Why I Think On Paper

Why I Think On Paper (and you should too)

It took me a long time to grasp that I think better on paper. In fact, even just writing that sounds strange to me, after all, don’t we all “think” in our heads?
Well, yes, I guess we do. But that’s not all we do in our heads.

For example, I seem to do a lot of ruminating in my head, ruminating that usually takes me down a negative spiral of worries that feel like they can never be resolved.

Then there are the random words and tunes that pop into my head from who knows where? Or the advert trailers calling at me to buy things I don’t need, or the things I need to pick up at the shops, or what about that appointment I need to make?

And then there’s my mind’s all-time favouring topic — all my aches and pains, health niggles and, just for good measure, a good dose of ‘what if it’s cancer…?’.

And that’s just the easy stuff.

The Crazy Conversations

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
William James

I also carry on conversations with people in my head.

These can be conversations that are leftovers of conversations where I didn’t say or get to say the things I wanted. Or worse, they consist of such horrible things I could’ve said, that those words should never be uttered and even I’m shocked by their ferocity!

So maybe you can see just from that superficial guide around my head that it’s not the place to do my best thinking!

So how do I go about thinking on paper?

Morning Pages and Journaling

I use two methods.

I’ve been an avid fan of Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages for so many years that I have bucket-loads of notebooks crammed with the contents of my waking thoughts.

Secondly I use electronic journals such as Penzu where I capture ideas and plans which I then develop over time (more on that below).

With both methods this looks like writing down all the things that come to mind, and yes, that could include anything from the crazy list above to shopping lists to amazing insights.

But there’s a huge difference to having that jumble of random thoughts in my head and having them down on paper — and that’s what makes thinking on paper so worthwhile.

For instance:

Writing allows me to see that there often aren’t as many things running riot around my head as I thought there were. In fact, once all those thoughts are out on paper, it’s usually clear to see that many are just the same thought regurgitated in a different way. You could also call this rumination 😉!

This in turn clears my head because once I can see that there aren’t as many issues, problems or dramas as I thought there were, it takes away some of the overwhelm I was feeling. It can even alleviate anxious feelings at those times when my thoughts are truly chaotic!

One of the biggest benefits of journaling and getting it all out of your head is that you can start to make decisions around those things that are bothering you, or, as is sometimes the case, you can begin to make peace with and accept the things you know you have no power to change or influence.

For the genuine problems, once they are down on paper, you somehow manage to shrink their size and scariness, and having done that, sometimes a few solutions begin to surface, or at the very least, you can see a few steps you feel you can take to move yourself forward.

And as if all that isn’t enough, writing your thoughts down will allow you to see the crazy things your mind likes to come up with just to scare you! So if you really want to tone down the fear factor in your head, journaling is an immediate release!

Free Therapy

It’s also the best way I’ve found to get all that negativity out without hurting anyone else. It can be like a kind of therapy, in fact, I have entries in my journals that I’ve specifically labelled as “therapy” because I needed to work on and take the emotional change out of a situation before I could deal with it rationally.

Iteration As A Way To Solve Your Problems

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein

Aside from all those amazing benefits, one of the major pluses for me of journaling has been the realisation that I tend to make progress by utilising an iterative thought process.

I had never realised that I thought in this way and would often be self-critical when I couldn’t see the solution to a problem or puzzle when it was first presented to me.
But what I’ve learned over time is that by working with my thoughts on paper, developing them into ideas and then implementing those ideas, I can make progress.

This, for me, is the essence of taking the fabled “baby steps”:

Think — Write — Get Idea — Try — Think — Write — Get Next Idea — Try — …….and so on.

It’s as if one idea builds on the next and then the next until a solution begins to emerge.

Utilising this method, I can go back to my paper-based thinking and look at the issue again from my new vantage point and with my new knowledge and/or skills the next idea comes forward so that I can take the next baby step forward.

But before I got those ideas out on paper, they were so deeply buried beneath all the worry, rumination and stress, that my mind wasn’t able to see any kind of solution.

How To Start

If you’ve ever thought about journaling or wondered about Morning Pages (or any other kind of ‘thoughts writing’), then take it from me that there’s no right or wrong way to do this.

Your inner-most thoughts are not for public viewing (unless you want to share them) and grammar, punctuation and spelling are of absolutely no importance.

You can keep your notebooks, transcribe them into something more useful, shred or burn them.

You can use leather bound or pretty, colourful notebooks, electronic or spiral bound cheap paper notebooks, these, and any other kind are all acceptable. I’ve used all of these over the years.

The most important fact is that the process is 100% about you and because that is the case, how you choose to journal, write, diarise or otherwise capture your thoughts is correct.

I never kept diaries as a child, but since starting morning pages and journaling I’ve got to know myself so much better. It’s a good habit that has truly changed my life.

What to do next…

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