Handwritten or typed?

 

Today I received my first Christmas card. I was surprised to see it in the mailbox; it was hardly December. The tradition of sending Christmas cards dates back to the 1800s when local artists would paint ready-made cards to send to family and friends.

I love sending cards. I’ll get my hands limbered up and write a short note to the special people in my life who are too far away for a personal visit. As much as I love writing, the practice of typing on a keyboard or dictating my text messages has made it difficult to write! My hands cramp up and get tired after only a few lines.

I blame technology.

We use technology for almost everything… writing lists, creating emails, writing reports. The list goes on making handwriting a dying art.

There are a lot of benefits to handwriting. Let’s look at a few of them.

Critical thinking

When you’re writing, you’re diving deeper into the messages you’re delivering . You’re thinking about possibilities and processing more ideas. Writing allows you to make connections you may not have otherwise thought of if you were typing.

Better understanding of the ideas

Handwriting takes more time than typing so it makes it harder to take notes verbatim. That means you need to process the information you’ve heard and create notes that will make sense to you when you revisit them. Your brain needs to mentally engage with the information.

Improve your spelling

Autocorrect is not our friend because it leaves the challenge of spelling to your keyboard. When you break away from that keyboard and write by hand (like when it’s time to write personal holiday notes) you sharpen your brain with all those wonderful words you’ve learned to spell. Keep exercising that brain!

Express yourself

When you write by hand, you’re more engaged in the copy you write. You create an emotional connection that can’t be achieved by pounding on a keyboard. And, we know that getting our thoughts out on paper is very therapeutic.