Do you keep a journal? Do you use a paper journal or digital?
I’ve been thinking that I should try once again to do a journal. It is good discipline to practice consistency through daily journaling. Taking the time out to both think about my plans for the day at the start of my day and then writing about what has happened during my day gives me opportunity to process and think.
It is one process to just think and another to take the time to write down those thoughts. In writing them down, the thought process is more deliberate and provides opportunity to later return to those thoughts and review them.
Stephen R. Covey writes Keeping a personal journal, a daily in-depth analysis and evaluation of your experiences is a high-leverage activity that increases self-awareness and enhances all the endowments and synergy among them.
Now, that assumes that you don’t just mechanically write down the activities of the day without any introspection about what you experienced during the day. I tend to have to work on the introspection part, I’m a thinker but usually not about my own feelings.
Capturing the Subconscious
Writing first thing in the morning is a good time. I don’t know about you, but often I find when I’m in that space between being completely asleep and fully awake, my mind is usually processing just about anything. It amazes me the material that I come awake thinking about.
If I take the time to jot it down, often I find more information comes to mind. If I just get up and get on with my day, that information disappears and my thoughts are gone along with anything else that might have come to mind had I took the time to write it down.
Do you experience that?
A good many ideas can come from the subconscious. They form there because our mind is not as quick to dismiss them as our conscious mind tends to do. Writing them down means they are there to come back to later and flesh out into actionable ideas, set aside for further thought or discard. Try to avoid the discard too quickly.
Journaling For Attaining Goals
Use the journal to layout short and long-term goals. Write down the small steps needed to reach the goals as a path to attaining them. Write regularly about the goals to reinforce their importance in your psyche.
Goals need to be something that becomes front and centre in your thinking and activities. Goals that just get thought about and not acted on are just pipe dreams. Goals that receive planning, action, review and revision as needed will eventually be reached.
Paper or Digital Journal?
As for the question of paper or digital. I’ve come to the conclusion that is a matter of personal preference. I’ve tried paper and found that it is too easy to forget to have it nearby when I want to add to it.
I’m going for digital this time. I often have my tablet with me when I’m away from the house and can add to my journal anytime I want.
I’ve set it up using Microsoft’s OneNote. A free version of it is available for my iPad that will sync automatically between the two. I don’t use OneNote for anything else so it is like having a dedicated program. I create folders for each month and then each entry in a separate note.
Do you journal? Are you thinking about starting?