"Best Practices", Tips and Suggestions for sustaining a Journal
February 5, 2010 Journaling Workshop
Working with one's own experiences and memories is by its very nature an extremely personal activity. The "when", the "why" and the "how" will all vary. Everyone will have a different personal blend of methods and practices that "work" for them. And for most, this blend will change from one day to the next. These tips are not offered to suggest a "single" or "best" way. Rather they are offered as a set of "best practices" and "suggestions" to improve the experience of whatever method or style is adopted. We believe that they are valid whether or not you intent to use an E-Journal as well.
There is however, one tip which is true regardless of method - "Just Do it".
If you don't have a journal now, get a notebook or a piece of paper and write down the current date and time and the heading "Reading Tips on Journaling". If you did that much, you are already journaling. If you write down a few ideas as you read, then you are REALLY on a roll. How you use such an entry will come later. While various new technologies and software will add to your abilities to work with your personal life data, the process is definitely one in which "something" is much better than "nothing". In fact, doing "something" is really pretty darn good. Even the simplest entries in the simplest system will turn out to have surprisingly high value to you later. You need no special equipment and no "grand program". You can start immediately.
· When possible, use a paper system that has a printed daily time scale. Writing a short note next to "4:00 PM", for example, is easier than writing the time and the note.
o Time of day may not be important to you in many cases, but it does help you to see chunks of time for which you have no entries.
o Time becomes a prompt "Now what was I doing this afternoon?"
o Having the time written for you reduces the amount of writing. A quick note needs to be "quick"!
· Make notes in one place (such as a notebook or organizer)
o People don't manage personal information effectively when it is distributed. If you have one notebook where you keep "this" and a file for "that", and shoe box for "the other" you are much less likely to succeed in using any of them. Few of us can keep track of things that are spread about.
o If you do intend to use a computer-based system now or in the future, the ability to move your notes from ONE single location to your computer is much less daunting then gathering loose ends up from multiple sources. The "Designs on Knowledge" project includes tools for automatically moving entries from a single time based notebook as fully contextualized entries.
o Hence, the bound notebook, the organizer, or the single folder is best.
· Keep your journaling goals realistic and modest
o Most us start out with grand goals. "I am going make a note about every important conversation I have starting today." "I am going to record what I eat every meal", "I am going to record my weight three times per day", "I am going to record every dollar I spend".
o When these goals are not reached we become discouraged and tend to quit.
o A good journal system will allow you to get value from all your entries, whether you reach your goals or not.
· Avoid "accumulated statistics" goals
o "I am going to record my meals every day and by the end of one year I'll be able to see how often I eat out."
o "I am going to record every hour I spend reading and watching TV and doing housework. After a month I'll see how I really spend my time"
o If goals like these predominate, when you miss days, your records will seem to have lost their value. You will get discouraged, then quit for a while so you can "start afresh on the first of the next week or month". This can lead to making several false starts which are quickly abandoned.
o In a good journal system, every entry is useful in its own right. Missing days or even weeks before or after an entry does not diminish its value.
· Record the short version first
o The only really necessary part of Journal entry is a short descriptive text, just enough to allow you to recall the rest at a later time. If you choose, you can come back and expand an entry later. "The perfect is the worst enemy of the good". If you wait for the time, place and opportunity to make the perfect entry, you will miss making hundreds of "good" entries. When you look back over the good entries, you can selectively choose to spend more time on those of "value". A metaphor that many find useful is "leaving bread crumbs": be able to quickly caste down numerous bread crumbs so that you have a visible path to return later.
