In today's massive digitalization era where almost anything can be done with the help of technology, why do we have to bother ourselves to write in a book? Could it be that there are values that can’t be replaced from writing in a book, or is this basically just the ancient way that we still do today?
In fact, not being drifted away by technology is not always a bad thing. In this case, writing analogously or manually on a book using a writing tool turns out to offer more benefits than writing on a gadget or electronic device.
Here are some of so many benefits that you will get from writing in a book:
It Helps You Remember Things
"Take a note, so you don’t forget!" is one of the expressions that we often hear on various occasions so you don’t forget things that have been told to you. The habit of writing in books by adding some writing accents such as strokes and scratches that you can’t do when writing or typing using a smartphone, tablet or laptop help us better remember what we write.
A study by University of Tokyo revealed that writing on paper could give you a chance to remember things better. An experiment conducted by a group of Neuroscientists to the group of volunteers, asked them to note down a schedule and recall the information one hour later. The result showed that those who wrote on paper were able to remember better than those who wrote on the gadget screen.
Researchers say paper notebooks contain more complex spatial information than digital paper. Physical paper allows for tangible permanence, irregular strokes, and uneven shape, like folded corners that help people to remember what they write. In addition to that, writing on paper provides a tactile sensation (tactile sensation) through written scratches and the texture of the paper which makes us able to remember the information in our memory.
It Triggers You to Be More Active and Creative
Writing in a book helps you to be more active and triggers your creativity of processing the message that is being written.
As observed by Pam Muller and Daniel Oppenheimer in 2014 with the TED Talk verbatim, their experiment showed that the students taking notes with a gadget tended to only transcribe the information. As a result, they had longer notes and time than those writing in longhand in a book, who had a more briefed version of the same talk – which apparently giving more thoughts to what they wrote when they asked to share it verbally. Those who wrote in a book also perform better in a test on the same talk, suggesting that it’s easier to recall information when it’s written by hand.
Looking at the cognitive aspect, especially for children during the distance learning due to pandemic, encouraging children to keep writing in notebooks is important so that children remain active and creative in their developing stages.
It Helps You Focus
Who would have thought that writing in books could make us focus more on the certain topic that we are listening into. Apart from the fact that our brains process information when listening and put it into writing, writing in books also indirectly makes us avoid various kinds of distractions when compared to writing using gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
This happens because gadgets, especially those that are connected to the internet, basically not only offer convenience, but also distraction that can steal our attention when writing, such as browsing, playing social media, etc.
