Many have already forgotten the last time they used pen and paper, and this is quite understandable — you can't argue with the productivity of a computer. However, you should not throw out a pen and notepad from your desktop, because the process of writing manually helps to clarify thoughts, better memorize information and achieve your goals faster. And this is not only our own observations, but also a scientifically proven fact.
Are you familiar with such moments when ideas seem to be spinning somewhere nearby, but it does not work out to catch them and arrange them in the right order? You've already written and erased some phrase ten times, and you don't even know where to start.
At such moments, my notebook and pen invariably save me — after the first sentences or phrases, the stupor passes and ideas appear that can be transferred to a computer.
It can be assumed that this is just a habit and muscle memory — after all, we have all been used to writing by hand since childhood, even if now your printing speed is simply sky-high, and the handwriting resembles indistinct scribbles.
But scientific research proves that writing by hand really helps to concentrate better, and this is due to the peculiarities of the brain.
Writing by hand stimulates the reticular formation — a group of neurons and connecting nerve fibers connected to all sensory organs and areas of the cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and spinal cord.
The reticular activating system serves as a kind of filter for the processes that occur in the brain, distributing them according to the degree of importance, and when you write manually, this activity becomes a priority.
In her book "Write It and Let It Happen", PhD Henrietta Anna Klauser mentions this mechanism. Writing manually activates the reticular activating system, which sends signals to the cerebral cortex: "Wake up! Attention! Don't miss the details!" When you write your goal, your brain will work on it to achieve what you want, and will send you signals about the need to fulfill it.
If you use pen and paper to capture your ideas, you develop your cognitive functions. Dr. Virginia Berniger, who studies the process of reading and writing, and their connection with learning, found that if children use a pen instead of a keyboard to write texts, they complete tasks faster and better, write longer texts and complete sentences.
The same applies to adults. In one study, scientists found that when studying new characters, for example, Chinese characters, adults remember them much better if, instead of typing characters, they write them manually.
Berniger noted the difference in brain function when you write something manually or type on the keyboard: in the first process, you write and connect the letters yourself, and in the second you only press the same keys on which the letters are written. That is, in the process of writing letters, your brain works more actively than when pressing buttons.
As a result, you are more focused on the subject of writing, you can organize your thoughts and come up with something new.
Of course, completely switching to manual writing is somehow not relevant, but writing down your ideas and plans in a notebook may be useful. In addition, if you prefer to save all the information electronically, you can combine writing manually with a computer, for example, using an electronic pen.