· Consider the entry "Had lunch with John C. at Red Lobster. Boy Scouts Project; they are going to Hawaii in May." It may not seem like it, but there is a wealth of information connected to this short entry. Yet it took 15 seconds to record.
o This entry is enough of a "bread crumb" to allow you to fill out more detail later if you choose: For example, you could later expand this to add: "for the Boy Scouts Project we went over the budget and ideas for the new lodge. I told John that I thought that the budget would allow us to get the extra acre for the lodge." and "His wife is Sally. They and their children are going to Hawaii" and " I tried the new Shrimp Scampi dish - too heavy" and "I promised to send the new budget figures to the committee." and "I felt good about this - it's nice to be able to use my business background for a good cause; this is what it's all about".
o Why was the short entry a "bread crumb"
§ It was fast
· No time was spent on grammar
· No time was spent on any particular format
· It is terse. Instead of "We discussed the Boy Scouts project", simply listing topics discussed is sufficient.
§ It focuses on the facts of the event
· It does not deal with feelings, perspectives etc. These can be added if and when time allows
§ It is not written for others - you are most likely the only reader of any entry made. No need to explain things to an invisible reader.
§ By all means if you have the time, energy, and inclination to make perfectly spelled, grammatical, compositions go ahead. But leaving the "bread crumb" should be the primary goal and habit.
· Don't bother recording "World Knowledge". News, weather, stocks and other pieces of public domain knowledge are already being archived world-wide. It will be available on the internet if you really want to use it later.
o The rule of thumb is: unless you have something personal and unique to add to the information, put a very low priority on recording it yourself. (Note: Later versions of the "Designs On Knowledge" E-Journal software will have tools to allow you to sample world knowledge by date in order to gather context for your entries. "What was going on in the world on that day?").
· If you are at a place and time when you want to expand and deepen an entry, let it flow. This is likely to be where you see the greatest value. When that happens, feel free to disregard any formatting, note taking or other standards you have set for yourself. Just get it down as it comes to you. This is what it's all about; no system should constrain you.
· Leave room to expand. You simply can't predict what you will want to expand on, so just leave room to fill in a little more. There are few scenarios where you really need to be stingy on space. Make the expanding process welcoming and easy.
· If the note taking process makes you feel bogged down, change it. If you find that making entries is a drudgery or is "breaking your flow", this is probably a cue to simplify.
· Live your life. If you feel that you are spending time recording you life, when you really want to be experiencing your life, this may be cue to make changes in your journaling strategies.
Prioritize on what is important to you: You are simply not going to record everything, so here are some tips to help get what's important.
o focus on people:
§ Who did you meet, talk to, eat with, correspond with?
§ Unless you are extremely popular this is usually a manageable number of entries.
§ In hindsight much of what holds value for us involves people.
o focus on entertainment events:
§ What movies did I see? What magazine articles did I read? What book am I currently reading and what's happening in it?
o focus on what is new or unique in a day or an experience
o focus on accomplishments, "firsts" and milestones
o focus on hobbies, sports and recreation interests.
o Ironically, things you think you will "never forget" are good candidates to record - it means they are important, so make sure they are recorded.
Prioritize: Use your journal to make a difference in the lives of others
o focus on what is going on in the lives of others
§ To the degree that a particular person is valuable to you, to that degree the key events in their lives will be important to you.
§ "But I thought keeping a journal is about me?" Yes, and your life only makes sense in the context of those you are deeply connected with. So it's about you AND anyone important to you.
§ A note about the doings of someone important to you can act as a cue to recall a great deal about your own life.
§ Other people will be delighted when you better recall or remember things about them.
§ "Won't people think it's strange if they find out that I make notes about them?" They might indeed. But when you demonstrate that you 'remember' them better, they are simply delighted.
§ Some of us who keep journals end up being the 'memory keeper' for the family. This is almost always a lauded and respected service. It is a dramatic and welcome turn of events for those of us who turn to journaling to assist with our own memory challenges - we become a resource for those around us. This happens almost immediately. Everyone wins. You will quickly be known for this constructive role, rather than as the one who "can't remember".
o Be a collector of other people's achievements. Be an expert on what is good and noteworthy in others. Put these things in your journal and you will have a gold mine over time.
o Be a collector of the humorous. Use the journal to collect funny stories or events, in your life and the lives of those around you.
o Be a collector of compliments. Catch someone doing something well, right or good, and record it. The effect of reminding the person about this later is astonishing.
o Be a collector of:
§ things that impress, astonish or excite you
§ things for which you are thankful
§ things you want others to know about you
§ things you want others to know about themselves. What do you like about them? What do you value in them? What do you love about them?
