Choosing paper and analog productivity

I recently sat down with Jose Briones - digital minimalism advocate, book author, and YouTuber - for a conversation about intentional technology use, dumb phones, and the analog life. I first discovered Jose through his YouTube channel, and this conversation did not disappoint. We covered a lot of ground, from the history of technology in our homes to the surprising link between financial freedom and digital independence. Here is what came out of it. Jose started his YouTube channel about five or six years ago, talking about digital minimalism and dumb phones. His motivation was personal. After graduating from university in 2018 and starting his first job in 2019 working with nonprofits, community centers, churches, and schools, he found himself spending somewhere around nine to ten hours a day on his phone alone. When you added in work on the computer, the total was closer to twelve or thirteen hours of screen time every day. Those were, as he put it, his darkest times. He decided that was not how he wanted to live. He started looking for alternatives, came across the Light Phone, tried it, liked it, and stuck with it. Since then he has been making videos, writing, and building resources to help other people find their own path with technology. From magic to extraction Jose has an interesting way of framing the history of technology in our homes. When tech first arrived in households sometime in the 1980s, it felt magical. Think about the VCR - suddenly you did not have to stay up late to watch something. You could record it and watch it when it was convenient. Think about the first personal computers - people could compose documents at home and bring them to work. It gave them freedom. The early video games, the first consoles - everything felt like it was adding something to life. Because those first technologies made our lives genuinely better, we were trained over time to assume that more technology always means a better life. And for a while that assumption held. But somewhere around 2014 or 2015, things shifted. Technologies stopped being primarily useful to us and started being extractive. Instead of giving us more time and agency, they started demanding more of our attention. The value proposition flipped. It was no longer about making your life easier - it was about keeping you watching longer so that advertisers could make more money from you. I asked Jose whether this was done on purpose or whether it was just a natural evolution of design. His answer was unambiguous. Yes, it was on purpose. They saw that they could make more money by keeping people hooked to their screens than by providing great service. So they hooked people to the screen because it was easier to convince them. Use More Paper is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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. Stop Switching Apps - You Are Not Doing Any Work The first thing Carl told me was blunt. When you switch productivity apps, you are not doing any work. You are just moving stuff from one side of your desk to the other. It is the digital version of shuffling papers around and calling it progress. Most people will never admit this, but the real reason they switch is because the new app looks prettier. Then they find a better excuse. “My current system feels overwhelming.” But here is the thing - it looks overwhelming because of what you put in there. It is not the tool. It is always what you are putting in it. Unless something is actually broken, switching apps is one of the biggest time-wasting activities you can do. Carl has been with Todoist for twelve years. He knows every keyboard shortcut, every workaround, every little trick. That knowledge compounds over time. You do not get that by jumping ship every six months. The Dopamine Trap of a Fresh Start Switching apps feels good. That is the dopamine talking. You get a momentary sense of relief because you eliminate a lot of the mess from your old system when you transfer to the new one. But give it two or three weeks and it is just as overwhelming as before. Then you see a YouTube video about yet another new app, and the whole cycle starts again. Carl put it beautifully. You are focusing on the tools instead of focusing on the craft. A carpenter who makes chairs and works of art is not constantly shopping for new hammers. Those guys have tools that are a hundred years old, handed down from their grandparents. It is not the tools that make you productive. It is you. It is the clarity of knowing what is important to you and to the work you are doing. The tools are often a distraction, especially if you are changing them all the time. To prove this point, Carl regularly runs experiments where he switches to tools he does not normally use - Apple Reminders, Apple Notes, even a paper planner for a whole year. And every time, his system stays the same. The work gets done. The tools change, the output does not. A Carpenter’s Hammer and the Franklin Planner Carl’s preferred stack is simple. Todoist for tasks. Evernote for notes. Apple Calendar for scheduling. That is it. No fancy project management software. No complex integrations. When I asked him about project management, he said he uses Evernote as his project manager. He even wrote his book over three years using Scrivener for the writing and Evernote for all the surrounding notes, meetings, and checklists. But the most interesting part of Carl’s system is not digital at all. It is the Franklin Planner he brought back into his life after first using one in 1992. What he loves about it is the layout - tasks on the left, calendar in the middle, notes on the right. When he writes out his appointments by hand, he can visually see how much time he realistically has to do actual work. If the page is full of meetings, he knows not to pile on tasks. This is something digital tools are terrible at. You can schedule your day three times over and the app will still accept it. Paper has a built-in constraint. When the page is full, the day is full. That limitation is not a bug. It is a feature. Use More Paper is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

