I recently sat down with Carl Pullein, a productivity consultant and YouTuber who has spent over a decade helping people get organized. Carl has been using Todoist for twelve years, Evernote for sixteen, and last year he ran a full-year experiment with a Franklin Planner. We talked about why people keep switching tools, why paper still matters, and why convenience might not be as good for us as we think.

What came out of the conversation surprised me. Not because the ideas were new, but because they made so much sense - and because science keeps confirming what a simple notebook already knew.

Here is what I learned.

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Here are peer-reviewed studies and resources on handwriting, cognition, and the topics discussed in this article, grouped by theme.

• Umejima, K. et al. (2021). "Paper Notebooks vs. Mobile Devices: Brain Activation Differences During Memory Retrieval." Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15, 634158. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.634158
• Mueller, P. A. & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). "The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking." Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-1168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614524581
• Van der Weel, F. R. & Van der Meer, A. L. H. (2023). "Handwriting but Not Typewriting Leads to Widespread Brain Connectivity: A High-Density EEG Study with Implications for the Classroom." Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1219945. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945
• Ihara, A. S. et al. (2021). "Advantage of Handwriting Over Typing on Learning Words: Evidence From an N400 Event-Related Potential Index." Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15, 679191. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.679191

• Longcamp, M. et al. (2008). "Learning Through Hand- or Typewriting Influences Visual Recognition of New Graphic Shapes." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(5), 802-815. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.20504
• Marano, G. et al. (2025). "The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing." Life, 15(3), 345. https://doi.org/10.3390/life15030345

• Scientific Reports (2025). "Comparing the Effects of Typing and Handwriting on Spelling Performance in School." Nature Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-03369-x

• Library of Congress Digital Preservation resources: https://www.digitalpreservation.gov

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Hello there, wonderful people. Happy 2026!

Now, if you want to change something in your life, don’t wait for January 1st. Just change it right away. You can do it today. Start running every day, for example. It will make your life better. I’m actually running right now as I’m telling you this.

A quick public service announcement: some of you were subscribed to my Digital Pragmatism Substack. I have sent one email to all of you with some secret info about a new project that I will not announce here.

It’s a secret project.

If you were subscribed, you will know which project it is. Please check your spam folders, because today most email goes to spam. Reply to my email or act accordingly - there is a button you have to click.

Use More Paper is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Forget Goals, Set a Direction Instead

Since it’s the beginning of the year and people love to make plans and set goals, I wanted to ask you to not make plans. Don’t set goals. Actually, if you want to really set some goals, there’s a better thing to do: you can set a direction for your life.

Direction is enough. If you are fairly motivated and you know you have a connection with yourself - so you pretty much know what you hate and what you like - then direction is sufficient. You will make extreme progress. Whereas if you set goals, you can be disappointed in not reaching those goals, even if the direction would be right.

So I wanted to ask you not to make plans, but rather to choose one thing you will change. One thing you will do differently in 2026. This way you will have far more chances to actually reach this one thing you want to change. You are minimizing the chances of being disappointed.

Welcome to the Year of Analog Productivity

2026 will be the year of analog productivity, and this is what you will find here. I will tell you how I ditched my electronic devices and replaced them with paper notebooks and notepads. I will show you some of my favorite pens.

This will be the leitmotif for this channel throughout the year.

I will also post more interviews with people. I’ve got two of them which are being produced already. But I will also make more interviews and talk “analog” with interesting people.

So, welcome. Happy 2026.

Why “Use More Paper” Is the New Name

New year, new brand. But don’t worry, I will explain everything.

Two months ago I was explaining to you why Amenotes is the better brand. And then, closer to one week ago, I started examining all the domains I have purchased over time. And I saw that I have an excellent domain that I completely forgot about. This domain is usemorepaper.com.

Just how cool would it be to have a t-shirt with that!

And then I started analyzing whether Amenotes is not a better, more fancy word. And actually came to the conclusion that no - everything I’ve been doing on this channel was leading me to saying,

“Hey, use less your phone, use more paper.”

I get it, of course, that there are a lot of stationery content out there. And this one will not be a stationery website (or newsletter). You can treat it as a philosophy website, maybe a lifestyle blog?

I will not post reviews of notebooks. Well, I will post some of them, of course - those that I judge are excellent. But most of the time I will just share my ideas like I did until now.

Use More Paper is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What’s Coming Next

What is also very important is that with my wife we will actually in the future want to open a physical store that will sell notebooks - excellent quality Japanese notebooks and pens. And so it makes sense to rebrand as Use More Paper.

New year, new brand. Welcome. And remember: pick one thing to change this year. Just one. Set a direction, not a goal. And maybe, just maybe, consider putting down your phone and picking up a pen instead.

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