Knowledge

Use a Pen, not a Keyboard: How Writing by Hand Makes You Smarter

Writing is not just needed for school; in fact, writing is an activity that has been displayed to have several benefits to the brain and the body.

Published on: Jan 27, 2018

In today’s time of technology, we are engaged with our laptops & smartphones, we are typing on keyboards more often than writing by hand. Most office working peoples spend their time over a computer, tapping at keys to form words on a screen. Very few people use a notebook or spend time writing by hand. Even those of us whose profession is writing tend to spend far few time writing with a pen in hand than they also do typing.

 

Technology has become necessary to how we gather information and how we organize our lives. But just because something is useful & new does not mean that the old is waste and no longer relevant. Writing is not just needed for school; in fact, writing is an activity that has been displayed to have several benefits to the brain and the body. Whether journalizing the thought, attempting poetry or starting a novel and pen and paper has an impact on emotional well-being, helping students consolidate their opinions and even increase their moods.

 

Typing has come to be our go-to method of writing for the whole thing from work emails to personal lists. While typing may be faster, research, convenient demonstrates handwriting has its own unique benefits.

 

So, you are a passionate typist, back yourself and look at these benefits of handwriting:

 

1. Effective memory Recall

There are several advantages of handwriting your notes. Notes allow for healthier long and short-term memory recall due to they include your own words and handwriting. These can help as effective memory prompts by reconstructing the content from the original lecture or meeting. When you’re writing things, you build better relations between each of information you are recording. Writing by hand also activates part of your brain that involved in working memory and thinking and allows storing information. The movement is only related to the pen and your hand can help you retain information durable time. It is the fact that those who take notes by hand really recall more of the information than those who don’t.

 

2. Sharpened critical Thinking

When you write by hand, you are more exposed to critical thinking. Handwriting allows you to think more comprehensively about the information you are recording. It boosts you to develop your thoughts and connections between them. This can be greater by using a different colored pen to organize thoughts and form more connections. Writers can recognize relationships between ideas and also improve unconventional solutions to problems. If you don’t write frequently, it may be difficult to extract meaning from text.

 

3. Stronger understanding

When you write down notes by hand, you develop a stronger understanding than by typing it with the keyboard. Handwriting forces your mind to conceptually get connected with the information and also developing both reading and literacy comprehension. But typing encourages verbatim notes without giving much thought to the information. This can lead to a deficiency of meaningful understanding of the information. Writing by hand is the best exercise for aging brains.

 

4. It’s better for learning

One of the most operative methods to study and recall information is to rewrite your notes by hand. When you are putting ink to paper it simulates a part of the mind known as Reticular Activating System. It filters for the whole thing your brain requires to process and giving more significance to the stuff that you are concentrating on that moment. Researchers believe that students who make notes on a laptop tend to record lectures verbatim, while students who write their notes by hand process information it in their own words, highlighting learning.

 

5. It makes you a better writer

Various well-known writers and authors opt for the writing by hand instead of typewriter or computer. Students who wrote their essays with a pen not only write more than a keyboard but also they can write quicker and more complete sentences.

 

6. Ease deprecation

When you are feeling stressed, sometimes occurring your opinions by writing them out can be the best treatment. Writing by hand, especially in cursive, is rhythmic. So it reliefs your opinions get into a relaxing flow. When you connect the words more when you write them out and you can also procedure problem more easily while you writing it on paper. If you want to run from the stress, it is a better chance of moving into a healthier of mind.

 

7. It will prevent you from being distracted

When you are sitting in front of the computer you may be distracted by playing games, watching videos and other things. All these things can distract your focus and you may forget your goal. When you are working on a project, there is something to be said for the elegant simplicity of having a pen and paper in front of you. Try writing with hands and focus on your goal. Writing with the hand will prevent you from being distracted from your goal.

 

8. Writing your way to a healthy brain

Some students prefer taking notes electronically but writing on paper is very beneficial for brain health. The study shows the learning benefits physically writing letters, notes especially the gains that come from appealing the brain’s motor pathways. Writing is a good motoric exercise. Not only are you moving your hands when you write but also your brain and muscles are remembering the letters you write. So the areas of the brain responsible for thinking, memory, language are activated all at the same time. If you compare that to the typing, you don’t have to remember how to put it on paper.

 

Taking notes on a computer is faster, but for the reason, people who are using a keyboard can copy what a lecture is saying verbatim. Whereas taking notes by hand is slower and needs us to be selective about what we write. Slowing down, and reframing information into your words is more helpful. These are some benefits for the elderly to continue writing on paper as they grow older to train the brain.

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