Need to rely on 3rd-party programs/notebooks to gather

[Solarra]

Well, I just got to H/W gathering and I'm filling out a notebook with all the information I'll need to continue gathering and crafting. It's a bit daunting.
I do agree, it shouldn't be necessary to keep notebooks or use apps to keep track of this. The gathering logs should update with the time and slots once you have uncovered them. There's still going to be a bit of luck involved in finding the things that move around.

One thing I'm curious about is this, does anybody actually find this fun?
All I see ahead is a lot of time-management and waiting around. Does it get more enjoyable once you get into it?

[Silverbane]

One thing I'm curious about is this, does anybody actually find this fun?
All I see ahead is a lot of time-management and waiting around. Does it get more enjoyable once you get into it?

Yes, it is fun. Scheduling a route between nodes is part of that.
And at least nodes pop at defined times and (approximate) places, not like Hunts ...
Garland Bell has all the info you need BTW. Once you learn how to read it ...