Improving handwriting when exhausted & slightly psychotic? (piefed.social)

submitted 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) by adhd_traco@piefed.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Hey,

I'm annoyed that when I am in certain super cluttered mental states, that I can't read my handwriting after.

My handwriting generally isn't great, but I used to do shorthand for journalism, so I know how to write readable. But it requires some strain, especially in these states, where the focus is lost on what I actually want to write. So either I write clearly then, but won't be able to free-flow, because I strain on the writing, or it's unreadable after.

Usually I'm just scrambling to find a paper and pen, since getting to my offline laptops and booting them up is too much. But I'll also be getting a mini-laptop now for this purpose.

Still, though, I feel like there should be something that can be done.

Thanks for your help :)

E: I'm talking about a situation of being myself with stuff that needs to be let out, not doing professional work or similar.

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[-] kindnesskills@literature.cafe 2 points 22 hours ago

I feel ya. I always have to go through and clean up my notes immediately when I can still recall what they may have meant, or the meaning will be lost to time.

I second the recording, it seems like the surest way to save your thoughts word for word but i personallydont like speakingout loud while thinking.

You can type your notes on your phone if you're as quick or quicker there than by hand. Autocorrect will mess up some words but those will probably be understandable through context rather than the whole sentence being unreadable.

Or try mind-mapping where you only have to write a few words and draw connections between them. This can take some time to practice, and you can figure out your own sort of shorthands for figures and imagery.

I also like bullet points, where I make sure to make key words readable and can add details that may or may not be legible, but the key words are likely to trigger the same thoughts later as when writing them down.

And always go through and clean up whatever notes or voice memos you take as soon as possible after when it's still relevant in your mind.

this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026

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