By popular demand, here is my Minimal Phone review. And it’s not just a quick first-impression kind of thing. I’ve been using this phone as my daily driver for four months now. It replaced my Punkt MP02, and I have quite a few thoughts to share. I don’t usually do phone reviews because there are better channels for that. But I do think I have something worthwhile to say about this particular kind of device. I have real experience with dumb phones. I was using the Punkt MP02 for a very long time. Half of my family uses a Punkt MP02. My daughter uses one right now. And the Punkt is a really dumb phone - classy, very well designed, but really dumb. It just does calling, texting, and a very basic calendar. That’s it. So the Punkt is dumb and a smartphone is really too smart. The Minimal Phone sits right in between. And that’s where it gets interesting. The E-Ink Screen is a Feature, Not a Bug This phone has two things that make it excellent for this kind of device. First, it has an e-ink screen. Now, the e-ink panel is not the sharpest or crispest display you’ll ever see. It’s rather old school. And I don’t know the exact model, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that because it’s old school, consuming media on this phone is really painful. If you have something to compare it to - the Bigme Hibeak Pro I was using has such a crisp screen that you can actually watch YouTube videos on it or browse photos. It’s not completely impossible, just very uncomfortable. On the Minimal Phone, it’s an even poorer experience. And that’s actually the point. If, like me, you want the possibility to download your preferred podcast app and listen to your favorite podcast, or maybe use the phone to listen to a YouTube lecture without looking at the screen - the Minimal Phone is excellent for that. And because it’s a normal Android smartphone under the hood, you can install whatever you want. I’m using Obsidian on my Minimal Phone and it’s really comfortable. I can search information inside my notes whenever I need to. So it’s a very good middle ground between a totally dumb phone and a full-fledged flagship smartphone. The QWERTY Keyboard Changes Everything There is a second element I love about this phone. It has a QWERTY hardware keyboard. Maybe it’s because I was a Blackberry user. But either way, I love hardware keys. I prefer hardware keys to an on-screen keyboard by far. And this phone has a really well-designed QWERTY keyboard. What I did on my Minimal Phone is that I completely ditched the proprietary launcher that comes with the device and installed the old-school BlackBerry launcher instead. What this allows me to do is configure each key to perform a specific action. You can launch an app if you want, but that’s not my preferred use. My preferred use is speed dial. I put all my family members and most of my frequent contacts on speed dial. When the phone is unlocked and I press one of the hardware buttons, it makes the call. This is something I last used on the BlackBerry Key One, and it is very comfortable. Very cool. So those are the two main excellent functions of this phone. I could add a third one - a 3.5 millimeter audio jack. Old school. And since I’m using excellent wired planar magnetic headphones, I love the fact that the jack is built right in. I don’t have to use USB-C to jack dongles, which I hate. A Screen That Protects Your Eyes and Your Sleep Lots of people criticize this screen as poor quality. I think that’s actually a big advantage. And there’s another thing that’s good about it - the screen has a non-flickering amber front light. On e-ink screens, it’s a front light, not a backlight. So it’s amber and non-flickering. Very good for the eyes. If you have to use it at night, you can set it to a very, very low intensity amber color so it does not disrupt your circadian rhythm. I don’t really think the screen is so bad. It’s clearly not as sharp as the Bigme Hibreak Pro, of course. But hey, the whole purpose of th

Do you remember the video I made about the fact that I still buy CDs, vinyls, and music files like MP3s from the Apple iTunes store? What Amazon did recently is proof that I’m doing a good thing for my music library. And you should also consider doing the same - owning your stuff and not renting it from somebody, let’s say Amazon. Amazon changed its policies related to Kindle books, and from February 26, 2025, you’re not able to download the books you’ve bought on the Kindle store. You’re only able to transfer them to a Kindle device, so if you use a Boox tablet or a Kobo tablet to sideload those books, well — you’re out of luck. Of course, Amazon is doing this because the company wants to sell more Kindle devices, but you know what I mean. In the music realm: * Spotify can do the same. * Apple Music can do the same. * Tidal can do the same. You’re not the owner of your playlist. The Illusion of Ownership If I buy an MP3 album on the iTunes store, I own the MP3s. They are DRM-free, and