§ the silly, the funny, the foolish. These things will make you smile when you review them. Sharing them becomes a gathering point for friends and family
What kinds of challenges will I face?
If you've read thus far. You probably have some internal motivation to "make a go" of journaling. Being ready for the challenges can help make your journal keeping sustainable. Knowing that the hurtles you face are normal is really half the battle.
· People often feel awkward, self-conscious and embarrassed about recording their lives. These feelings are surprisingly common.
o "I feel strange taking pictures at events." "I feel weird about writing things down when other people don't"
§ You have to tackle this one head on. Do you want the value journaling gives you? Is it worth the risk of embarrassment? Yes.
§ It is just as likely that other people don't see it this way anyway. In general, people who take notes are seen as smart, organized, caring and engaged.
o "My family makes fun of me for 'keeping a diary". "My wife says I'll never keep up with it". " They tease me that I am writing a book about himself!".
§ The jibes are usually light hearted, but they can sting and make you feel self-conscious.
o Every feels like this from time to time. Its normal. It comes and goes. It's not a sign that there is something special about you or your life that makes journaling un-approachable for you. All through history smart, creative, successful people have worked to capture the value in their lives. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. That's simply a fact. But it won't always feel that way.
· People often worry that they are egotistical, selfish or ego-centric when they take time to journal. This is true of nearly anything that requires "taking time for me". But it seems particularly true of journaling.
· In general, most normal people think that their lives are not important enough to record. And they often feel that the specifics of their lives are doubly unimportant.
· Things almost never look worth writing down at the time. Time adds value. Time adds perspective. Without fail, entries we look at later always look more important than they do at the time we write them down.
o Keep that in mind when you are tempted to say "oh, that can't be important. " We are almost always wrong. You will prove this to yourself when you start to review the entries you made yesterday, last week, last month, last year. The farther removed your are from the event the more pleasurable and valuable it feels to recall it.
· Journaling can be exhausting. Be ready for this. Like any valuable work it takes effort. This may be a sign that your process should be changed.
· Journaling can be emotionally stressful. Especially if you are making an entry about a more distant memory or an unpleasant current event, you may be surprised at how much you are affected emotionally. Remembering and recollecting can be as emotionally powerful as the event itself. If you find you are being negatively affected by journaling, should you "plow on"? No. Or at least not without careful consideration and perhaps advice from a trained professional.
o There are trained professionals who use journaling as a clinical and therapeutic tool. They can be consulted if you feel that you are prone to depression, obsession or other similar challenges.
· Don't rely solely on your instinct when deciding if something is important enough to warrant an entry.
o The average person is simply not very good at predicting what will be important to them later.
o Stick to your daily goals and focus. Don't try to make a judgment call every time you pick up the pen.
o When we use past entries in memory work (particularly with the aid of an E-Journal) , we find it is often small details and the "unimportant" which provide us the key to remember the events and context of our lives.
o If it's interesting and you feel like jotting down a note, just do it. You've got 15 seconds for a quick note, right?
· Failure to be consistent can be discouraging. But let's get something straight from the start: No one is completely consistent, so it's ok. Every entry is useful. Remember: "the perfect is the worst enemy of the good". If you become good at this then, well that's simply brilliant. No need for perfection. You can't have it anyway!
· In short: Be easy on yourself. Every entry you make is constructive and useful. You will be amazed at how quickly you build value making even the simplest entries. It's all progress. And if you are going to be using an E-Journal, each entry will add to its power and usefulness.