I Started Journaling (2019)
herman.bearblog.dev
herman.bearblog.dev
One interesting observation is that I have inadvertently been writing longer and longer journal entries. In 2019 the average entry was about half a page (I have pretty cramped handwriting), and I'm currently writing about a page and a half. I believe I've also gotten a lot better at expressing myself to myself (I've had a lot of practise).
I also tried using a digital journal for a while, but found I needed a distraction free environment that only pen and paper could provide. My handwriting hasn't improved though.
EDIT: I should read the article, before commenting :)
And most importantly, because it's electronic, I can go back and easily find how many times I've written on the same subject with a simple grep command. That tells me that this topic is important and I need to take action on it. Hard to do that with a paper journal.
There'd be days I'd be writing for 90 minutes straight, the same amount of text I could type in probably a third of that time. I also eventually like to transcribe the handwritten to digital as well, so I'm typing it eventually anyway.
Pandemic really fucked with the habit though, and so far I haven't been able to get back into the groove again. Maybe switching to handwritten again will help.
Here are my stats by year: 2016(Hand):9K, 2017(Hand):47k, 2018(Hand):>9k (not all transcribed), 2019(Digital):123k, 2020(Digital):47k, 2021(Digital):11k, 2022(Digital):7.5k
It's all pretty new to me, but I think the paper supplement to text interfaces works where it gets transcribed in some form later. The paper can be disposed of, I won't be keeping that once it's served its purpose.
+1
I tried journaling electronically many times over the years, from basic text files with zero format, to markdown files... even a private Tumblr blog. I couldn't make any of them work for more than a couple of weeks.
The electronic thing just kinda disappeared from my vision.
I started a bullet journal about 12 months ago, and it's the first thing I've ever managed to use consistently for journaling. Partly because of the very short-form bullet points that a day of journaling is made up of, but the act of hand writing the entries and having a physical journal was the magic for me.
It's easier to get ergonomic keyboards and chairs compared to writing gear.
The most common reason for your hand hurting after an extended writing session is a death grip on the writing tool; ideally you should be holding it just hard enough to put it where you want. Someone should be able to lean over your shoulder and snatch the tool from your hand with little resistance.
Also very common is putting weight on your wrist. Your whole arm should be a little bit active, carrying your hand around the page as you write or draw. Ideally your wrist is completely stiff; this does little for control, but it helps lower the chances of the tendons that control your fingers rubbing up against the bones of your wrist and deteriorating. You could get a wrist brace to help you practice this.
If you want more of this stuff you will find it in vintage "penmanship manuals", from the days when the most convenient method of writing was a fountain pen. I largely got it by word of mouth when I was working in animation next to old pros who routinely passed on their secrets of proper form as a way to help the new kids avoid career-ending wrist injuries from bad form.
I also keep a personal journal that I write in more freely once a week. I don't have the "search" requirement there. Reading and writing with pen and paper is more soothing to me for whatever reason. I do like the freedom of pen on paper when compared to typing. I can quickly sketch out a graph or diagram for example.
Each has its benefits and drawbacks. Use what fits your use case best :)
This is one of those things where people mistake what works for THEM as universally the best option. It's tedious.
I journal longhand in notebooks. I enjoy that aspect of it, and I like fountain pens, and at this point it's one of the only times I actually WRITE vs type. But that doesn't mean MY approach is best for YOU.
Off my soapbox now.
(Have you tried Org?)
Some people just like the tactility of writing. I have a fountain pen I enjoy writing with, and the process is fun, and result can be more pleasing to look at.
The slowness of writing also lets you stew in your thoughts a bit more. It really depends on how you like your catharsis.
1. How is the work for the app funded, and will it continue to be free? What’s the business model to ensure longevity? Is that a hosted service to store/sync information?
2. How did you author your website (what tools are you using)? I looked at the page source and found comments for different blocks, and the code looks relatively bloat free, IMO.
1. Therapise myself. Going to therapy is expensive, and honestly I think the main benefit is to just talk through thoughts in your head with an interface to the outside world (the therapist). So when I was low on money I thought that journalling could basically provide the same sort of interface between my thoughts and the world. However, writing speed and typing speed are limiting factors. So bumping up my touch typing speed means that now when I sit at my computer to journal, I just blast out whatever is on my mind like a therapy session. It helps. Probably do this once a week, more or less depending on the situation.
2. Quick and easy memory recording through this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Line-Day-Five-Memory/dp/0811870.... My partner bought me one and its really fun and low effort.
I've noticed I've been writing "Unproductive at work" for many many years now, I should change either the productivity level or my perception of it.
[1] https://undertherowantrees.co.uk/shop/some-lines-a-day-5-yea...
A few sentences every day is all you need. Thinking that you need to write pages is where trouble begins, the thought of future work overwhelms people and they stop completely.
Such a beneficial activity, to get those incessant thoughts out of our mind, so we can have peace and quiet. Or perhaps that's just me xD
It also helps that nobody else will see it. I have a personal blog, https://langsoul.com, for public thoughts. Whist private ones, say on motivation and why I get out of bed each morning is kept private.
Just one column of hours from 6h00 to 20h00 for example and then write an activity associated with that time in second column (eg finish this document).
Even if I don’t look at the page throughout my day my mind has already been primed to do what I would want to do in an ideal day. Deviations from ideal are expected, but I find the deviations are smaller than when I don’t anything on paper.
Perhaps a next step would be a section below that reflects on the day.
- Detailed invoices for free
- Identify and communicate accomplishments over past X time frame
- Identify problems. i.e. we've been working on this for weeks and it's gone nowhere
I use Tap[0], my own creation, to send me a text reminder to capture a log for the day, and relay a digest back to me via email monthly.
edit: formatting
Writing on my phone, adding pictures, copy-pasting passages from the internet are easy to do.
Once printed and bound as a hardcover volume, I know it’ll outlive the app, my phones and probably myself.
I don't have a particular template that I follow because I find to be too repetitive and low value instead it's of whatever's the most important is what I write down.
I prefer to hand-write but in order to have a digital copy, I transcribe it with Otter.AI.
It's a bit time-consuming but also fun for me to dictate my notes.
When I started, I didn't foresee that as a use case.
Im curious how journaling effects memory.
I started journaling ~ 2 years ago, after 2 years in therapy and they complement each other.
I lacked the “framework” to easily reflect on the past self and see how I am changing and growing over the years so I created one:
(It’s nice to see other people find it usable as well!)