In everyday life, at work, at university – in general, we rarely write by hand these days. Letters are sent via email, notes are typed into our phones or tablets, records find themselves directly input onto screens. This is quicker and easier to share with others. But in the context of mindfulness, deceleration, and a conscious dealing with personal resources, we can also see a reversal of this trend.

More and more people are consciously making the time in their daily routine to capture their thoughts in an analog, rather than digital, manner. Letters, diaries, literary texts – when written by hand, their effect is tremendous: We can focus our thoughts in a more targeted way, fewer distractions allow for mental relaxation, creative ideas can flourish. Additionally, written notes also have an interesting effect on our memory: We are much more likely to remember things that we have written down by hand. It is apparently not only the written word itself that has a lasting effect, but also the motor process of writing something down. It is therefore best to note down particularly important things by hand. And if simply writing them down isn’t enough, you can give calligraphy a try – the high art of penmanship.