Have you ever noticed how the simple act of writing something down on paper can make it feel more real, more tangible, than typing the same words into a digital device?
As a daily blogger for over 6 years, I have written and published a massive volume of work. I also have kept a daily journal for over a decade. I do most of my writing, note-taking, and journaling in digital apps.
As a real estate agent, I was at the forefront of the “paperless business” movement, teaching other agents how to digitize their workflows.
As much as I love the ease and convenience of digital notes and journaling apps, when it comes to the important things, digital is a distant second to the old-fashioned notebook and pen.
When it comes to processing important lessons, distilling my ideas, engaging in a weekly, monthly, or yearly review, or doing inner work, I still prefer to sit down with a journal and pens.
Here are 3 reasons why I prefer my physical notebooks for the important work.
(1) Easier to Review and Find Useful Insights
This may seem counter-intuitive. After all, one of the purported benefits of digital note-taking apps and journals is that you can search.
And you can… but it’s not always so simple.
In order to search productively, you must know what you’re looking for, and it helps if you’ve tagged it well at the time you created it.
When I was in school, it was easy to categorize things by subject matter and classes. Real life isn’t always so neatly compartmentalized.
Sometimes the best ideas come in the middle of processing thoughts about something that seems completely unrelated. I don’t always know at the time of creation how something will be relevant.
Unlike digital journals, where specific searches require precise keywords, flipping through a physical journal allows for unexpected discoveries. Opening to a random page can reignite forgotten ideas or memories.
(2) Embody Learning and Stop Looping Thoughts
My ADHD brain often spins in a lot of thoughts and ideas at once — and not all of them are related.
In this state, I can easily fall into thought loops, where I keep looping on the same ideas and concepts. Digital journaling often keeps me in these thought loops. It’s so easy to just keep typing.
Writing them on paper helps keep me from looping in repetitive thoughts. First, it’s harder on my hand to write by hand for long periods of time. This forces a biased towards brevity. Second, seeing the ideas physically laid out in front of me helps me acknowledge the thought and move on.
A physical journal also aids me in moving beyond a particular idea or rumination. All it takes is a turn of a page to begin again.
Beyond simply stopping the endless cycle of thoughts, the act of handwriting in my journal serves as a moment of mindfulness, anchoring me in the present and slowing down the whirlwind of ideas that often fills my mind.
Finally, the physical act of writing helps me embody the lessons of an experience more than just typing on a keyboard.
(3) Easier to Differentiate Pieces of Ideas
In high school, classmates used to make fun of me because I took notes with a 4-color pen. But everyone wanted my class notes. The reason was obvious: my notes were easy to read and follow, even at a glance.
I still use different colored pens when I’m writing notes, processing ideas, or journaling about important life experiences.
My mind tends to link seemingly disparate ideas together, which leads me to journal in a way that might meander between several topics.
Switching colors is a way of visually indicating where I veered off one topic to another topic. When I bring the idea back to the first topic, I switch back to the first color.
If I’m writing an outline for an essay, or structuring a curriculum for a course, I might use one color for the topic headline, another color for a brief summary of the concept, and a third color for “meta” notes that relate the idea to other topics.
When I review the notes, I will bring in more colors to underline, asterisk, and highlight key ideas.
The different layers of colors create a timeline showing the evolution in my thinking. As I revisit the journals with the benefit of perspective and new insights, I can add more layers of nuance.
If you’re someone who juggles multiple thoughts or subjects at once, consider adopting the multi-color pen method; you might find it clarifies your thinking and organizes your notes in a visually distinct way, making it easier to navigate your own ideas.
Don’t Give Up On Paper
While the convenience of digital notes is undeniable, I’ve found that nothing quite matches the clarity and intentionality brought by the act of writing with pen on paper. It’s not about choosing one over the other but recognizing the unique value each brings to our lives.
The best note-taking or journaling app is the one you have accessible when an idea strikes, whether it’s your phone or a post-it note. For that reason, I won’t ever give up digital notes completely.
But I find nothing beats pen to paper when something is really important — that’s the reason people still publish paper books.
Although the pull to go purely digital is strong, I encourage you not to leave this enduring technology behind.
Get a good notebook and some pens and spend time with the enduring practice of journaling on paper. You’ll thank me later.
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...