I don’t see writing by hand as “intentionally inefficient”, I see it as an extremely easy way to reconnect with physical creation of some description.

We’ve all been trained to believe that we have to be as efficient as possible in order to maximise our profitability. But why? Why not take a few moments to do things a slower, more thoughtful way?

I like writing by hand - where appropriate. It feels nice to put ideas on paper. And as a bonus, those ideas don’t then get hoovered up whichever company made whichever app you’re writing into.

Writing by hand is definitely the main way I learn. The act of writing it embeds it in my memory moreso than looking at a screen.

I wonder how much of that is down to how we were taught though and it being more familiar and linked with education and cognition. Someone must have done a study on this somewhere.

I am quite sure I have ADHD (though not officially diagnosed), with that in mind here’s my story.

There’s a veritable cornucopia of programs and systems available to utilize when it comes to keeping digital notes, and none of them stick for me. I desperately want them to work, because I loathe writing things by hand due to hand cramps and poor penmanship. The thing I get hung up on a lot is getting comfortable in a certain software-based note-taking ecosystem and then running straight into a wall when I want it to do one particular thing I’ve identified as being useful, or perhaps the software just becomes unreliable for one reason or another. It’s highly demotivating to me when I realize I’ve spent hours using something only for it to end up not working for me the way I wanted it to. Also, when I write digital notes, I have a very bad habit of editing, as if someone other than myself were to read my notes later (irrational, I know), so the process takes much longer than if I were to put the pen to paper.

The thing about pen and paper is, it just works. I might run out of paper or ink, but assuming I have access to more, I can write whatever and however I want. Sure, I don’t get automation or full-text search “out of the box”, but I can devise my own systems (short-hand, indexing, etc.) or borrow someone else’s (Bullet Journal), even use external tools (scan document | OCR) to meet my needs when the time comes.

Right now I’m in the middle of building a habit of keeping a small journal on my person where I keep very simple remarks about my day and track personal tasks and events. I’m explicitly only using systems that I find useful and nearly effortless, but as I improve the habit I will try adding more complexity. I feel that if I can develop a solid core of analog writing, then it’s likely I can begin to introduce more regular digital note-taking to augment this core practice.

I don’t believe there is one method that works (or is even beneficial) for everyone, rather I think it’s more important for individuals to find a method (or hybrid) that works for them, and stick to it.

It can certainly help with retention and processing of information because you’re using both your mind and body to do it, but I have always struggled with it. I wasn’t able to legibly write my own name until my early 20’s and any small amount of writing badly hurt my hand. The struggle and discomfort takes away from any benefit and enjoyment it might have given me.

I struggle with it, mostly because I get frustrated how much faster I can type compared to handwriting things. I haven’t hand written things since I left school.

Honestly I find that making physical hand written notes better cements the ideas in my head. It may be because I’m older so I started with only pen and paper which means that’s how I best think, but for me writing and typing are two different tools and I tend to use both.

I use physical hand writing for two things,

1. When I get stressed and have to remember too many things (like I lose sleep because I can’t stop thinking about it) I will carry a tiny journal in my pocket and write stuff in it I need to remember and cross it out when it is done. The less strict the rules of it the better. It is far from “bullet journaling”.
2. If I need to take names while doing something else. Physical paper and pencil is better for whatever reason. Be it a video game, DND, anything. It’s just easier to start and stop quick with a pencil on paper than it is on something physical.

I don’t journal or really even take notes by hand anymore. The notebook I have in my bag is mostly for more abstract sketches, mockups, or examples.

However, I make a frequent practice of handwriting postcards to my friends and family, so I keep my handwriting well-maintained for that.

I hate writing by hand, even though I went all the way through high school doing it (only things like final essays were typed, and even then you had to do it at home). It always hurt to do it the way I was supposed to, my handwriting never improved after like 1st grade (until I taught myself to write left-handed in my early 20’s; that’s much neater), and I have a horrible sensory issue involving the feel of a dull pencil dragging across paper. It makes me want to jump out a goddamned window.

Even so, writing things by hand helps me remember stuff better. Once I got to college and I was allowed to use whatever writing implement I wanted to take notes with (sparkly gel pens in a variety of colors), it wasn’t so awful, and it helped my memory so much that I don’t think I ever had to look at the notes I took ever again. So if I’m going to a lecture or a conference or something, I’ll still bring a notebook and some fancy gel pens.

