In today’s digital world when we don’t even need to write things down on paper. It is easy to type out or just simply take a picture using your phone. Thank you to technology we don’t have inky fingers or lousy handwriting anymore. However, researchers say people who write things down with pen and paper are thriving in several areas of life. In this article, we are going to write about the 8 benefits of writing things down.
8 Benefits of Writing Things Down
Create Physical Copy of Your Perception
Human memory is unreliable. It can be influenced by several factors such as information, emotions, and even your perception of yourself. Things that you remember might differ from what others remember, or perhaps it is just a fabrication of your brain. Giving words to your thoughts will give them a physical form. You can rely on your memories mostly, however, you can always go back to your physical copy if you have written things down.
Clarify Intentions, Goals, and Priorities
Thoughts are fleeting and formless, and when you give words to them it gets limited. Writing them down will help you capture the essence of your emotions, what you want to achieve, your priorities, and your goals. This way you can avoid invariable changes in the process of achieving goals. By creating a list you are forcing yourself to evaluate what to do first. They are no longer just notions but solid courses to work on.
Develop Your Focus
It is essential to break down your goals into manageable steps so that you don’t get lost. Technology is distracting, and it is easy to switch to social media or entertainment in between doing important work. This affects your mental efficiency, as it is running several programs for each task. However, when you write things down, it only involved your pen and paper. By doing this, you can avoid distraction and work and focus on significant tasks, efficiently.
Reduce Stress
When you have several tabs open on your computer, it runs slow, and similar things happen with your mind. This is how decision-making gets tough. Having several thoughts occupying your mind will make you feel overwhelmed. There’s a persistent feeling of burden that pessimistically affects your mental capability, resulting in stress. Experts recommend starting your day by sitting down and writing any random thought that comes to your mind. This helps to clear your thoughts and create space in your mind so that you have room to concentrate on important things.
Note Emotions
When you are depressed, overwhelmed, or stressed, your thoughts influence emotions and vice versa. When you have negative thoughts, it attracts negative emotions which leave you demotivated and uninspired. Writing down these thoughts will help you comprehend the root cause of the issues in your life. Asking yourself what you feel and writing them down is an effective process of introspection. Try journaling and allow your emotions to flow on paper.
Strengthen Memory
Two vital things happen when you write things down – external storage and encoding. External storage means storing information in this case on paper. It is effortless to remember things when you have written notes to rely on. We tend to avoid the encoding part. It is the biological process in which your brain analyzes information in sequence. The more you go through the information the more it will get embedded in your memory.
Develop the Level of Understanding
Writing things down is more effective to learn and process new information. According to a 2014 study students who use laptops to take notes fail to comprehend and learn as well as students who take notes by hand. Students who take notes by hand write fewer words and process information more proficiently. When taking notes with a pen, you can’t write as fast as someone can talk, so you have to be selective. This limitation compels you to listen and understand before writing it down.
Record Your Progress
Other than writing thoughts and ideas, writing things down helps to record your progress in life. You can create your unofficial memoir and from time and again you can compare your present self to what you were last year. Perhaps you will be able to discover things about yourself that you have never realized earlier. You will see how you handled several tough situations and how they changed you.
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