Writing, with a pen.
I never do it anymore, but it worked great until I got a PC, a Psion 5, and especially after my first Macbook. Since then I barely write with a pen, and if I do it's cramped.
I never do it anymore, but it worked great until I got a PC, a Psion 5, and especially after my first Macbook. Since then I barely write with a pen, and if I do it's cramped.
A fountain pen is a joy to write with. It requires virtually no pressure, especially when compared with cheap ball point pens. The ink flow is regular and heavy, resulting in even crappy writing looking interesting. It makes it fun to write, which makes (me at least) more likely to write whenever I can.
Just be sure to also use heavier paper - the Varsity ink will bleed through the cheap stuff 2-3 pages deep.
I find it really useful to have the project outline beside my monitor. It's joy to physically cross out todo items :)
Lots of people complain about it but I never had an issue with it. Two reasons why: 1) typically the amount of code is really small and the exercises are very easy anyway 2) I've been writing (pseudo) code on pen and paper since I was a kid (and I still do!) and I find that to be a valuable tool.
Ditto for whiteboard coding in interviews, as long as we're talking about small toy problems, I have no problems doing it on the board.
Measured in straight up typing speed, a keyboard is faster but when you're talking note taking mixed with thinking or something that involved equations or diagrams, I can't get anywhere close with a computer. And there are no distractions on paper.
And why wooden pencils instead of a mechanical one? The smell. The smell of fresh shavings from the pencil sets my brain in the right gear.
It's actually a bit scary!