Journaling

[Sacul]

So these last few days I've been on a kick about journaling in an analog fashion, that is, pen and paper instead of using Obsidian or some digital tool that I end up abandoning after a while. I used to write a lot by hand back when I was in high school, before I even got a phone, and I really missed it - using a computer for this has never felt the same imo, and I get very easily distracted. My ADHD just makes it worse, and anything that reduces screen time is great.

I'm starting slowly, with just reusing a little A6 notebook I had laying around, for collecting thoughts and ideas, but I eventually would like to move to a bigger A5 notebook, with dotted pages and a beige color. Since there's not really anything like that on sale here (not on hardcover at least), I'm also watching plenty of tutorials on how to bind my own books and such. Oh and I also plan to some day get into fountain pens, but I'm content with my ordinary pen right now. And lastly, I may one day try to make a commonplace book, to replace the one I currently have in Obsidian.

So, anybody else into journaling? Or maybe planning your daily tasks in the old fashioned way? Curious to see how y'all tackle these things.

[Cool Chris]

I went to a therapist once for an initial meeting. I ended up getting a job right after that, which was part of the impetus for the meeting, and then Covid hit, and I never returned. She said that if she took me on as a client she would recommend I start a journal. So on my own I did, but I didn't get very far. I had the motivation to, I just never ended up writing much down.

[Evermind]

I've got an A5 notebook at work. Each morning, I fill the upper half of a page with tasks I plan to handle at work, and write down the schedule and plans for the rest of the day on the lower half of a page. Next morning I get through the previous day's plan and mark which tasks and plans I completed and which I didn't. Start of the week, I also compile a brief list of stuff I'm going to try to accomplish during the week.

I've been doing it for a couple of years now. Given how there are roughly 240 working days in a year for me, one notebook lasts about a year. Shopping for a new one is always kind of fun.

[Nekov]

I've been using a notebook as a therapy tool for a while now and I'm very happy with it. I have some of the same issues that you mentioned, being easily distracted and needing time away from screens, and I've found that the pen and paper really help me focus.
I also have a separate notebook where i write ideas that I sometimes have with the intention of maybe writing a book someday. That one is trickier though since I lack the motivation, but I've also found it easier doing it in a proper notebook as oposed to using google docs or something of the sort.

[lordxizor]

I've heard many times about the benefits of journaling, and my wife has found it useful at various points in her life. I've thought about starting, but honestly don't know what I'd write about. Mostly because my problem is that my thoughts dwell on the same two or three issues all the time. I don't think it would be helpful to write "still struggling with issue X" over and over every day. I don't need to give myself another opportunity to ruminate unhealthily on the same things.

[Chino]

My wife an I have a vacation journal that we take with us whenever we take a trip somewhere. We fill a page each day with the stuff we did.

[Lonk]

My wife an I have a vacation journal that we take with us whenever we take a trip somewhere. We fill a page each day with the stuff we did.

That's actually awesome

[WilliamMunny]

I have journaled and I fully endorse it as both a source of self-reflection and a coping mechanism.

That said, for all of my efforts, I typically fall into a pattern where I go at it for a few days, and then get too busy with something else. I know I'm not the only one, and this is definitely a side-effect of the busy parenthood years.

[Stadler]

I love to write, I want to journal, and my therapist recommends it frequently. 

But...

I did it for a short time when I was in Philly and got so self-conscious about what I was writing - Both the subject matter and the grammar/syntax - that it got to be too much.  Then, several years later I went back and read what I wrote and I was like "who is this fucking moron?"   So much self-judgement.  Haha. 

I'm also a lawyer, though, too, and I have it in my head not to write down anything you don't want someone else to see, so there's that, too.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I started doing it my first year in college and have continued ever since.  I don't do it nearly as heavily these days, but it continues to be useful to sort out my thoughts on things.  There's just something about the process that is therapeutic and allows you to realize what you still don't understand about a given issue.  I had a professor that said that "writing is research", and it took me years to grasp, but makes so much sense now.  The problem is that in some periods I would write more extensively, and I had a schedule I followed to review past entries from various periods.  It grew to taking far too much time each day though, so I had to mostly give that up.  It's possible to do too much self-reflection and navel-gazing, and I've been guilty of that at times. 

I also have an extensive system of various documents and lists that I regularly update with assorted information, plans, and ideas.  Both the journals and documents are digital.  I can see the appeal of doing it by hand, but I type so much faster than I can write, and it's hard to give up that advantage. 

[Sacul]

I have some of the same issues that you mentioned, being easily distracted and needing time away from screens, and I've found that the pen and paper really help me focus.

Yeah it doesn't really help that my job has me glued to a screen, so the less amount of time I spend on my computer, the better.

My wife an I have a vacation journal that we take with us whenever we take a trip somewhere. We fill a page each day with the stuff we did.

Aw that's really nice, surely it's filled with fun memories!

I also have an extensive system of various documents and lists that I regularly update with assorted information, plans, and ideas.  Both the journals and documents are digital.  I can see the appeal of doing it by hand, but I type so much faster than I can write, and it's hard to give up that advantage. 

Well that doesn't surprise me at all . I definitely tried to digital-only route, and I will still use Obsidian for some stuff like roulettes and long lists, but I just keep forgetting it even exists for weeks on end.

[ReaperKK]

I've been journaling fairly consistently since I was in high school (I'm 38 now). I've done both digital and handwritten journals. It's really therapeutic for me, I'll typically write about how my day was, how I'm feeling emotionally and physically, things I'd like to improve and ways I can improve them. It's my place where I can express myself 100% honestly and put the feelings down on paper.

These days I write 4-6 times a week and will usually do it on my pc at night, though I do have a small notebook at work where I'll hand write some things occasionally.

Occasionally I'll also go back and read some of my journals from 5+ years ago. It almost always makes me cringe but also appreciate how some of the things I was so stressed about how little long term impact on my life, just gives good perspective.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Reading my old writing (not much archived here, but it's scattered about under various names at other forums and such, and some lost forever at defunct places) online and in past journals is so odd at times.  Definitely many moments of cringe, occasional epiphanies or foreshadowings, but particularly a decade or two back, it's a bit of an out of body experience.  I can certainly remember some things I did and thought at the time, but others I'm hazier on, and it almost feels like I'm reading the thoughts of a different person. 

[Sacul]

I have some journals, or rather, notebooks, of stuff I was interested in back in high school. Pages and pages of fantasy creatures and making up phrases with an invented language, along with a map and some worldbuilding. I guess my obsession with the WoT series at the time was bleeding through other things

[Sacul]

Something extraordinary has happened: I have just completed writing on my journal for a week straight. I have a rough time getting into the habit of anything, but this has been very smooth and pleasing so far. Having it close to me at every moment has helped too.

Now I'm seriously looking into getting a fountain pen, probably a Pilot Kakuno, as a beginner model.

[Stadler]

Fountain pens are awesome; my preferred way of writing, though I don't write enough (and the ink dries out in the pen) for me to use them regularly.