Despite the widespread use of digital calendars, online project management tools and notetaking apps, a physical diary still plays a valuable role in Australian workplaces. Available in a range of formats – including day to a page, week view and wall planner, a physical diary can help keep the team organised, focused and prepared throughout the workday.
We spoke to Zoe Spyrakis, Category Manager – Office Products, to understand the advantages of adding a physical diary into your workplace toolkit.
Here are Zoe’s top four benefits of using a physical diary:
1. Enhance your retention of information.
“Handwriting notes can improve cognitive processing, helping retain the information recorded in the physical diary. You can even personalise it with drawings, highlights or sticky notes to help important content stand out,” says Zoe.
In fact, scientists at the University of Tokyo revealed that the act of handwriting on physical paper, with its distinct, intricate, spatial, and tactile elements likely enhances memory, leading to an increase in productivity.1
2. Avoid digital based distractions and doom scrolling.
“A physical diary helps you stay focused on the task at hand, unlike digital diaries which require multiple clicks to enter details like date, time and notes. Writing things down is quick and distraction-free. There’s also no temptation to check that Instagram notification for a pet reel or scroll through LinkedIn,” says Zoe.
This has also been backed by recent research2 which found that workplace productivity could be waning due to the distractions caused by smartphones and social media. One in three Australians have admitted they are regularly distracted by their phones and social media at work, while over half (51%) check them up to 10 times a day.
3. Write your goals down to keep yourself accountable.
Writing down your goals helps activate both the left (logical) and right (creative) parts of your brain.
“A physical diary can help increase the likelihood of achieving your goals, as writing them down encourages you to break them into manageable steps and think them through.”
“There’s that satisfying feeling of ticking off achieved goals or completing your to-do list,” says Zoe.
According to a recent study, people who vividly described or pictured their goals by writing them down were 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to succeed in achieving them than those who didn’t.3
4. Clear your mind and organise your thoughts.
“A busy work schedule can create stress and a general feeling of being overwhelmed. Writing down your thoughts and ideas can help break down everything that’s happening and establish a sense of ease. It can then lead you to organise thoughts into little milestones according to the diary structure,” says Zoe.
Writing in a diary or journal is commonly used for expressing thoughts and emotions, helping to reduce stress and anxiety. This practice can be applied to your work schedule by noting down all appointments, meetings, and reminders. By glancing at your week ahead, you can tackle each day one at a time.
Winc offers a wide range of diaries and planners to help teams stay organised and productive. Check out our full range online.
References:
1Keita Umejima, Takuya Ibaraki, Takahiro Yamazaki, and Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, “Paper Notebooks vs. Mobile Devices: Brain Activation Differences During Memory Retrieval,” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience: March 19, 2021, doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2021.634158.<Frontiers | Paper Notebooks vs. Mobile Devices: Brain Activation Differences During Memory Retrieval (frontiersin.org) >
2Research: 52% of employees are distracted by mobile at work<Research: 52% of employees are distracted by mobile at work – Dynamic Business >
3Murphy, M., 2018, ‘Neuroscience Explains Why You Need To Write Down Your Goals If You Actually Want To Achieve Them’, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2018/04/15/neuroscience-explains-why-you-need-to-write-down-your-goals-if-you-actually-want-to-achieve-them/?sh=292f92597905>
