Paper is heavy

In my quest for less stuff, I used a block of downtime at work to work out my "Data Management System," as I'm calling it right now. I have a chest full of notebooks from my worldbuilding projects going back at least ten years, scraps of paper with "useful information" all over my desk, and scraps of paper that I like to call "altered book ephemera" as my excuse to keep it all. I don't want to lose this information, but I do want it more consolidated and less all-over-the-place.

During this chunk of downtime, I decided that the best way to manage the data was to transfer it into the computer, put it on a disc, etc. Digital media takes up far less room, and by the time the CD itself degrades, I'll have most likely either transferred the information elsewhere or no longer want it. Lots of wins in this idea.

There's only one problem: scanning ten years' or more of notebooks (and hoping the scanner picks up the pencil-written text...why couldn't I have felt comfortable writing with a pen sooner?), transferring "useful information" from little scraps of paper, and actually parting with at least some of the altered book ephemera stash. I started with some of the loose worldbuilding papers I had mixed in with the notebooks, and the amount I scanned last night before bed doesn't equal a notebook's worth.

This may take a while.