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The Drop In – Edition 011
The Pen, the Paper, and the Flow
Welcome back to The Drop In — your weekly Flow-State OS for peak performance.
My Return to Analog
Over the past decade, my note-taking has bounced across apps, productivity systems, and digital shortcuts. I’ve tried them all: Evernote, Notion, Roam, Obsidian, Google Keep. For a while, each one promised the holy grail of knowledge capture. But something was always missing.
For the last few years, I found myself reaching again for pen and paper. A fresh notebook, a weighted pen, the scratch of ink across the page. There’s something grounding about the analog process. Writing by hand doesn’t just capture thoughts, it shapes them. Another realization and discovery: this wasn’t just nostalgia. Science backs it up.
Why Handwriting Beats Typing for Memory and Understanding
Multiple studies show handwriting strengthens comprehension and memory better than typing:
Encoding depth: Mueller & Oppenheimer (2014) found that students who took longhand notes scored significantly better on conceptual understanding than those who typed. The reason: typing encourages transcription, while handwriting forces synthesis and deeper processing.
Brain activation: Neuroimaging studies (James & Engelhardt, 2012) reveal that handwriting activates large regions of the brain linked to learning and memory, particularly in the prefrontal cortex. Typing engages far less of this neural circuitry.
Retention over time: A study published in Frontiers in Psychology (2020) showed that handwritten notes were remembered more accurately after a week compared to typed notes.
Handwriting slows us down just enough to engage thought, but not so much that flow is broken. This balance is exactly what makes it a powerful tool for entering deep focus.
The Rise of AI Note-Takers
We’ve now entered a third stage of note-taking: AI transcription and summarization. Tools like Otter, Fireflies, or even built-in assistants in Zoom and Teams automatically capture and distill conversations. The promise is efficiency: you don’t even need to type, just talk, and the machine writes it all down.
But here’s the catch: when AI does the capturing for us, we often do less of the mental work ourselves. The very act of writing or typing is part of how we synthesize information. By outsourcing that to AI, we risk engaging with knowledge only passively skimming summaries later, if at all. Be honest with yourself: how often do you revisit these summaries?
Neuroscience would suggest this matters. As noted earlier, deeper encoding happens when we generate our own notes. When an AI takes that step out of our hands, it reduces opportunities for understanding and retention. We end up with a library of transcripts, but not necessarily a library of insights.
The reflection here isn’t anti-AI, it’s about intentionality. AI note-takers can free up cognitive load during fast-paced conversations. But if they become the only method, we trade away one of the most important benefits of note-taking: active engagement.
Writing as a Flow Trigger
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who coined “flow,” described it as the state of being fully absorbed in the present moment. Handwriting, in its physicality, can be a flow trigger:
The tactile sensation of pen on paper gives immediate feedback.
The slowness of the medium prevents multitasking.
The ritual of journaling signals to the brain: it’s time to focus.
For me, switching back to pen and paper was like dropping into a meditative space. No notifications, no tabs, no formatting options to distract. Just the page and my thoughts, tethered together.
Bullet Journaling: A Framework for Focus
One analog practice that has become globally popular is the Bullet Journal, created by Ryder Carroll. What makes it powerful is its simplicity:
Rapid logging: short, bulleted notes instead of long sentences.
Migration: unfinished tasks roll forward, making you confront priorities.
Indexing: creates an evolving, personalized system of organization.
Psychologists often talk about attention residue or the mental drag of incomplete tasks. The Bullet Journal combats this by forcing you to see, decide, and either act or let go. That act of curation builds clarity.
When I began incorporating bullet journaling into my daily rhythm, I noticed I wasn’t just tracking tasks, I was shaping attention. That shift has been huge for my flow. Search YouTube for bullet journaling and you will get a myriad of ideas and techniques.
(side-note: thanks to one of my readers who engaged with me about bullet journaling last week that inspired this week’s drop in).
The Hybrid Approach: Paper + E-Ink
Now, I’ll be the first to admit: I love technology. I’m not giving up my digital tools entirely. Instead, I’ve landed on a hybrid method.
For reflective journaling, ideation, and big-picture planning, I use traditional pen and paper. The tangibility matters.
For portable, searchable, and cloud-synced notes, I use e-ink tablets. My two favorites:
reMarkable Paper Pro – ultra-minimalist, distraction-free, with handwriting that feels close to paper. Perfect for reading and sketching. (they just announced a smaller, more portable version called the Paper Pro Move).
Supernote Nomad – slightly different in feel, with better annotation features and handwriting recognition. A smaller form factor, great for on the go.
Both give me the analog writing experience with digital backup. In fact, research from the University of Tokyo (2019) suggests that the spatial memory of writing on paper-like surfaces (vs. typing on glass) enhances recall. E-ink gets close enough to reap some of those benefits.
This hybrid system allows me to live in both worlds: analog when I need focus, digital when I need scale. I do still love pen & paper and will always use both systems.
Practical Ways to Re-Introduce Handwriting
If you’re considering your own return to analog, here are a few practices to try:
Morning Pages (Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way) – Write three pages longhand, stream-of-consciousness. This clears the mind and often surfaces unexpected ideas.
Bullet Journal Lite – Even a small notebook works. Log tasks, mark with symbols, and reflect at the end of the week.
Analog Deep Work Sessions – For your next brainstorming or strategy session, leave the laptop closed. Use pen and paper only.
Hybrid Journaling – Try an e-ink tablet for meetings or mobile notes, while reserving pen and paper for reflection.
Why This Matters for Flow
At its core, handwriting isn’t about nostalgia or aesthetics. It’s about attention. When you write by hand, you are telling your brain: this matters enough to slow down for.
That slowing down is often the difference between distracted busyness and meaningful progress. It creates the conditions for flow to emerge: focused, deep, and energizing.
Introducing Flow State Coaching
If you’ve been following The Drop In, you know that my mission is to help high-performers harness flow more consistently. Handwriting and analog practices are just one way in.
That’s why I’m excited to share that I’m now offering 1:1 Flow State Coaching. In a four-week, four-session format, we’ll work together to:
Diagnose your biggest flow blockers.
Design personalized strategies for focus and recovery.
Build daily practices to invite flow, not just wait for it.
If you’re ready to reclaim your attention and achieve peak performance with a program that is tailored specifically for you, I invite you to book a session here: https://puhala.com/connect. Choose the complimentary discovery session and we can walk through how I customize the program for your own needs and style of working.
When I embarked on this training from the Flow Research Collective (called Zero to Dangerous), it became one of the most transformative set of training that I have participated in during my professional life. I have created a program that takes the best of that training and customize the content for your own style and workflow.
Closing Thought
The pen is more than a tool—it’s a portal. A way of thinking, remembering, and focusing that no app has yet replicated. For me, the return to analog has been less about rejecting technology and more about rediscovering depth.
The page is waiting. What will you write?
– Michael
Founder, The Drop In
& Author of ‘Human Traits — a novel exploring humanity’s relationship with AI’