I just read “Why Paper Is The Real Killer App“. Reinforces a number of things I’ve learned the past few years. From the folly of multi-tasking, to the neurological benefits of writing, pen to paper writing. The article even, briefly, talks about cursive (no idea if there’s any benefit to cursive over printing, but it sounds cool. My handwriting, though, might preclude such).
Now, I’ve read quite a bit about the benefits of writing in regards to information retention and processing. Enough so that I’ve considered moving back to my Franklin-Covey Planning system. However, I’ve found another option. As the article above mentions, I’ve moved to a bullet-journal system. Now, the act of writing does seem to activate different parts of the brain than keyboards do. And that’s great! I see another benefit, though. I’m required to slow down, take a minute or two and write out ideas. Though I can write fairly fast, I’m forced to focus more closely on what I am doing. Not having Twitter/Facebook/email/what-have-you constantly popping into your consciousness is very helpful, too.
Check out the video below for a good intro. But, to sum up, it’s a notetaking and organization system that really only needs a notebook and pen. You can buy specially designed ones (when they’re in stock…they’re highly sought for right now).