Health: 5 Benefits Of Handwriting
Even in the digital age, sometimes it's better to take notes with a pen and paper. Writing by hand helps you clarify your ideas, plan and achieve your goals, but also makes you feel better. We have listed for you 5 benefits of handwriting.
1- It lightens the mental load
If you're a fan of to-do lists, it's a good idea to prepare your lists on paper and write them by hand.
When it comes to making a to-do list, handwriting has the advantage of helping you lighten your mental load.
In fact, this ritual, if you practice it every night, helps you declutter your mind, free it from the thoughts that occupy it and thus find sleep more easily.
By writing down what you need to do the next day, you free yourself from the fear of forgetting something and the feeling of having to think about everything at once. You can finally breathe and enjoy the moment.
2- It releases negative emotions and thoughts
Similarly, if you need to get rid of emotions or thoughts that are cluttering up your mind, putting them down on paper is a good way to free yourself from them.
Handwriting is used in some forms of therapy to get over negative emotions and even trauma.
Putting your thoughts on paper not only clarifies and expresses them, but also allows you to take a step back from them.
American researchers have actually shown that writing is a good remedy for ruminations and overwhelming negative thoughts.
3- It reinforces positive emotions
Because it establishes a direct link between the brain and the hand, handwriting has a stronger impact on our thoughts than simply typing words on a keyboard.
This is why, in personal development, we are often asked to write down certain things in a small notebook at a regular pace, every day or every week for example.
For example, you can write down the 3 kifs a day dear to Florence Servan-Schreiber to learn to see the positive and feel happier.
But you can also use your little notebook to write down your intentions and projects, and thus gain Self-confidence and motivation to achieve them.
4- It helps to reach your goals
The reason it's better to list your goals on paper rather than on your smartphone is also because handwriting helps you define them more precisely and achieve them better.
An American researcher named Gail Matthews from Dominican University in California demonstrated in 2015 that writing down your goals is enough to increase your chances of success by 42%.
Why? Simply because writing down a goal in your own handwriting is a form of commitment.
This simple act forces you to think, to prioritize, and reminds you, even as you write it down, of the goal you are pursuing.
5- It maintains intellectual alertness
Of course, writing a text on a digital medium also has its advantages. When you create a document, it is possible to rework it endlessly without the slightest erasure.
On the other hand, handwriting on paper requires an extra intellectual effort to choose the right words and avoid spelling mistakes.
Even though it is more restrictive, it is proven that writing by hand is a beneficial exercise for memorization and assimilation of knowledge.
A study conducted at Princeton University in the United States in 2014 showed that taking handwritten notes anchors learning in the brain better than taking notes on a computer.
Indeed, when typing on a keyboard, the gaze and finger movements are dissociated because the eyes are mostly riveted on the screen.
On paper, the senses of sight and touch work together. This is why writing by hand is more conducive to reflection, memorization and therefore learning.
As you can see, whenever you feel procrastinator, pessimist or overwhelmed, writing is an accessible and inexpensive form of therapy. To enjoy its many benefits, all you need is a little time, ink and paper. Get your pens!
