How to Quit Paper for Good and Become an Eco-Friendly Digital Nomad

I used to be a big fan of physical agendas. I loved the feeling of writing down my appointments and to-dos in a notebook. But I also felt guilty about the environmental impact of my paper consumption. I wanted to find a way to go digital without losing the joy and convenience of paper.

That's why I decided to invest in a digital note-taking system that would suit my needs and preferences. Here's what I did.

On the Hardware side

I bought an iPad Air M1 as the best buying option. It is as fast as a Pro but 30% cheaper, and the camera is not something I use on iPad anyway.

I bought an Apple Pencil 2, the original accessory that offers 100% compatibility with my iPad.

To get an advanced paper-like writing experience, I bought an ESR Paper-feel screen protector. It offers excellent quality and a useful mounting kit that let me apply the screen protector myself in minutes.

On the software side

I use three types of applications for my digital notes on a daily basis.

For regular note-taking, I use GoodNotes. It is excellently structured, with folders and templates that can do anything from legal notes to calendars. It has a great syncing option to the cloud, and I can have all my notes accessible from anywhere and with any device as PDFs in a secure OneDrive cloud drive.

For training sessions, discovery meetings, and interviews, I use Notability. Notability has a great feature: it can record audio and sync your notes with the audio session with timestamps. This allows you to go through your notes and play audio sequences as you touch the respective written text. So, if you wrote "chapter three explanations" and touch the sentence, it will automatically take you to the minute 34:53 of the audio recording, where you wrote the note.

For sketching, drafting, and concept proofing, I use Endless Paper. I can quickly design pretty much anything, with shape correction, colors, brushes, and any tool I need. And I can zoom in and out endlessly back and forth, jumping from one idea to another and back in seconds. The only downside is that you cannot save your work.

With this system, I have been able to go completely paperless for more than a year now. I love how easy it is to create, edit, organize, and share my notes. And I feel good about saving trees and reducing waste. If you are looking for a way to go digital without losing the benefits of paper, I highly recommend giving this system a try.

If you're thinking about switching to digital, I highly recommend the iPad Air M1, Apple Pencil 2, and paper feel screen protector. And the three apps that I mentioned are all great options for different types of note taking.

Here are some additional benefits of going digital:

More organized: Digital notes are easier to organize and search than physical notes. You can create folders, tags, and other organizational structures to keep your notes tidy and easy to find.

More accessible: You can access your digital notes from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it easy to stay organized and on top of your work, even when you're on the go.

More collaborative: Digital notes can be easily shared with others. This makes it easy to collaborate on projects and assignments.

More environmentally friendly: Going digital can help to reduce paper waste. This is good for the environment and can also save you money.

If you're looking for a way to be more organized, productive, and environmentally friendly, I encourage you to consider switching to digital note taking.