Top 6 Reasons Writing is Great for Our Brains

When was the last time you actually took a pen to write something down that is longer than a couple of syllables? Well, it turns out that your brain would be grateful if you did it more often.

Nowadays, we all have technology constantly at our disposal. Therefore, when we need to convey our feelings, talk to our loved ones, create a reminder, or even keep a diary, we are more likely to do so by using the ever-present keyboard. Well, according to Professor Marc Seifer, the author of The Definitive Book of Handwriting Analysis, there are numerous ways you could benefit from putting your handwriting skills to good use.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou

These are just some of the most important ways handwriting is good for us:

Calming effect

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Well, not just writing anything! Create a soothing message for yourself and write it down multiple times every day. Professor Seifer claims that doing this can create a positive effect by calming you down and rewiring your brain. As simple as that! Just think of a message you want to give yourself and start writing it down. It is especially effective for those who have attention deficit disorder.

Activates your brain a lot more than just typing the words out

It turns out that your brain shows a lot more activity if you decide to write things down by hand. Research has shown that the regions of the brain that are usually connected to reading are very stimulated in the situations when you are using your own hands, while they are not if you are using your keyboard (or your smartphone).

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Better coordination of the brain hemispheres

Not only will writing greatly help your hand-eye coordination, but it will also aid your brain. However, it is not enough to scribble the words down. To actually get the full benefits, you need to make sure your handwriting is neat and to put some effort into it. Don’t just behave like you are signing the paper by scribbling letters that may or may not be actual cursive.

Memory boost

If you are a student reading this article, this little tip could help you a lot. Write it down. Use your hands. We know that it is a lot easier to just open the PowerPoint presentation your hard-working friend made, or print out his files and study from that, but take a bit of a time and jot down everything by hand. As many psychologists agree, you will remember everything more.

“There is considerable research showing that among developing children, the ones who write by hand have stronger memory.” —Marc Seifer.

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Learning boost

Not only will it help you remember the material you are trying to learn, but using your hands to write down information will also have a long-term benefit for the capabilities of your brain to retain new information. Writing words helps your brain to focus on the thing you are writing about. This focus will help train your brain to prioritize information.

Writing by hand will stop you from getting distracted

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Yes! We are aware that it seems like we are repeating ourselves here. However, we are not. This is not the focus we were talking about. What we do want to point out is that using pen and paper has one big advantage over using your computer. You can’t suddenly stop your work to look at the pictures of kittens or chat with your friends. Now, there is nothing wrong with taking a break and surfing the web for a couple of minutes! In fact, several studies have shown that it can actually increase your productivity in the long run. However, it is way too easy to keep scrolling through the news feed without returning to your work.

To sum up, we are fully aware that sometimes, using your computer is simply a lot more convenient. It is faster, you have the option of copying large amounts of text with a couple of clicks, and it is easy to store. However, for the sake of your brain, at least try to keep your diary “old-school.” It can help you in so many ways that it would be foolish to forget how to write with your own right (or left, we don’t judge) hand.