I can use them anywhere I want - on my preferred digital audio player, for example. This is real ownership, not the illusion of it that streaming services provide. The fact that Amazon is making this policy change so that after a certain date, no book - even if you spent the last 10 years collecting your Kindle books - can be downloaded ever again is plain and simple stupid. It would be very bad, but it would be slightly better if they said, “Ok, for all the books purchased after February 26, 2025, you will not be able to download them,” whereas all the books you have bought in the last 10 years, you will still be able to download until the end of time. It would be a policy change with respect for the consumer - but of course, it would not push people to buy Kindle devices. So, screw the respect! Amazon is not Customer-Centric This kind of aggressive policy change will probably push some people that are more comfort-inclined to buy a Kindle for 100 dollars and forget the change. That’s exactly what Amazon wants - to lock you into their ecosystem. I’ve seen this pattern repeat itself across digital media platforms. Companies start with consumer-friendly policies to build their user base, then gradually restrict options once they have enough market share. It’s a bait-and-switch tactic that punishes loyal customers. Remember when you could easily transfer your purchased iTunes songs to any device? Or when Kindle books could be read on practically any e-reader? These freedoms are being systematically eliminated to force consumers into walled gardens where companies have complete control. Curation and True Ownership I’m a big believer in owning things, and I think that you don’t really need access to every book on earth and every music album on earth. It would be much better if you curate what you want to listen to, if you curate what you want to read, and then you own it. There’s something deeply satisfying about building a personal library of books or music that you’ve thoughtfully selected. It reflects your tastes, your journey, your intellectual development. When you stream everything, you own nothing, and that collection can disappear at any moment. Preferably, you own your media in such a way that you pay the artist or author the most. Because if not, those people will not make more music, they will not write additional books, they will just go to a corporation and get a job in order to pay bills. Taking Control of Your Digital Life The Amazon Kindle policy change should be a wake-up call for all of us. Remember: when you “buy” digital content through most platforms, you’re really just purchasing a conditional license that can be modified or revoked. For books, consider purchasing DRM-free ebooks directly from publishers. For music, look into Bandcamp or buying MP3s that don’t have usage restrictions. Yes, it might be slightly less convenient than one-click streaming, but the peace of mind is worth it. Physical media still has tremendous value

Many parents struggle with this decision, and today, we want to discuss an organization called “Wait Until 8th” that has a powerful suggestion for parents: wait until your child is at least 14 years old before giving them a smartphone. Why 14? According to the organization and psychologist Jonathan Haidt, waiting until the end of puberty is crucial for a child’s mental health. During puberty, children have a strong need to fit in and are constantly checking in with their peers. Introducing a smartphone during this time can lead to negative effects on their mental health, as they are exposed to powerful algorithms that can provide enraging or harmful content. Even adults can struggle with the impact of smartphones and social media on their mental health. So, if it’s difficult for grown-ups, imagine how much harder it is for children going through puberty. This is why some experts, like Haidt, believe that waiting until the end of puberty is essential. However, some people argue that even 14 might be too young. They suggest waiting until a child is 21 or even avoiding smartphones altogether. So, what are the benefits of giving your child a smartphone at 14 or 15? Honestly, it’s hard to say. Some may argue that it could help them become an Instagram influencer or provide useful apps for traveling, but these benefits can be achieved through other devices that are not as addictive as smartphones. The idea behind “Wait Until 8th” is not only about delaying smartphone usage but also about creating a community of parents who support each other in this decision. By signing the online pledge and connecting with other parents from your child’s school, you can form a supportive network that ensures your child won’t be the only one without a smartphone. Recent studies have shown that the earlier a child receives a smartphone, the worse their mental health may be later in life. This means that waiting as long as possible before giving your child a smartphone is indeed a wise decision. As a parent, one of the best gifts you can give your child is good mental health. If their mental health is strong, they will be better equipped to handle conflicts, develop self-esteem, and navigate the ever-changing world. In conclusion, the “Wait Until 8th” organization suggests waiting until your child is at least 14 before giving them a smartphone. However, some believe that waiting even longer or avoiding smartphones altogether is the best approach. Ultimately, the decision is up to you as a parent, but it’s essential to consider the potential impact on your child’s mental health and well-being.