My transition to a paperless reading, researching, and writing lifestyle started in Summer 2014. Before we get to that it is important to understand the need for this transition. Picture it, Norfolk, Virginia in August 2013. I was gearing up for my first semester in the PhD program at Old Dominion University. I was a little nervous, but mostly confident. In all honesty, ODU wasn’t my first choice. I had gotten into my first choice, but was unable to attend due to family issues. So, I wasn’t foresee any hindrances to my success at ODU. More important, to me, was the fact that school had always come easy. I read when I needed to, rarely took notes, and wrote papers with relative ease. I figured: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I went into the first semester of the program with a gleam in my eye and pep in my step. The gleam faded to a dull and murky glow, and the pep became more of a zombie slog before midterm. What happened? I had spent too many hours reading and attempting to annotate articles and texts that I had didn’t understand. I had also spent tons of money on highlighters, pencils, and printing pdfs. With all the time and money spent, I had no greater understanding of the material and wasn’t making the connections instructors expected me to make. Even though I was struggling, I kept telling myself that my system would not fail me because it had gotten me this far.

I survived the first semester and put up some decent grades (Chvonne -1 and Struggle Street-0). My trust in the system faltered and then collapsed in the second semester of the program. I encountered a monster unlike any I had ever seen before: Theories of Networks. This class required something of me that no class had ever before: Reading Notes. Reading Notes required notes/summaries of the reading along with analysis, reflection, and course wide connections. My system of highlighting, little note taking, and shoddy annotations could not hold up to this task. My system was not helping me to engage with the material the way I needed to.  With my system, I had to flip back through hundreds of pages of highlighted pdfs and textbooks, reading small margin notes that seemed to be written in Tolkien's Elvish. I could not easily access my notes and  did not understand the material, which made it next to impossible to make connections. Beyond those issues, I was carrying around a 3 inch binder full of pdfs that I had printed; it was killing my back. Each week I struggled through the reading notes. I would scatter pages of pages of articles across my bed, mark pages with post it notes, write numbers next to quotes I may need later, hand write notes on the back of pdfs, and post angry status updates on Facebook. I was afraid to drastically modify my system midstream, so I struggled through, beating my head against the wall the entire way. I repeated the above pattern for 16 weeks. I survived the class and decided that my system just didn’t fit that course.

I’d finished my first year broken, battered, and bruised. On the recommendation of my adviser, I took the summer off from ALL THE THINGS! I read what I wanted and did nothing related to English Studies. I would occasionally research a personal project/idea, but other than that, I was in chill mode. A few weeks before the semester was to start, things shifted. I joined in ODU’s Summer Doctoral Institute (SDI). It is a 2 week period over the summer when distance English PhD students come to campus to have class, participate in workshops, and socialize with the on campus folk (wonderful time full of nerdy English Studies type things).  One day during SDI, I wandered into a presentation on digital workflow by one of my classmates. He shared about going paperless and how it had helped him to streamline his entire research and writing process. He showed how he was making connections from the readings within and outside of classes. At the end of his presentation, I felt overwhelmed and under prepared. Impostor Syndrome hit me like a ton of bricks. Nervous and disappointed in myself, I asked him if he could help me transition to a paperless system.

As I was asking for help, I felt that I was betraying myself. I love the smell of books, the feel of the pen in my hands, and the sound of pencil on paper. I expressed these thoughts and feelings to my classmate. He smiled and nodded. He said he understood. I think he saw and felt my resistance. He looked at to me and said in a confident tone that the purpose of being paperless and tracking his workflow was to map his distributed cognition and distributed memory. Ding, ding, ding. That is exactly what I wanted. The flaw in my system was that I was attempting to house all the information and knowledge within myself. I needed to find an effective way to manage and spread this knowledge and information across and within various objects and spaces. I needed a central space to pull materials, but I also needed de-centralized sections and sub-sections from which to pull. Essentially, I realized that I needed a network. I accepted the fact that I needed to push myself beyond my system. I asked my classmates several questions about the type of hardware and software to use, the time it took him to transition, and the cost. He shared his digital workflow with me, and my journey began.
I started out by trying to follow his workflow exactly. I looked for the  same hardware, downloaded the same applications, and used them in the  same order. As you probably know, it didn’t work. There were too many layers. I spent more time remembering the process than engaging with and retaining the materials. After I failed to re-create my classmate’s workflow, I began reading about the workflows of other PhD students. I was surprised to find so many PhD students writing about their workflow and sharing their processes online

From these various sites, I began making a list of hardware, software, and processes. I made quick sketches of workflows. I began downloading all the applications suggested. I tried various pdf annotating applications, went to different stores to try tablets and e-readers, and created accounts with various online storage services. It was all trial and error. I used websites like CNET and PCWorld for reviews of tablets. I also read various user reviews for the most popular pdf, productivity, and note taking applications.




Over the course of my trial and error process I realized various
things. First, some programs had too many features. I did not have time
for the learning curve, so I deleted them. Second, other programs had
minimal features and did not allow me to fully engage with the
documents. Third, some applications were outside my prince range. Last
and most importantly, I realized that workflows are both personal and
emergent. I was looking for a static, catch-all workflow that I could
fit on to myself like a warm jacket. 


I went back to the drawing board several times, adding and deleting hardware and software. With each program and application, I realized more and more what worked for me and what didn’t. This process was forcing me to think about what I wanted and needed out of a workflow. Thus far, I had focused on needing a digital workflow. I was trying to create a workflow without a clear understanding of how I work as a reader, writer, and researcher. This was difficult because it forced me to acknowledge my shortcomings: I do not read thoroughly and should annotate more and highlight less. I also had to confront my fears about going digital. I fear losing things, and I do not trust “The Cloud”. 

After confronting myself, I decided that I wanted to use hardware and software that would provide the emotional comfort of pen and paper. I also wanted to use services that lessened my fears about access.
The week before school started, I committed to MY digital workflow. I decided the following:  
    •    I needed a tablet to access all the pdfs and textbooks for my classes.
    •    I also decided that I would need a place for bulk storage, which would allow me the same comfort as printing out all the pdfs.
    •    Considering that I will need library books, I decided to purchase a scanner application to aid in keeping everything digital.
    •    I also decided that somethings needed to be automated or one-click processes in order to aid in the research collection and management.
I ended up purchasing an iPad mini, Scrivener, and Readdle’s PDF Expert. I also begun using the following applications: Scanner Mini, IFTTT, Zotero, Pocket, and DropBox. I also use Goolge Drive, Mendeley, and Evernote.
 
Six weeks into the new semester and I am still having trouble with my digital workflow. I am still adjusting to reading everything digitally. I miss paper and pencils very much. I’m still trying to create a visualization of my workflow. Since I am still having trouble implementing the workflow, I am also having trouble visualizing it. I do not feel like I am engaging with the text and making the connections. What’s the solution to this? I’m not sure how to address this, but I’m seeing it as a work in progress rather than an epic fail. Instead of seeing it as an uphill climb with a book bag of rocks, I have decided to see it as a young tree. Overtime, the process will begin to take root. The roots will spread out, the branches will grow, the trunk will widen, and leaves will grow.If nothing else, this entire process helped me to see that reading, writing, and researching systems/processes should not be static. I am a long way from being comfortable with my workflow, but I am happy that I am more open minded about the process and ready to let it organically do it’s thing.

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