On the importance of handwriting, or why do I carry a notebook everywhere I go

It happens to me quite frequently. Every now and then, specially around new people, I get the strange look and the question: “Why are you carrying a pen around?”

I have built this habit over the last few years and now I feel naked if I don’t carry a notebook to write on and a pen I like to write with. I stuff it all in my back pocket and move a long with my day. This habit is so ingrained by now that I’m always surprised when somebody points it out how unusual of a habit it is.

We all carry cellphones that we can take notes with, doodle, do research, etc. Phones are amazing tools, but not a replacement for a notebook. When you take out a notebook, you are not distracting yourself with notifications, news, social media, etc. With a notebook you are focused. Handwriting is also quick. I can write a sentence in my notebook quicker than I could unlock my phone.

Don’t get me wrong. Phones are amazing, and I have my favorite app to write things down on the go. But the thing is, the act of writing by hand can’t be replicated by a phone. Handwriting gives ideas another dimension, you can doodle, underline, write in the margins, etc. 

Above it all, handwriting—like painting and drawing—connects our mind and our body in a way that no digital device can’t (yet).