I did this weird thing at a conference last month...
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Hey Reader, Picture this: you're sitting in a room full of people frantically typing on laptops, tablets clicking, and phones buzzing with note-taking apps. Then there's that one person in the front row with a simple notebook and pen, actually writing things down by hand. That was me last week at the OOO Summit, a conference for owners, operators, and outliers. And you know what happened? People kept leaning over to peek at my handwritten notes. Speakers would come up to me after their talks asking to see what I'd captured on paper. It wasn't because my handwriting is amazing (because it is). It's because in a sea of digital noise, analog stands out. But here's the kicker - it's not just about standing out. It's about actually remembering what you learn. There's solid research backing this up. The Mueller and Oppenheimer study from 2014 found that students who took handwritten notes performed way better on conceptual questions compared to laptop note-takers. Something about the physical act of writing opens up your brain in a way that typing just doesn't. Think about your last important meeting. Did you type notes on your laptop while half-watching your email notifications? Or worse, did you rely on just listening and hope you'd remember the key points later? Next time, try something radical. Pull out a notebook. Actually write down what matters. Watch how people react. Notice how much more you remember later. And if you want to digitize those notes, just snap a photo - AI tools have gotten scary good at reading handwriting these days. But even if you never digitize them, you'll still get the brain benefits of putting pen to paper. Your mind makes stronger connections when your hand does the work. If you're ready to discover how analog tools can transform not just your note-taking but your entire approach to getting things done, you'll be happy to know I am adding new videos and lessons to the Analog Action Productivity Course. It's going to be ready for you in a couple of weeks. Stay "sketchy," Matt Ragland |