I don’t see writing by hand as “intentionally inefficient”, I see it as an extremely easy way to reconnect with physical creation of some description.

We’ve all been trained to believe that we have to be as efficient as possible in order to maximise our profitability. But why? Why not take a few moments to do things a slower, more thoughtful way?

I like writing by hand - where appropriate. It feels nice to put ideas on paper. And as a bonus, those ideas don’t then get hoovered up whichever company made whichever app you’re writing into.

Writing by hand is definitely the main way I learn. The act of writing it embeds it in my memory moreso than looking at a screen.

I wonder how much of that is down to how we were taught though and it being more familiar and linked with education and cognition. Someone must have done a study on this somewhere.

I am quite sure I have ADHD (though not officially diagnosed), with that in mind here’s my story.

There’s a veritable cornucopia of programs and systems available to utilize when it comes to keeping digital notes, and none of them stick for me. I desperately want them to work, because I loathe writing things by hand due to hand cramps and poor penmanship. The thing I get hung up on a lot is getting comfortable in a certain software-based note-taking ecosystem and then running straight into a wall when I want it to do one particular thing I’ve identified as being useful, or perhaps the software just becomes unreliable for one reason or another. It’s highly demotivating to me when I realize I’ve spent hours using something only for it to end up not working for me the way I wanted it to. Also, when I write digital notes, I have a very bad habit of editing, as if someone other than myself were to read my notes later (irrational, I know), so the process takes much longer than if I were to put the pen to paper.

The thing about pen and paper is, it just works. I might run out of paper or ink, but assuming I have access to more, I can write whatever and however I want. Sure, I don’t get automation or full-text search “out of the box”, but I can devise my own systems (short-hand, indexing, etc.) or borrow someone else’s (Bullet Journal), even use external tools (scan document | OCR) to meet my needs when the time comes.

Right now I’m in the middle of building a habit of keeping a small journal on my person where I keep very simple remarks about my day and track personal tasks and events. I’m explicitly only using systems that I find useful and nearly effortless, but as I improve the habit I will try adding more complexity. I feel that if I can develop a solid core of analog writing, then it’s likely I can begin to introduce more regular digital note-taking to augment this core practice.

I don’t believe there is one method that works (or is even beneficial) for everyone, rather I think it’s more important for individuals to find a method (or hybrid) that works for them, and stick to it.

It can certainly help with retention and processing of information because you’re using both your mind and body to do it, but I have always struggled with it. I wasn’t able to legibly write my own name until my early 20’s and any small amount of writing badly hurt my hand. The struggle and discomfort takes away from any benefit and enjoyment it might have given me.

I use physical hand writing for two things,

1. When I get stressed and have to remember too many things (like I lose sleep because I can’t stop thinking about it) I will carry a tiny journal in my pocket and write stuff in it I need to remember and cross it out when it is done. The less strict the rules of it the better. It is far from “bullet journaling”.
2. If I need to take names while doing something else. Physical paper and pencil is better for whatever reason. Be it a video game, DND, anything. It’s just easier to start and stop quick with a pencil on paper than it is on something physical.

For me, I always prefer to type rather than handwrite. While there are studies that say handwriting can help you retain information better, I handwrite at a fraction of a speed I can type, and the sore wrists from doing a lot of handwriting are far more distracting than the extra learning I could get from handwriting. The exception though is anything where I have to write mathematical formulas, where it is almost always faster to handwrite than remember the specific character sequences or keyboard shortcuts, though even then I prefer to write on my iPad, so I can easily reference it on my computer later.

For me, I prefer typing for just plain text, however things involving diagrams and equations can be easier to write out, rather than futzing around scrolling and adjusting the layout.

Also, as a side note, I think 0.3 mechanical pencils are underrated for writing.

Honestly I find that making physical hand written notes better cements the ideas in my head. It may be because I’m older so I started with only pen and paper which means that’s how I best think, but for me writing and typing are two different tools and I tend to use both.

I have 10+ handwritten notebooks with all of my journaling from middle school and high school that I do plan to scan and OCR at some point; in college, I used 750words.com for all of my journaling, and since then I’ve migrated to TiddlyWiki for several years and Obsidian for several more.

I do still hand-write occasionally, mostly for really emotional or personal things, but I wouldn’t want to make it my primary method of writing now that I have the majority of my writing digitized. Being able to search and find that thought from 5 years ago that I want to reference in whatever I’m writing today is great. I also find it helps make connections between recurring topics of interest.

