels, but good luck with that.

[Almost Done]

I just realized last week the value of the mindsweep with one piece of paper per idea. I use the back of the Dilbert one-a-day tear off calendar. It is way better than an entire sheet of paper with 8/10 things crossed off at the end of the day. When those were gone, I used recycled paper from my bin, and at the end of the week I had no recycled paper left!

The G in GTD is for green, right?