Michael Taylor explains why one of the most valuable investing tools isn’t powered by AI or an app. He argues that pen and paper can improve focus, sharpen decision making and even help investors spot costly mistakes.
The world is increasingly digital. We are connected by our phones, and this means we can be in contact with people across the globe, whereas previously it was only possible by letters. Now, we can just load up FaceTime and speak to anyone instantly. This reliance on mobile phones has made us all more impatient and, in my opinion, dumber.
Attention spans are dropping. TikTok brain rot (unless you watch my videos, of course) is a thing. So much so that children are turning up to school trying to swipe books, because they don’t know how to read one. Obviously, this is a fault of the parents, but if a baby doesn’t know how to turn a page then it’s had too much iPad time.
People will be on a call, whilst taking notes and doodling, whilst WhatsApping, whilst responding to emails all at the same time. This is despite the data showing that we are bad at multi-tasking and the brain experiences focus depletion as we switch between tasks.
Notes are done on laptops, and as a result, a lot of the connection between what is being said and what ends up on the screen is often missed. Personally, I think the pen is seriously underrated, and in a world where everyone is addicted to phones, that offers a strategic advantage.
Whenever I do a management call, I always sit down with a pen and paper and make notes. Afterwards, I can revisit my notes and fill in some gaps from things that I remembered from the call but didn’t note down at the time.
For example, this came in handy when I did a management call with East Imperial, which has now gone bust and been bought out by somebody else.
In the IPO deck, it said that roughly 150k cases were sold in 2020. And in 2021, the trading update said that revenues were up 60% on the prior year.
If we assume that the price per case and can had stayed the same, then would mean 240k cases.
And yet my notes from the management call said that East Imperial was already ahead of 2019 with 300k cases sold.
There are a few possible options here:
- The revenue per case changed significantly
- I wrote down the wrong number with my pen
- Management’s own numbers were wrong
If I’d written my notes on a laptop, it would be easy to assume that I could’ve typed the wrong number as they’re side by side and I’d have been typing quickly.
But it’s much harder to do with a pen.
I messaged the CEO on WhatsApp, only for him to leave me on two blue ticks. For anyone who isn’t on WhatsApp, that means that the message was both delivered and read.
This tingled my Spidey senses, as it didn’t add up to me, and not only had I not received an explanation, but I’d been ignored in what was, in my opinion, not exactly a non-trivial query.
Perhaps he was busy and forgot, but it was enough for me to sell my shares for a lovely 50%+ profit within a few months and I don’t think I ever went back.
The pen is also seriously underrated when it comes to trading. As one Substacker wrote: “The simple act of writing a few paragraphs with a pen and paper would improve most people’s trading and investing.”
I agree. The pen forces you to think. It forces you to be conscious and intentional of what you’re writing, rather than hammering away at keys half-focused. It slows everything down and allows you to think.
I use a trading journal but I also have a pad and pen for the qualitative stuff. You can write a few notes on an Excel spreadsheet about how you felt before and after the trade, as well as other notes from the trade, but it’s never as good as if you actually write it down.
If you’re not writing with a pen often, then it’s entirely possible one of the best investments you could make this year is buying a pen. Or just go to a hotel and ask for one – they’re free.
Michael Taylor
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This article is for educational purposes only. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell shares or other investments. Do your own research before buying or selling any investment or seek professional financial advice.
