Is there still a place for pen and paper and what does handwriting have to do with your health?
I’m a notebook person.
I have notebooks for classes, workshops, podcasts, shopping lists, random thoughts and occasionally, the thing I was actually supposed to be writing down.
Despite living in a digital world there’s still something very satisfying about putting pen to paper.
It turns out there may be more to it than nostalgia.
Researchers have been looking at what happens in the brain when we write by hand compared with typing. In one study from Norway, participants wore EEG caps while they either handwrote words or typed the same words on a keyboard.
When people wrote by hand, more areas of the brain appeared to work together, including regions involved in movement, touch, vision and memory.
Typing, while incredibly efficient, involved a more repetitive movement pattern and a different pattern of brain activity.
That doesn’t mean we should all throw our laptops away, typing is brilliant. I couldn’t write this newsletter without it but it does make me wonder whether we’ve lost something valuable by doing almost all of our thinking on a keyboard.
When I’m planning, getting organised or trying to untangle a problem, I nearly always reach for a notebook first. Somehow clarity seem to flow differently.
Maybe it’s because writing is slower. Maybe it’s because we’re forced to think before we scribble or perhaps it’s because our hands, eyes and brain are all working together in a richer way.
Whatever the reason, many people find that handwriting helps them organise thoughts, remember information and think more creatively.
So next time you’re stuck on a decision, planning a holiday, thinking through a work project or simply trying to make sense of a busy mind…
Put the phone down. Close the laptop. Grab a pen and a piece of paper.
You might be surprised where your brain takes you.
Movement isn’t just something we do at the gym, writing is movement also.
Every letter is a tiny skilled movement that your brain has spent years learning, perfecting and personalising and is as unique to you as your fingerprint, spine or squat. Perhaps thats the real reason putting pen to paper feels so different from tapping on a keyboard, it’s truly a part of us.
What’s one thing you still prefer to write by hand? I’d be willing to bet I’m not the only person with far too many notebooks.
