41–50 of 75 posts
I use Obsidian. Amazing. Couldn't recommend it more.
Mine tends to be stream of consciousness, just one level above brain-dumping on scratchpaper, until I hit on something I want to explore. Then it becomes more structured (and sometimes ends up very structured indeed in mindmaps or various project folders, etc).
It works great for me. I get ideas down in useful forms. I don't have to continually consciously think on ideas to keep them alive, reducing cognitive load. I have a tool for effective reflection. I feel like it's helped me lead a more intentional life. Simple as that.
The act of recognizing what I’m preoccupied with and examining it closely has been incredibly important for me. I can see that so many of my journals many years ago were negative, down on myself, frustrated, feeling stuck that I couldn’t get past things. Those have changed to be more accepting, exploring the positive side of things, reframing. Some of this is, of course, the effect of getting older and working on myself in other ways but journaling has definitely been a part of that.
I also have two young kids so I spend some time writing about things we’ve done, letters to them annually, important moments. I don’t share my personal life on social media but I try to keep a regular record of milestones and trips. My photo roll does most of that work but it’s nice to add a bit of color while I still remember the details.
One tip I’ll share … make sure you write it for yourself. I do a lot of writing in my job and on my blog and I often get into this trip of “does this sound good” or worry about other people reading it. Let go and just write what’s on your mind then write what you think about what’s on your mind.
Yes and no. For the first three months of the year I was religiously journaling. Pretty much every single day, with weekly and monthly reviews. Then towards the end of the quarter when it became apparent that I wasn’t going to get my project finished on time and that I was miserable I completely burnt out and stopped journaling and haven’t gone back to it yet. Journaling felt like work and it also felt like it was ma…
What about trying a gratitude journal? That way you're not just focused on the negatives
I do this most nights just before bed. I do this because I have really strong automatic negative thoughts, and always have. These can be really harmful to general flourishing, in particular by disrupting sleep and undermining self-confidence. I don't really read these back. Rather, the writing itself is a kind of practice which aids processing of difficult emotions. When I'm having difficult feelings, putting negativ…
Yes and no. For the first three months of the year I was religiously journaling. Pretty much every single day, with weekly and monthly reviews. Then towards the end of the quarter when it became apparent that I wasn’t going to get my project finished on time and that I was miserable I completely burnt out and stopped journaling and haven’t gone back to it yet. Journaling felt like work and it also felt like it was ma…
First of all - good luck, I hope traveling will help you clear your head and find that change you are looking for. It worked in my case. Also, you reminded me of two other things journaling can help with - as you point out, it can lead to insight. Trying to formulate your thoughts clearly in writing can be very potent. And journaling can also work as a storage of good feelings - for example, I walked multiple paths of Camino de Santiago [1], each of them was a few weeks of great times... and I was journaling them. Every now and then, when I feel down after especially long and dark winter, I re-read those journals and they make me feel good. Áh, nostalgia strikes... I am gonna read them right now.
If I don't write something down, I forget it and move on to the next idea. While I rarely read what I have written, it is a massive benefit by itself to commit to paper what I am thinking because the process of transforming a pool of unorganized, but related thoughts into something resembling a cohesive idea that can be told linearly is invaluable in resolving contradictions and evaluating their value. I prefer to handwrite because I don't think in ASCII (or Unicode, or LaTeX, or any other computer format). Ninety-nine cent composition notebooks and commodity rollerball pens are all I need.
Most people don’t like it. I think this is because they haven’t given it an honest try or considered the critical importance of being able to talk to yourself openly about what’s happening in your life and mind.
This would probably seem strange to a lot of people, or perhaps they believe they already do it with an internal monologue. Chances are pretty good that without a book to reflect on and the intent to do difficult things, your mind will readily distract itself and prevent you from doing difficult things that a journal might facilitate better.
For me it has made that personal exchange a lot more natural and easy. When I do foolish things I can talk to myself about it and figure out why I did it, what I can do differently next time, and feel better having put energy into doing better next time. When I do good things I can be grateful, consider what went right and why, and set intentions to do that more.
I also write about people I care about so I can be more intentional about how I’m present in their lives. I have ADHD and without being very intentional, I can figuratively and literally vanish from people’s lives due to getting in my head about things or being sucked into work or hobbies too much.
But I also know I’m happiest when I do things for people, I thrive on socializing despite being so good at being a hermit, and at the end of the day, I don’t think life is particularly worthwhile without a significant focus on being prosocial. So, I keep track of this stuff with the journal and make sure I’m staying on tracking with my goals and value system.
I can’t attribute all life changes to journaling, but I’d say it has made me a far better friend and parent since I started taking it seriously. I also know it has lead to me being better to myself, which is really important. Overall I’d say my personal affect is generally more constructive and positive, and I look at problems in my life as something I can engage with more now, whereas before I was far more avoidant.
There are other paths to similar practices, so journaling isn’t the only option. I highly recommend it to anyone willing to try, though. We should all be better at talking to ourselves. Our past, present, and even future selves.