Yes, absolutely. When I worked as an employee, I would have a growing stack of all the things my co-workers printed (why do they print so much shit?) and I would write on the backs to try to get some use out of their paper. That is just for incidental notes, though. Any note that is just for remembering over the next few minutes to an hour goes on whatever scrap of paper I can find. But much longer-lived notes go into one of my growing stacks of notebooks. I use unlined art pads with ring binder sides for even technical notes. I scribble sketches and ideas at random in them, and mix in more serious drawings. They become a sort of journal for me, as I hate writing classical journal style. I keep them, then look back through the old ones every once in a while. It is a good review of how far I've come and also helps me recapture good ideas I had and dropped because either I wasn't ready or I got distracted by something else.
I know for certain that writing things down makes them more 'important' to my mind. Printouts and the like generally get forgotten a few minutes after they were printed. Whenever I need to map out an idea within a script/program I'm working on I usually turn to my good ol' number two pencil and a couple sheets of paper and map out the basics of what I need to do, why I need to do it and any similar links.<p>I find that this allows me to clarify things greatly, even the simple act of sitting for a moment and mapping things out. Pretty much I have found that without fail this leads to better outcomes with scripting for me and things just flow better.<p>I'm not saying this will necessarily work for you, but for myself at least, writing certainly clarifies and brings into focus programming tasks.<p>Also, getting into the whole bit with reading from LCD screens when reading from them, the material I read on LCD I find that it is remembered less clearly than when it is on paper (be it a book or, notes, etc.). So for myself, the order of order of best/worst material for remembering information is: Writing -> Printouts -> Screen.
Oh gosh, this takes me back.<p>`De Laude Scriptorum' In praise of Scribes by Johannes Trithimeus, Abbotus of Spondheim Abbey, what now, something like 600 years ago!<p>A delightful and informative early book celebrating this most beautiful and ergonomically satisfying word machine ever made(1). The scratch of quill on vellum, is an itch scratched of divine satisfaction. This is the same Trithimeus who did the first book on Stegonography, absconded funds and stoled books to build up the library. There may be a free pdf out here somewhere. Parker, of the Parker Duofold fountain pen, whose quill recently quipped, "Writing with a ballpoint pen is like writing with a nail". We can mention here also Miller's Canticle For Liebowitz, with perennial novice Francis' inspired decades' dutiful inkish scrivening.<p>(1)But we must also remember and keep things in perspective, those monk novices were not allowed to get their groove on Fender Stratocasters.
This reminds me of Dijkstra's wordprocessor[1]. He had a pencil dangling from a string with a sign pointing to it saying "Word Processor".<p>[1] <a href="http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-dijkstra-1930-2002/" rel="nofollow">http://vanemden.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/i-remember-edsger-d...</a>
I usually take notes in a notebook, but then transcribe them to OneNote later. This paid off handsomely when my bag was stolen last week, containing my notebook - all my notes are still safely saved.