Even though we are not going back to school this Fall at Merchology, we feel like September signals “new beginnings” that conjure up memories of new shoes, clothes, and school supplies to put your best foot forward at the start of the year. Maybe we are just stationery nerds, but there’s nothing more refreshing than breaking in a brand new notebook, whether it’s at school or at the office.
There is no denying that we live in a digital world, full of technological advancements to make our day-to-day lives easier, quicker, and more efficient. Although taking notes on a computer or tablet has grown in popularity, many people still believe that the old fashioned pen and paper note taking method reigns superior. A few common arguments for this include the following:
- Multitasking dilutes productivity. It is extremely easy to check your emails, messages, or news in a meeting if you have your computer open in front of you. And sure, multitasking is great in theory - but not when you are missing out on the interactions taking place right in front of you which are likely more important that what is on your screen. Additionally, when your attention is glued to your screen, you may appear uninterested with whoever is speaking in the meeting. This is discouraging to those presenting, and it probably doesn’t make you look very professional or engaged either. Writing shorthand on a good old fashioned notebook eliminates that unnecessary distraction (with exception of the occasional doodle that may appear… hey, doodling stimulates creativity, right?!).
- Handwritten = better understanding and focus on key takeaways. Studies show that we process details more thoroughly when we take shorthand notes. Everyone we know can type much faster than they can write, which means we can type much more information in a minute than we can with our pen. Although capturing more words may seem logically more beneficial, it can actually cause you to capture too much information, and unnecessary information at that. Productivity researcher Pam Mueller tells NPR's Rachel Martin, "The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies were forced to be more selective — because you can't write as fast as you can type. And that extra processing of the material that they were doing benefited them."
- Physically Written = higher retention. The added effort of physically writing down your notes has been shown to cause better retention of the information than computer-typed notes. Remember those kids in school who would rewrite all of their notes as their form of “studying?” They were on to something! When you add your own personal flair to a piece of paper, you are bound to better remember the information. Whether that be with highlighters, pens, doodles, or “fonts”, we encourage you to have FUN with your notes!
Despite these benefits, we know that some of you love your computers, and we don’t blame you! Thankfully for all of us, there is one brand who is leading the charge to bridge the gap between the tech-savvy and the traditionalists -- Moleskine.
With the ‘Evernote’ and ‘Smart Writing set’, Moleskine has two great product options that allow you to get the best of both worlds. Each allow you to take notes by hand that are then transferred to your tablet or app to edit digitally. Here’s how they work:
- The Evernote (as low as $35.17 each). The Evernote Smart Notebook has a special dotted line pattern on its pages that is optimized for new features in the Evernote. Using your Evernote iOS app, you launch the camera inside of Evernote, and tap on the new “Page Camera” icon. Then take a photo above the page of handwritten notes, centering the image inside the rectangle. You can take photos of multiple pages, and then tap the checkmark when you’re done. The app then finds the dot matrix and corrects the skew of the photo, so the images that end up in your account can be translated for Evernote’s handwriting recognition. The notebook also includes “Smart Stickers.” When you apply a sticker to a page, the Evernote app will recognize the sticker and instantly associate your custom tag with the note. Lastly, the purchase of an Evernote Smart Notebook comes with a 3-month trial of Evernote Premium. This 240-page notebook can be customized with your corporate logo using print, foil stamp, or deboss decoration techniques.
- The Smart Writing Set (NEW!) (as low as $186.87 each). The Smart Writing Set is BRAND NEW this September in the corporate market. With this device, you can watch your notes and drawings transfer from the digital page onto your screen by using this Moleskine Paper tablet, its special Pen+, and a Moleskine Notes companion app that link the two. The app seamlessly transfers the freehand notes you take in the “notebook tablet” with the Pen+ onto your other device screens in real time. You can then tap the envelope icon on the page to share instantly. You still get all of the benefits associated with writing long hand, but there is no need to go back and type up your notes later, as your text is digitized as you write. This 176-page notebook/tablet can be branded with your custom logo using print, foil stamp, or deboss decoration techniques.
There you have it - two great product options that will allow you and your team to remain digitally savvy and efficient, while still reaping the benefits of handwriting your notes. Now there’s no “either-or” in this old-fashioned vs. new era debate... because of Moleskine, it’s just a WIN-WIN!