Otherwise, the only thing I do with hand-writing is quick notes when I’m talking on the phone and need to record an account number or e-mail or whatever, or when I need to create a reminder to go back and fix something I’m already ahead of at work. Post-it notes are so much quicker than taking the phone away from my ear, navigating to OneNote, selecting the notebook, selecting “new page”, and then typing it out. If I want to transcribe the information in some way that’s not strictly left-aligned, or if I want to draw circles/boxes/arrows, well, One Note says “too bad, suck it up”. Plus, I can stick the post-it to my monitor and it’s in my line of sight all day; shit I note down in the phone is out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Yes, I know I can use the desktop version of OneNote, which has more functionality. I do use it when I’m outlining or making adventure notes for the D&D game I run; it’s fabulous for that. But it’s utter shit for quickly jotting down “call Denise at [number] <— IMPORTANT DO BEFORE ----> call Electric Company about acct [#] at [number]”. That example doesn’t even make sense typed out.

I enjoy writing by hand, but I do look forward to a good e-ink device (Products like the remarkable have a subscription model and it’s closed hardware and software, which is a big negative to me). Waiting to see how projects like PineNote evolve.

For now I just write on which ever notebook is closest to me. The act of writing is more important than actually storing information somewhere outside of my head.

I find that I remember things better if I write something down by hand. I’m more likely to forget if I type it out.

However if speed is a necessity, definitely typed even if I need to re-visit it multiple times. Handwriting is just too slow sometimes.

For me, I prefer typing for just plain text, however things involving diagrams and equations can be easier to write out, rather than futzing around scrolling and adjusting the layout.

Also, as a side note, I think 0.3 mechanical pencils are underrated for writing.

I personally do not care what people think or tell me about handwriting. I do not enjoy writing things out by hand, I much prefer typing. So that is what I do. Simple as that.

Personally I’ve always had a strong preference and better time with typing compared to writing.

Maybe it was because I was put in front of a keyboard at a relatively early age, or maybe because I was on a computer more than many of my peers? Maybe it’s related to potential traits that could come with being AuDHD that I was never raised to consider? Maybe it’s being left-handed and writing in a left-to-right written language? It’s probably a loose combination of all of these.

My typing is quicker than my peers, but I think that gets compounded with my writing being slower, too. I’d say that my handwriting is legible enough, but I just absolutely cannot write at an efficient speed compared to a lot of other people. I don’t necessarily mind taking things slow, but it means I miss out on info that others wouldn’t. Having the ability to type my notes starting around late high school and going into college was a serious boon for my notetaking. Before then, I’d have a solid idea of what I wanted to jot down, but the class would be leaps and bounds ahead by the time I wrapped up a bullet point. Getting pencil lead or pen ink all over my fingers certainly didn’t help my ability to keep up, either.

I also find a lot more benefit from doing notes digitally compared to by hand. I really appreciate being able to tag things and search around loosely, and I find myself much more capable of shifting things around and getting things to look just the way I want them compared to doing so on a notebook. Sometimes there’s quirks with my notetaking app of the time that’ll grind my gears, but it’s ultimately a better experience than doing it by hand for me. Need to shift something from one section to another? What about from one page to another? No problem, Cut-and-Paste is something that any program will have. I’m not gonna do that cleanly and quickly on paper. Need to make a table or put in an image? Most if not all of the notetaking apps I’ll use will be capable of that, whereas doing that by hand will take me much longer. Is there something I really need to write or draw by hand? Likewise, most if not all notetaking apps I use let me switch between the two when I’m on a device that lets me take advantage of that. I don’t have the freedom to choose how I do that on paper.

While I get that there’s a lot of evidence out there that says people remember things better when written down compared to writing, that’s just…never been my experience? I never felt a strong difference in how I remember something or how creative I am whether I write it or type it. If anything, I personally find it easier to remember things or explore things when I do it digitally. By all means, if someone does better with writing, I say let them write. But personally, being forced to write has only been a disservice.

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All that said, there is a place in me for writing or generally working physically, however. It’s still oftentimes a lot easier and privacy respecting to directly hand strangers a note jot down on a pocketbook than it is to juggle contact info and send it over. Physical notes can also be placed to be read later in a way that digital notes can’t. And no matter the preparation I do, I’d say there’s always a higher chance for my digital devices to die on me compared to my physical ones. It doesn’t get nearly as much use as my phone, and most days I don’t need it, but I keep a lil’ pocketbook and a few pens on me to fill those edge cases.

I like to do both. There are times where I need to type everything, because my typing speed can keep up with my thoughts. I can get all of the thoughts out of my head quickly, and clear my head so I can focus. It’s also easier to do in some places, like when I’m at work - typing myself a quick note and then emailing it to my home email (or saving it in drive), is much faster and more likely to make it where I need it to go. I tend to forget physical items at work.

Writing by hand I use for journaling. For slowing down and taking time to do something. For magic - where I want to put intention and energy into the words and sometimes burn the paper after. For when my eyes are so sick of screens that I just need a break, but still need to get those thoughts out. I’d also rather handwrite something then type it on my phone - Eventually I need to get one with a stylus so I can just write on the screen.

It’s the same reason I usually draw things by hand, then scan them to digitize. I have a tablet. I use it for digitization. But my art is generally better by hand.