For me, having to produce my journals was a reminder that holding on to my notes means that I might need to give a deposition or testify about them. Engaging with the court system in any way is just not something I care to do if I can avoid it. So I re-examined the value proposition of keeping written notes.
If I was working in an environment where (for example) producing patentable inventions was part of the job, I would keep and retain solid lab notebooks in case they are needed to defend my employer's IP, and would write them every day with that purpose in mind. Likewise in a job where we have to follow ISO-style engineering processes in a regulated environment such as medical device software. That's not at all the same as keeping a journal of development for my own improvement... that's consciously creating an artifact so it can be produced on demand.
If I just keep my garbage notes in garbage files that I delete, I can use them while they are relevant and sweep up after, just as if they were post-it notes.
Thanks for response, makes a lot of sense! I can’t yet relate to the first reasons, but I definitely see the appeal of mentally marking working notes as “garbage”. I find that trying to make working notes an artifact always leads to me getting distracted
If I was working in an environment where (for example) producing patentable inventions was part of the job, I would keep and retain solid lab notebooks in case they are needed to defend my employer's IP, and would write them every day with that purpose in mind. Likewise in a job where we have to follow ISO-style engineering processes in a regulated environment such as medical device software. That's not at all the same as keeping a journal of development for my own improvement... that's consciously creating an artifact so it can be produced on demand.
If I just keep my garbage notes in garbage files that I delete, I can use them while they are relevant and sweep up after, just as if they were post-it notes.