During a presentation last week for Survey & Spatial, someone shared that they’d been told not to write lists.
They were told that remembering tasks keeps the brain active.
It made me pause. For me, writing things down doesn’t make me lazy or forgetful - it makes me free.
Free of the brain loop, free of unnecessary information, free to think of other things.
Neuroscience backs this up.
Writing by hand with a pen activates multiple brain regions, including the hippocampus, visual cortices, and frontal areas. More so than typing or trying to remember.
Writing boosts memory encoding, comprehension, and even creativity.
In fact, writing is a form of external cognition; it offloads mental clutter so your brain can focus on what matters.
When we write, we engage in a deeper cognitive process. We summarise, reflect, and connect.
That’s why ideas often pop into our heads while writing. The act itself stimulates the brain’s default mode network, the part responsible for imagination and spontaneous thought.
Writing down goals, vividly and intentionally, increases the likelihood of achieving them by up to 40%.
Why? Because writing triggers the generation effect, where we remember and act on things we’ve created ourselves.
As part of my positive psychology studies, I wrote down a simple intention: Spend more time with people and take a genuine interest.
As an introvert, this was uncomfortable. But something changed recently, and I found myself asking someone I’ve known for years what they were up to.
They looked surprised and asked, “Why are you asking what I am up to?”
That moment hit me, I realised I’d been unconsciously connecting with people. Not because I was forcing it, but because I’d written it down.
Writing helps us:
* Reduce cognitive load and stress.
* Spark creativity and insight.
* Improve focus and comprehension.
* Achieve goals through deeper encoding.
* Feel progress through dopamine hits when we tick things off.
So yes, write. Write the list, write the goal, write the intention.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover something about yourself you didn’t know was there.
Let’s talk and let’s write!
Write It Down!