Adversarial Journaling: Writing Versus Typing
Jack London said that every writer should have a notebook. “Travel with him, eat with him, sleep with him,” London said. “Lead pencil marks last longer than memory.” That’s wise advice, but again, Jack London didn’t have Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or OneNote. This week we’ll test the classic human versus machine battle to see what’s best for journaling.
Applicants
Journaling has a number of useful benefits. Journaling can help you process emotions, harness creativity, and keep track of events and moments. And there are two main logging methods:
- Handwriting: You know how it works. You take a pen or pencil, put it on paper, and then write down your thoughts, opinions, feelings. A physical journal gives you something tangible to work with, and there is something gratifying about the feel of a paper notebook . However, writing is also better at stimulating and activating your brain , making it easier to remember information. Some argue that handwriting is a rougher and more authentic experience .
- Typing: Whether you’re journaling using Google Docs, Microsoft Word, OneNote, WordPress, Tumblr, or any other medium, the action is obviously the same: you use your keyboard to get thoughts out of your head and onto the screen. Typing aficionados claim it’s more convenient, and aside from the romanticized notion of hand-typing , the end result is the same.
Both options have their advantages. When you write with pen and paper, you have something tangible to give your kids someday. You also don’t need to worry about being hacked. However, when you print, you can back up your journal and using the right tools, you can access your journal from anywhere. It also makes it easier to search for specific records. Aside from the basics, let’s look at both options.
Handwriting makes you slow down
The biggest complaint about manual logging is the inconvenience. Writing isn’t exactly difficult, but typing is much easier, especially when you consider that most of us spend 10 hours a day in front of a screen anyway. Plus, most of us write faster than writers, so keeping a diary by hand can take a little more time and effort.
Writing makes you slow down, but it might be nice. One psychologist at Yale University told the New York Times, “When it comes to handwriting, the very fact that you write it down makes you focus on what’s important.” Citing research published in Developmental Neuropsychology , The Times reported:
typing, handwriting and typing are all associated with different and distinct brain models, and each result produces a different end product. When the children were writing by hand, they not only consistently produced more words faster than the keyboard, but they also expressed more ideas.
Handwriting requires more subtle and complex movements of your fingers than typing, it actually increases the activity of the motor cortex of the brain, a meditation-like effect . This explains why journaling can be therapeutic and helps with mindfulness.
On the other hand, sometimes this inconvenience can be inconvenient. I have a bad habit of making sloppy, messy entries in my diary just to get the job done. However, someone might argue that I am defeating the goal, and this is not logging at all. But I guess it depends on your goal.
If you are doing this to be more mindful and focused, then it is important to allow yourself to slow down and take the time to manually journal. If you’re just trying to track your progress at work, activities, or eating habits, this could be a different story.
Typing helps you stick to a habit
Handwriting stimulates certain parts of your brain, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get creative or come up with ideas when you’re typing. After all, many great writers publish their manuscripts. Sure, there are more distractions on the computer, but they are easy enough to block out so you can focus on the screen.
Convenience is the main benefit of typing, and in my own experience, I was much more likely to stick with this habit and pump up more words when I tried to journal through Google Docs. I could also type faster, so my writing was a big stream of consciousness. Instead of stopping to think about what I was feeling or thinking, I wrote through my emotions, which I really found useful because I could visualize my thoughts on the screen almost immediately. In other words, writing forces you to process information as you go, but when you type, you can skip this process if you know how to type. Also, because it was more convenient, I found that I was more likely to stick to the habit of journaling when I type.
But I noticed something interesting. When I was having a particularly stressful day, or when I was just feeling overwhelmed, I actually felt more relief after manually journaling than when I was typing. I understood my emotions better when I typed, but when I wrote by hand, I felt more relaxing and even happier. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I so often associate typing with work, and handwriting does not feel like work. There is also research to explain why this could have happened.
In a study from Iowa State University , subjects were more positive about traumatic experiences after they recorded them, but this was all related to the way they were recorded. The main thing is to focus on your thoughts and feelings, and not just on your emotions. It makes sense. When I write by hand, focusing on thoughts and feelings becomes natural because I have to stop and reflect on my feelings. As I said, when I type, I skipped this process. Again, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to focus on your feelings as you type – it just becomes more natural as you write.
Verdict: Write by hand to enjoy all the benefits of journaling
So which method is better? It may depend on why you are journaling at all. If you’re just keeping a journal to write down information, typing will probably be your simplest and best choice. It’s faster, easier, and you’re probably at your computer anyway, so you’re more likely to stick with this habit.
However, if you are journaling to be more mindful, generate ideas, or work on some feelings, handwriting is likely to make those tasks easier. And there is no reason why you cannot do both. They both serve different purposes, so why not type when you need to keep track of information, or just practice the habit and then journal when you want to slow down and focus on other things? However, for the full reward of journaling, including all of these mental health benefits, writing may be the best solution.