As educational institutions cater their methods of instructing more toward digital media, students now face the decision of whether to take notes by hand or on their computer. While using their computer may be “easier” since a lot of coursework is digital, taking notes by hand is beneficial in many ways.
An avid lover of writing by hand is Jerry Seinfeld, who is the reason I take notes by hand.
There are 180 episodes of the sitcom “Seinfeld,” a fictionalized account of the comedian’s life. He is credited with writing 13 episodes of the show.
According to a GQ interview, Seinfeld has “always written on yellow pads; [he] wrote the entire ‘Seinfeld’ TV series — every single episode — [on paper].”
“Seinfeld” is one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, and references to it are made everywhere, earning the number two spot in WatchMojo’s “Top 10 Most Quotable TV Shows” list.
The Jerry Seinfeld quote that is most memorable to me, however, isn’t from “Seinfeld;” it’s from that same GQ interview:
“Even if you’re writing comedy, a legal pad … says, ‘I’m taking this seriously.’”
In my first two years of college, I took notes on my computer because that’s what I saw every other student in the classroom doing.
According to a social media poll by the Chimes, 60% of respondents take notes by hand while 31% take notes by computer, and 9% of respondents said they don’t take notes. While the 60% may seem unexpected, I have seen students take notes by hand while still having their computer in front of them.
Initially, I noticed no difference between taking notes by hand versus taking notes on a computer, but toward the end of my second semester, I found myself getting distracted in class more often than not.
If you type notes on a word processor on your computer, the word processor is not the only thing in front of you. As I type this, I have 17 tabs open; it can be very tempting to click away from what I need to be focused on.
There were countless times in my first four semesters where I gave in to the temptation to play Solitaire and/or Minesweeper during class, which led to me not taking any notes at all.
When I saw the Seinfeld GQ interview over the summer of 2025, I immediately went out and bought a pack of yellow legal pads, making a commitment to take notes by hand for the rest of my collegiate career.
Whether it’s professors, parents, or bosses, the authorities in our lives often remind us of a well known fact: taking notes by hand helps you better remember the material.
Young adults acknowledge this advice on some level, but they mainly brush it off and continue to take their notes digitally because it seems unlikely that taking notes by hand can make that much of a difference.
But it does.
The first time I sat down to take notes in class with just a legal pad and a pen in front of me, it felt refreshing. The only thing to distract me was my own thoughts.
The decrease in distractions led me to becoming more focused. The first time I noticed a real difference was when the semester was over, and I received the first 4.0 GPA of my college career.
Maybe I remembered the material better, or maybe I just simply paid closer attention to it, but I found Jerry Seinfeld’s words to be true: I really was taking everything more seriously by using a pen and a legal pad.
Of course, the legal pad is not the only option for taking notes by hand, but it helped me make the change I needed to make to better my retention of lectures.
You can take anything more seriously by using a pen and paper when you are given the opportunity to not get distracted.
