> writing is so slow.

This is the core idea of stopping and writing. Forcing your brain to slow down to a certain speed so, it focuses whether it likes it or not.

I do the exact same thing as the article suggests and my coworkers sometimes ask why am I doing this.

My brain's brakes malfunction sometimes and this is an external brake to stop and restart gracefully. It works wonders.

This! There's also plenty of research backing up the idea that writing with a pen commits the information to memory more effectively than typing. It makes sense if you consider the extra time and effort being dedicated to what you're writing.

I've ditched pen and paper in the past because it was too slow for me. Over time I've realized that desire to "go fast" can be good in some contexts, and bad in others. Slowing down with pen and paper does a much better job of clarifying and directing my thoughts.

All of the research I've read connects this effect to paraphrasing but, it doesn't have to be, at least for me.

When I get the pen in my hand, everything changes, incl. the way I think.

Also while unrelated, if I'm working on something in English, my whole data processing pipeline switches to English. Everything returns to my native language when I finish. Strange and fascinating.

> I've ditched pen and paper in the past because it was too slow for me....

Same for me. I've gone through that phase too. Tried to be too efficient but found out that excessive speed kills (concentration, in-depth thinking and the broad perspective). Then I've returned to my old ways for thinking.

However, getting used to something like Evernote and Trello for longer term planning complemented writing and supercharged both, at least for me.

> I prefer typing, writing is so slow

I feel this misses the point. Each has its place: typing is faster for long slabs of linear text; writing is way faster for diagrams and when the physical location of each phrase matters.

> when I type I cannot draw anything and that's great because usually I can't decipher drawings I made while writing with pen and paper.

So try to do it more! I was a management consultant 20 years ago. I still solve problems by grabbing a piece of paper, turning it landscape, and sketching the problem's components and their interrelationships.

Heck, one of the reasons I joined BCG in Australia back in 1996 was their interview used 0.9mm mechanical pencils and high quality sketching pads. The pencil I used back then is beside my computer right now.

While I agree with this I also find tremendous value sometimes in slowing down, forcing me to think before I write something down exactly because of the high cost of writing. It makes every word more valuable. I can type a lot of junk really really fast...

Yep, but one can type slower and cannot type faster, so it's a kind of backwards-compatible system.