I find that my computer often limits my thinking. I feel much more free in my thinking when I have paper and pencil. When you are in a development or learning process, do you prefer "pencil and paper" or your computer?
Pencil/paper is preferred. Research has shown that the amount of material retained reading something electronically is much less compared to taking notes physically using pencil and paper. In my elementary and middle school days, one way to commit a concept into memory was writing that down over and over multiple times using pencil and paper. The retention of that concept and recall during an exam or other practical situation was excellent.
writing with the hand is sometimes easier as well. ... One good rule of thumb is to write shorter pieces (short stories, poems, essays etc) using pen and paper and longer pieces (novels, autobiographies, courses) on the computer. Fact: Many poets still write on paper. The older generation still writes on paper.
D A Gayan Nayanajith I write books and articles on my computer, but I use pencil and fountain pen as often as possible. I do a lot of drawing with fountain pens. It is interesting to register that more of our younger students are getting interested in paper and manual writing tools. For many years the students have been mostly interested in using their computers and tablets. There seems to be a changing tide (or temporary fashion).
For me it depends. When I was younger I took a pencil, but nowadays I put the text straight to the computer. Still, if a new idea comes to my mind in the middle of a discussion, I use pencil to demonstrate&clarify. Actually as I write, start wondering if there is any guideline, and found one:
b) Ellie Bothwell (2017). "Pen and paper 'beats computers for retaining knowledge' - Survey of students across 10 countries suggests handwriting and printed books have advantages over digital materials " Times Higher Education Available at:
I wrote all my publications and over twenty books first with paper and pencil (first version) and then with the type writer (until 1990) and with the computer