Who’s Dumb Enough to Take Notes Anymore?

With technology these days it seems there’s no need to write a single thing down anymore.  As it is said so shall it be done… right!?  There are desktop programs and apps that will enable you to speak and it will write it down for you.  The once process of note taking seems to have gone by the waste side with many people these days (unless I’m living in a bubble – which is quite possibly true).  Sure if you’re in school you likely take notes but now you open a new word type document and instead of writing you type out all your notes.  Really though, I’m referring to all those people outside of school, those of us in the work world, do you even take notes anymore?

If you’re raising your hand wildly in the air because you find note taking to be a big part of what you do on a daily basis and it assists you in your learning process, I want to reach out and shake your hand!  Congratulate you on such an awesome thing!  Yes I too am one of those idiots that writes down nearly everything.  I am a complete nerd, a giant geek, I write it all down, I’m the odd ball whom doesn’t just read a book and highlight portions of pages but writes out excerpts of books for future reference.  

Writing helps connect the brain to the act of reading, it brings in the emotions of that in which you’re learning and assists in anchoring it into your subconscious mind.  The act of writing and brainstorming through your hand and a piece of paper is much more powerful than typing it out with a keyboard.  With each stroke of the pen you anchor the words that come out onto the sheet of paper you’re withdrawing your idea upon.  The same cannot be said about typing, your fingers aren’t connecting with each letter, with each type, you’re distant from the paper which has become a screen.  There’s a saying, “motion creates emotion” and that’s where physically writing actually connects you to that in which you’re learning.  It’s the spring-bored to embodying that in which you want to learn and remember.

So next time you want to recall more of what you’re learning, pick up a pen and paper and write out what you want to remember.  Now, sure it’ll take more time to write it out than to type it out but I promise you this you’ll have to review it less times to recall it.  Not only will you recall it easier but it’s much less distracting as you’ll actually have to focus on what’s being said.  Having that laptop is much more distracting than having a pen and paper in front of you.