I’ve started using handwritten physical kanban cards, though, and that physicality is incredibly helpful in visualizing the projects and work I want to do and keeping it at the forefront of my mind.

I hate writing by hand, even though I went all the way through high school doing it (only things like final essays were typed, and even then you had to do it at home). It always hurt to do it the way I was supposed to, my handwriting never improved after like 1st grade (until I taught myself to write left-handed in my early 20’s; that’s much neater), and I have a horrible sensory issue involving the feel of a dull pencil dragging across paper. It makes me want to jump out a goddamned window.

Even so, writing things by hand helps me remember stuff better. Once I got to college and I was allowed to use whatever writing implement I wanted to take notes with (sparkly gel pens in a variety of colors), it wasn’t so awful, and it helped my memory so much that I don’t think I ever had to look at the notes I took ever again. So if I’m going to a lecture or a conference or something, I’ll still bring a notebook and some fancy gel pens.

Otherwise, the only thing I do with hand-writing is quick notes when I’m talking on the phone and need to record an account number or e-mail or whatever, or when I need to create a reminder to go back and fix something I’m already ahead of at work. Post-it notes are so much quicker than taking the phone away from my ear, navigating to OneNote, selecting the notebook, selecting “new page”, and then typing it out. If I want to transcribe the information in some way that’s not strictly left-aligned, or if I want to draw circles/boxes/arrows, well, One Note says “too bad, suck it up”. Plus, I can stick the post-it to my monitor and it’s in my line of sight all day; shit I note down in the phone is out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Yes, I know I can use the desktop version of OneNote, which has more functionality. I do use it when I’m outlining or making adventure notes for the D&D game I run; it’s fabulous for that. But it’s utter shit for quickly jotting down “call Denise at [number] <— IMPORTANT DO BEFORE ----> call Electric Company about acct [#] at [number]”. That example doesn’t even make sense typed out.

my handwriting is fucked, and i find typing easier. so i don’t handwrite unless strictly necessary, and even then, it’s usually no mare than a few sentences

I struggle with it, mostly because I get frustrated how much faster I can type compared to handwriting things. I haven’t hand written things since I left school.

I don’t journal or really even take notes by hand anymore. The notebook I have in my bag is mostly for more abstract sketches, mockups, or examples.

However, I make a frequent practice of handwriting postcards to my friends and family, so I keep my handwriting well-maintained for that.

I enjoy writing by hand, but I do look forward to a good e-ink device (Products like the remarkable have a subscription model and it’s closed hardware and software, which is a big negative to me). Waiting to see how projects like PineNote evolve.

For now I just write on which ever notebook is closest to me. The act of writing is more important than actually storing information somewhere outside of my head.

I do handwritten notes for anything fast paced where I also have to respond in real time, because handwriting is a less mentally demanding task for me to explain or capture a concept than typing. I can star, I can draw, I can make up any word I want without squiggly lines, lists are instantaneous. I do design work, and noting a design change through typing is a nightmare when I can just squiggle the layout and put an arrow, cross out, annotate, whatever. I also find I remember handwritten notes better. The notes are a incoherent, illegible, squiggly mess, and I usually know exactly what they mean at a glance.

I actually have a reMarkable and love it. I don’t really use the notes to text or cloud functionality often, but the few times I have, it’s been really helpful. I like it better than a notebook because I don’t feel like I’m wasting paper, so I take notes a bit more freely as a result. It’s also helpful in situations where it’s impractical for me to use a keyboard. For example, I teach, and when I’m grading a presentation or explaining a concept to a student who already has their own laptop in front of them, I don’t want to muck with trying to make sure they can see my screen and it’s the proper size when it’s faster for me to sketch out the concept.

I’m also trying to learn Japanese, and having a way to freely practice writing as many times as I need to without having to print over and over again is really useful.

That said, I can’t think of a reason I would ever write anything with actual grammar or sentence structure involved longform. If it’s just me and the computer, no other interruptions and I can focus on my inner voice, typing is much faster and more natural. I’m able to type closer to the speed I can think than I can write, but that’s because I’m used to typing like I think - in full sentences. Trying to type shorthand is like sludge for me the same way trying to write longhand is like sludge. I use both because they serve different purposes for me :)