Journals and notebooks

Lately, I’ve been taking notes like never before … and hold your breath … in physical note books! I can see some of the benefits already, and these are nothing new. One is (the good old cliche): never forget anything. Another: by writing down somehting, I see its easier to remember that thing even without having to look it up. Looks like the pause that is necessary to note something down in a physical notebook is also sufficient to write that down in the brain’s memory. No wonder so many notebooks and journals are popular in this digital age. BTW, I dont think taking notes on a computer has the same benefits as taking notes on a physical book. Though you can record much more on a computer, and retrieve or search that information much faster on a computer, its not as romantic as doing the same in a notebook. I think the benefits are clear in both cases. If you are taking notes for work, go for the computer if thats what you spent more time on, and if you are taking notes for yourself, like getting your life organized, planning for the future, recording your experiences etc like in a diary, then use the physical notebook.

With the digital age gaining steam, and the physical book publishers starting to go all digital, the day is not far when very few printed books will be available. However, the demand for physical journals and notebooks will continue for a long time to come.