I used to collect my favorite quotes in Notion. I had built a neat little database, complete with categories to organize them by theme. Anytime I needed a dose of inspiration, I’d just open the Notion app that accessible across all my devices, then use the find feature to instantly locate the quote I was looking for. Practical, right? I was a fan of digital note-taking.

But things began to shift when I started journaling. These days, I use two physical notebooks: a Hobonichi Weeks Mega and a Hobonichi Notebook. I’ve shared before how I use the Hobonichi Weeks Mega here, but something unexpected happened as I got deeper into handwriting in general. I started writing down quotes by hand in my Hobonichi Notebook.

Compared to the digital convenience of Notion, this new habit couldn’t be more different. There’s no app to sync across devices, no quick ctrl+f search. I can only access the quotes if I have the notebook with me. If I want to revisit a specific one, I have to flip through the pages. Sometimes all of them until I (hopefully) find it. It’s not quick. It’s not streamlined.

But I love it.

In fact, I’ve come to love the impracticality of handwriting notes. And here’s why:

Finding Unexpected Ideas Through Handwritten Notes

When I’m looking for a quote in a sea of handwritten notes, I often stumble across something I’d forgotten something just as meaningful. And that little moment of rediscovery? It sparks new ideas. Sometimes it brings back a feeling, or reminds me of something I read recently that connects with it. Words start to nudge at my thoughts, and before I know it, I’m writing again. These surprises don’t happen when everything is sorted and searchable. They live in the mess, in the margins, in the slow.

Writing Down My Own Insights

When I write down a quote I love, I often add a few lines of my own: why it spoke to me, what I was feeling at the time, or how it connects to something else I’ve been reflecting on. It creates a layer of personal meaning.

And when I revisit those notes months later, it feels like stepping into a time machine. I can sense the shift between who I was then and who I am now: how my thoughts have changed, evolved, or even stayed the same.

Often, a new perspective sparks fresh ideas. And from those, another piece of writing is born.

Those experiences simply don’t exist in a neatly filtered database. Digital notebook helped me get straight to the point but it didn’t let me wander. It didn’t give me time to bump into inspiration.

Turns out, slowing down actually speeds up the creative spark. By stepping away from the search bar, I gave myself space to reflect, rediscover, and reconnect with words, and with myself.