I just did some journaling. Like, old school pen-and-paper journaling. I even went to an out-of-the-way sitting area on my apartment complex’s second floor that I tend to go to for quiet analog stuff.
It’s been a while since I did pen-and-paper journaling. I was struck by how slow it was. Like, when I rub the pen against the paper, it produces words, but that process just happens a lot more slowly than I’m used to. When I type on my laptop the words get printed so much faster, and I spent such a large percentage of my time typing.
I think there are pros and cons to the slowness. To, er, thinking fast and slow. When I write slowly, I also think more slowly. As I rub the pen against the paper, outlining a specific thought, my mind can’t quite race onwards to the next thought.
Again, there are pros and cons to this. I’m not quite sure what they all are or what the cost-benefit calculus says. I’m sure it depends on the situation. My gut says slowness is often worthwhile though. That you should spend X% of your time thinking slowly, where X isn’t some negligible number like 1. It’s a meaningfully large number, like, I dunno, at least 20?
I know I fall hilariously below this bar.
One thing I realized when I was journaling is how much of my public writing is, in large part, advice to myself.
I just did some journaling. Like, old school pen-and-paper journaling. I even went to an out-of-the-way sitting area on my apartment complex’s second floor that I tend to go to for quiet analog stuff.
It’s been a while since I did pen-and-paper journaling. I was struck by how slow it was. Like, when I rub the pen against the paper, it produces words, but that process just happens a lot more slowly than I’m used to. When I type on my laptop the words get printed so much faster, and I spent such a large percentage of my time typing.
I think there are pros and cons to the slowness. To, er, thinking fast and slow. When I write slowly, I also think more slowly. As I rub the pen against the paper, outlining a specific thought, my mind can’t quite race onwards to the next thought.
Again, there are pros and cons to this. I’m not quite sure what they all are or what the cost-benefit calculus says. I’m sure it depends on the situation. My gut says slowness is often worthwhile though. That you should spend X% of your time thinking slowly, where X isn’t some negligible number like 1. It’s a meaningfully large number, like, I dunno, at least 20?
I know I fall hilariously below this bar.
One thing I realized when I was journaling is how much of my public writing is, in large part, advice to myself.