🖋 On Writing By Hand

While it seems most relevant to boomers and Gen X, we should all take note of the study by Van der Weel and Van der Meer (2024), too, who found writing by hand (rather than tapping away on your keyboard) increases brain connectivity. It may be time to consider deleting some of those list-making and journal apps from your phone and return to paper and notebooks. Healthy media use of any kind is, after all, about balance.

This, from the Psychology Today article Writing by Hand Can Boost Brain Connectivity, really resonates with me. I've always been much more partial to analog tools and writing by hand, and this just reinforces my love for those things.

I've even tried using journal apps and the like on my devices, but none ever really stuck (except for Obsidian, which I wrote about here). There's always been something special about writing by hand. The scratch of pen or pencil on paper, perhaps? I'm able to process my thoughts better on paper, and I love that. Struggling with anxiety and racing thoughts is simpler when working it all out on paper instead of a screen.

I know I'm not alone in this, but in a world that's increasingly reliant on screens and that is slowly losing the art of handwriting, articles and studies like this are a comfort.