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>there's people in my office who haven't touched a pen in weeks. After I realized in my second year of university that I cannot read my own notes, I switched t

>there's people in my office who haven't touched a pen in weeks. After I realized in my second year of university that I cannot read my own notes, I switched to the laptop as my primary note-making tool. That's been... almost two decades ago. I'll take a dry marker to architect and brainstorm on whiteboard any day of the week; but I touch pens very very little (and if I have to make notes, I'll do block capitals; I can do cursive of course... I just never do. I had an interesting conversation with a school principal who insisted cursive is a core skill that should never be omitted. I view it as calligraphy - a historically relevant and necessary mechanism that today is a quaint way of expressing your uniqueness and artistic prowess, but certainly not a mandatory aspect of modern living)

komali2 7y ago
If I don't take hand-written notes, I don't hear what a lecturer is saying. If I type them, I don't hear it either. I almost never go back to notes. The process of writing them, however, is critical for me. Maybe it's my ADHD, dunno. For what it's worth though, I'm usually taking notes on a surface device of some kind, rather than pen and paper.
- cgriswald 7y ago
  I need the notes too. I rarely refer back to them but writing them is an art for me. It almost functions as a memory palace of sorts. I’ve done notes on an iPad Pro but I prefer pencil, colored pens, and paper.
- NikolaNovak 7y ago
  I agree in principle that note-taking can enhance memory and retention; but I've found that today, typing my notes does the trick for me - especially because I use indented/hierarchical lists frequently, and update/re-org them as I go; so they help me build a mental model of material or actions we covered. By the end of note-taking session, my OneNote file will have notes organized in the way which makes sense to me and in which way I want to remember them - whereas hand-written notes would (for me) be inherently more sequential. As yourself therefore, I retain the list of key points or actions far better than if I didn't take those notes - even if I don't refer to them later. (as well, I'm a touch-typist, so I can look at the person or whiteboard/screen while typing, which again I personally couldn't do while hand-writing). So it may be whatever works for any given person - or, whatever people get used to. It'd be curious to see if typed notes would provide same benefit to you after, say, a few months commitment? Or it may be that I switched early enough in life; or, to quote Lady Gaga, maybe I was just born that way :->
- ianamartin 7y ago
  There’s a lot of research that backs this up. The process is far more important than the document you are creating.

komali2 7y ago

If I don't take hand-written notes, I don't hear what a lecturer is saying. If I type them, I don't hear it either. I almost never go back to notes. The process of writing them, however, is critical for me. Maybe it's my ADHD, dunno. For what it's worth though, I'm usually taking notes on a surface device of some kind, rather than pen and paper.

cgriswald 7y ago
I need the notes too. I rarely refer back to them but writing them is an art for me. It almost functions as a memory palace of sorts. I’ve done notes on an iPad Pro but I prefer pencil, colored pens, and paper.
NikolaNovak 7y ago
I agree in principle that note-taking can enhance memory and retention; but I've found that today, typing my notes does the trick for me - especially because I use indented/hierarchical lists frequently, and update/re-org them as I go; so they help me build a mental model of material or actions we covered. By the end of note-taking session, my OneNote file will have notes organized in the way which makes sense to me and in which way I want to remember them - whereas hand-written notes would (for me) be inherently more sequential. As yourself therefore, I retain the list of key points or actions far better than if I didn't take those notes - even if I don't refer to them later. (as well, I'm a touch-typist, so I can look at the person or whiteboard/screen while typing, which again I personally couldn't do while hand-writing). So it may be whatever works for any given person - or, whatever people get used to. It'd be curious to see if typed notes would provide same benefit to you after, say, a few months commitment? Or it may be that I switched early enough in life; or, to quote Lady Gaga, maybe I was just born that way :->
ianamartin 7y ago
There’s a lot of research that backs this up. The process is far more important than the document you are creating.