Lessons Learned After 10 Months Of Journaling
Is It Worth The Effort?
Yesterday marked the end of the era — a small era but an era nonetheless. I finished a journal notebook. It may not sound like a big deal but inside that notebook lie my experiences, thoughts and lessons of the last five months.
This is my fourth completed notebook. I’ve been journaling every day for almost two years. Until today, I never went back to look past journal entries. There was no need. It had always served two other purposes for me.
1. A source of blogging ideas
2. A mechanism to unload all the crap swimming inside my brain before I go to bed.
I decided to change things up this time. I reviewed my last two completed journals (about ten months of activity). My intent was to cull whatever lessons lay hidden behind the veneer of my daily entries.
I found some surprising patterns.
The 5 Key Takeaways
Slumps
Every twenty-six days (on average) I go through a writing slump. It may differ by a day or two each month but the cycle is almost constant. At first, I would write something like this.
“I feel like I’m in a writing slump. Maybe I’ve hit my limit. Am I done?”
In my recent journal, entries resemble something like this.
“Going through a slump. It’s normal. I’ll push through it in a few days.”
Obsessions
I’m obsessed with my sleep patterns. Almost every day has a recap of my previous night’s sleep. Side note, I’ve struggled with insomnia at various times. I’ve been doing well the last few months. Time will tell if the focus on it in my journal has a lasting impact.
Ideas
My experience journal now doubles as an idea journal. It wasn’t always like this. It was an organic evolution of my journal. I didn’t plan it. It just happened. I put a little triangle next journal entries that double as story ideas. I have several dozen of these. Most suck but there’s a few good ones.
My journal process continues to evolve. I don’t fight it.
Observation
The unusual, out of the ordinary events take precedence over the mundane, everyday events. These become the best source of ideas for my daily posts.
Unusual things often occur during everyday, mundane events. I jot these down in my notes app whenever they occur. I then transfer them to my journal at night. The power of observation is the most underrated personal skill and the key to noticing these story gems when they occur.
Keep your powers of observation sharp with this simple exercise.
Awareness
I journal too much about my pet-peeves. I found several entries about grayish yokes in hard boiled eggs — due to overcooking. Plus, I found an alarming number of entries about the idiot in front of me at the grocery store arguing about an expired coupon.
I failed to realize this during my daily journal writing. It became obvious in the review session. Now that I’m aware, I can do something about it. Meaningless issues like these don’t deserve my attention.
The key takeaway is this. Journaling is a record book of your best and worst. Spend an hour or two a month to review your journal. You will notice patterns and tendencies that you cannot see during your day to day writing.
Before You Go…
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