Thanks to everyone who replied to yesterday's post! Some of you said you keep a journal, but the majority of you said you don't.
Of the people who don't keep a journal, a few common concerns seem to be standing in the way:
- I don't have time
- I don't know where to write it
- I don't know what to write
Correspondingly, here are my responses to those concerns:
- Keeping a daily note shouldn't take long. You update it with a few simple items throughout the day - think bullet lists of phrases, not writing complete paragraphs. Moreover, a good journal should SAVE you time over the long run, by helping you recall history, find resources, or create runbooks for common tasks.
- To start, your journal can just be a simple text file. No need for fancy journal software with linked notes. If anything, you can add that software later, but at the beginning it's a distraction. Just start writing the journal for now - even in a notebook by hand if you like!
- You should write what's helpful to you. I usually start each daily journal with a bullet list of the 2-3 things I'd like to get done today. Then, later in the day, I can add notes about whether/how I completed those items. Or, if something blocked me from completing my plan, I just write a quick note about it.
Here's the lesson: this doesn't have to be large, time-consuming, complicated, or even readable for another person. It's simply your record of the day, & it can be as simple/small as you want.
Even the smallest daily journal habit can produce big benefits.