Journal Jam Fall 2022 Day 9

[lunabee34]

Day 9 Question:

How do you use your journal/planner?

Do you use your journal for productivity, reflection, as a record, or as a mix of these?

If you use your journal for productivity, describe your productivity system.

If you use your journal for reflection or as a record, do you revisit older entries? If so, do you review them on a consistent basis or just when the mood strikes?

If you answer elsewhere, drop us a link in the comments.

Comments

[mothereader]

I'll journal when i'm processing stuff, although lately i've been trying to write less about my feelings and experience them in my body more. I'll still journal when i'm trying to figure out the logistics of something, but that happens less often. I'll leaf through those journals sometimes, but as a rule, i leave them alone.

In my planner, i do a mix of productivity and record-keeping.

My monthly spreads are for keeping track of books i've finished, and lately tv/movies i've watched, people i met up with, experiences that made an impression, extreme weather patterns (and earthquakes), some world news that made an impact personally. I'll reflect on those at least once a year—and write up a summary—and i'll refer to them when i need to figure out when something happened.

The weekly spreads are where i keep track of what needs to get done that day. It's an hourly spread. I use the first column to note tasks that are important, quick to do, or take more than one session to complete. The tasks are put down at approximately the time i plan to do them and meetings etc. get blocked off in the appropriate day column. I highlight the tasks that are done and draw a right arrow underneath a task that has been moved (with the highlighter as well). I use hatches to shade the period during which the event lasted. Sometimes this matches the block that was drawn during planning/scheduling, other times it doesn't! Except for things that are scheduled in advance—ie. things that depend on other people as well—i'll write in the tasks the morning of.

I also have a couple of note pages right after the monthly spread that i use to keep notes for projects that last longer than a week, but will probably be done during the current month. They're also useful for any general notes i might need during that month.

[lunabee34]

I like the idea of a yearly summary; that's a really great way to reflect on the past year.

[mothereader]

It's a great exercise—i recommend it! Each year, i was surprised by several notes, in the sense of "I forgot that this even happened! Glad i made the note," or even "This happened this year? Seems like ages ago." I also go through my social media posts, and sometimes there are gems and other times it's "I can't believe i posted this." It's a great New Year's Eve tradition.

(I think my link pointed to the wrong place?? This one should be right if anyone's interested.)

[lunabee34]

*nods nods*

I can imagine; especially since the pandemic, my sense of the passage of time and when something has happened has gotten very warped.