Have you ever gone to the grocery store meaning to pick up just a few things and walked out with half the store in your cart? When you get home you realize that you got everything except for the thing you went there for in the first place. Now think about the time you walked in with a list and walked out with exactly the things that you came into the store for without even thinking about it.

I am the type of person that has to write everything down. I have to-do lists, grocery list, calendar reminders on my cell phone and email, my goals and visions are written down and I write my thoughts in a journal. While my passion for writing is one of the reasons why I do this, it’s not the only reason. I learned something a long time ago that has stuck with me. A short pencil is better than a long memory. The human memory is indeed flawed, we can easy lose track of our direction in life if we only rely on our memory to get there. When we write things down it reinforces the thoughts and makes them more “concrete.”

Here’s a little background on what happens in the brain based on some simple neuro-psychology. Our brains are divided into several regions that help us to process information. These include the frontal lobe which is for problem solving, emotions, behavioral control, thinking and planning. The motor cortex which is responsible for movement, the sensory cortex which is responsible for sensation, the temporal lobe which processes long term memory, the parietal lobe which makes sense of the world and helps us with spelling, arithmetic and perception and the occipital which is responsible for vision. When we write things down, we are using several of these parts of the brain but more importantly we are helping to commit this information to our long term memory. When we engage in the act of writing things down we are activating all of the parts of the brain.

One study on students, in a University setting, looked at students that took notes and students that did not take notes. The study tested these students immediately after a lecture. All the students in the study remember approximately 40% of the information presented. The difference between the two groups was that the students that took the notes remembered more of the details of the lecture. The students that did not take notes remembered random parts of the lecture. The mere act of writing helped the students to commit more details to their long term memory.

Writing is basically like a dress rehearsal for the brain. When we write things down we are helping to commit these things to our long term memory. The mind is a tricky thing when remembering things and a concrete reference can help us to stay focused and on track. Writing it down is also a good way to keep your mind focused and to reduce the amount of stress in your life. It only takes a minute to write it down but can save you a lot of aggravations and anguish in the long run. So when you need to remember anything in life take a second and write it down.