6 Reasons You Should Be Taking Notes By Hand

Writing notes by hand (i.e. the old-fashioned way) doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. With today’s technology and the privilege of bringing laptops and tablets to class, one would think pen and paper are a thing of the past. However, writing notes by hand seems to be the best way of taking notes. If you’ve been taking notes on your laptop or tablet, here’s why you should consider making the switch:

It’s Efficient

Writing notes by hand leaves less room for typos and errors. It may surprise some people to hear that writing notes by hand is actually quicker than typing them up on a laptop or tablet. If you’re using a laptop or tablet and misspell something, you have to backspace and retype everything correctly, which makes it easier to fall behind if you’re taking notes in class. If you’re writing by hand, you can quickly scratch something out and move on.

It’s Easier To Study From

Unless you print your typed notes and have them on hand when needed, you’ll have to go back and forth between the window that has your study guide and the window with your notes. This can become tiresome and annoying. However, if you have hand written notes, you can just grab them and have them in front of you for reference while you’re going through your study guide.

It’s Safer

Handwriting your notes doesn’t mean you’ll never lose them, but if you happen to misplace them, there is always a chance that you’ll find them. If you forget to save the notes you typed or your laptop or tablet shuts off on you, your notes will be gone. If you keep your notes in a spiral or composition notebook, you don’t have to worry about power or memory.

It Saves Space

Saving notes for several classes on a laptop can take up a lot of storage space. You can save that space for projects you may have or other important tasks. Taking notes by hand will keep you from using up too much space on your laptop.

You Focus More On The Lecture

Using any electronic device in class is very distracting. Even if you are taking notes, if you get bored for even just a second, you may be tempted to do something else online. This will keep you from getting important information from the lecture, and before you know it, you’re lost.

You Study As You Take Notes

Taking notes by hand helps you retain information better than taking them digitally. You may think that taking notes on a laptop or tablet helps record more of the information, because most people can’t write as fast as they can type. However, taking notes by hand forces you to write down only what is most important, instead of typing notes verbatim from your professor’s slides or lecture. By doing this, you’re processing more of the information as you write – something you don’t get from mindlessly typing.