The Habit of Writing.
The habit of writing is an ancient habit that enhances productivity and organization. Scripture in Habakkuk 2:2. (KJV) says "And the Lord answered me, write the vision and make it plain on tablets. So he may run who reads it." The Lord was giving clear instruction to the prophet Habakkuk to capture the vision by writing it down. We can ask ourselves a question here; why is he instructed to write rather than just remember or memorize? There should be some significant benefits to this activity of writing stuff down.
The discipline and skill of writing things down is very crucial to a productive and progressive life. There are several benefits that come along with writing stuff down. Let me share with you some of the tremendous benefits of this ancient discipline. Firstly, when we write things down we declutter our minds. Have you noticed that every given day our minds experience information overload? We have so many appointments to keep up with. We have so much news to follow up on. We have so many ideas that come up in our minds. We have so many communications going out throughout the day so our minds experience information overload and taking some of those things in our minds and putting them on paper or on your notepad helps to declutter and free up the mind. When the mind is decluttered it works better meaning it thinks deeper and clearer. Have you noticed that it is very easy to feel overwhelmed by simply three or four tasks that have to be done in a day? but when you write those things down you feel relieved, you feel better, you feel much achieved or even accomplished by just writing things down. The first benefit of writing things down is that it declutters the mind, it frees the mind to think better.
Secondly, when you write things down you capture important thoughts and ideas, and experiences. Oh, how I wish I had done this constantly a long time ago! l have been there, where you have a very good thought, a brilliant idea that comes into your mind but fails to capture it by writing it down. Then when you need the idea or thought the mind refuses to replay it. This could be a day later or even on the same day just a few hours later, you are trying to remember what was that I was thinking about. This usually happens when it is a very good point to put down in my journal or my assignment or something very important. Most of the time I completely forget what it was simply because it was not captured. So writing things down helps us to capture important thoughts and ideas because our minds will not remember everything.
Thirdly, writing things down helps us in organizing our thoughts and our actions. When there are a lot of things to be done and these activities have not been properly organized or put down on paper, it is easy to get confused and overwhelmed. Writing down one's plans in order of priority helps a great deal in easing the work process. It also helps to direct focus and time to what is essential at the time. When tasks and activities are dealt with in an organized manner it enhances productivity and satisfaction.
Writing things down also improves our memory. Psychologists have shown that the brain remembers an experience more than it does a thought. Writing stuff down gives the brain an experience and whatever you experience sticks much better in your mind than what is just heard or thought about. Therefore we can safely say stuff written down can be easily remembered.
The fifth benefit of writing things down is that it helps us to stay focused. In the scripture we have read earlier, God is calling upon the prophet to write the vision down so that those who read may run. Notice here that when a vision is written down clearly, it is easy to constantly refer to it and check if one is progressing in the right direction or not. On the other hand, if it is not written down, one can have the luxury of changing the details and the direction at any given time because there is no point of reference. It's very important that we cultivate the habit of writing things down.
Where do I start or what do I write? I am glad you asked. First and foremost write your vision down as what scripture has said. Secondly, write down your goals. In writing goals, you just ask yourself the questions what do I want to achieve and when? Third, write down your plans. These can be plans for the day, plans for the week, or for the month. The fourth thing that we all should get into the habit of writing is a to-do list. This is simply a list of all the things that you need to do in a day or at a place. The fifth thing to write is ideas. Capture the ideas that come to your mind, these can be business ideas or any other thing concerning your life. Lastly, write down your experiences. This is documenting what you have gone through in the day. The experiences can be exciting or sad moments they all need to be written down. This last exercise is usually called journaling.
