this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Journaling Just Works

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A place to discuss anything related to keeping a journal, a diary, a planner, a bullet journal, art/junk journal. Productivity, self-help, mindfulness, memory-keeping, creativity, project management or any other purpose.

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What sort of journaling do you do? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I've been journaling and diary-keeping for many years, but I really got seriously into it in around 1998 or so. I've used both paper and digital journaling (I was on Livejournal for around 10 years, until it jumped the shark) but now I mostly use paper.

I have three journals on the go at the moment. My most important one is a bullet journal, though I have diverged from the "official" format and work mostly in weekly spreads. I find that it helps my ADHD brain keep track of the structure of my week better. For this, I use an A5 dot-grid book. Weirdly, although I'm quite artistic, I keep my journals minimalistic and mostly un-decorated.

I have a daily long-form journal, though in practise I only write long entries a few times a week rather than every day. I'm into the Tarot too, so I also use this one for my daily card pulls and weekly/monthly spreads. For this I use an A5 lined book, because I fill them faster and lined notebooks tend to be cheaper than dot-grid ones.

My third is a Commonplace book; this is where I keep a record of things I've learned that I want to remember, books I'm reading (and my thoughts on them), quotes I want to keep, notes about research I'm doing, and stuff like that. I use loose-leaf binders for this, so I can more easily rearrange pages and keep entries on specific topics together.

How about you?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I have blank A5 sheets of southland cotton resume paper with peice A4 of card stock to act as a folder. I then use a small binder clip to keep it all together. Ive longed loved this system for 3 reasons

  • I can dispose of used scap paper or remove & file away old journal entrys or notes. This keeps my journal slim with only usefull notes.

  • I can keep my current page clipped on the front of the book and is good for when I need to take notes on the fly or standing.

  • i can custome the paper, the cover, & make templates.

My main journals are

  • daily autobiography
  • meditation journal
  • homebrewing and drinking journal.

I also keep logs of working out, cash, weight, & a checkbook in there as well.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Woo! Another comment I can see! (faints). Your system of loose pages inside a folder reminds me very much of the Everbook system. How do you handle pages you're filing away? What do you store them in?

Also:

drinking journal

I wholeheartedly approve of this. Cheers!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It actually is heavily inspired off of the everbook system. However I don't do a lot of the bullet journallying parts. I keep calanders more than to do lists.

As for handling the pages I put them in folders besed on what they are under. One of these days I want to bind my journals into a books.

Drinking journal is fun. Everytime I have a new entry I put a drop of what I'm drinking on the page. The thick cotton pages hold water well and drive fast. Theres a lot of complexities to the flavors when homebrewing so it's helpful to document whatever I can.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Drinking journal is fun. Everytime I have a new entry I put a drop of what I’m drinking on the page. The thick cotton pages hold water well and drive fast. Theres a lot of complexities to the flavors when homebrewing so it’s helpful to document whatever I can.

That's awesome. I don't homebrew (yet???) but I do enjoy real ale, and Scotch, and my partner is getting me into gin too. The flavour profiles vary so much from one to another (I've learned that pale ales made with Citra hops are my absolute favourites; if I see Citra on a beer label I know for sure that I will like it. They remind me of grapefruit). When it comes to Scotch, I like the Speyside malts best, they're rich, sweet and fruity. I had (a very expensive) one that tasted literally like Christmas pudding. Gin.... I don't really know enough about yet but I'm starting to find flavour profiles that I like and dislike. I like the spicier ones and dislike the more floral ones, I think. I have a gin in my pantry right now that's infused with Earl Grey tea, and it's divine.

And... now I need to find Lemmy subs about booze, lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ive always loved ales and scotches as well. I recently just finished off a Speyside (Glenfiddich) the otherday with some friends. however we have been stuck on Islay region scotches for a while. I had a friend get me into gin recently as well. Especially traditional gin martinis. A recommend would be Aviation gin from Portland. Ryan Reynolds owns it so that is a plus or a minus depending on who you talk to but it actually is very smooth for a gin.

You are right though we really could use a good classy drinking channel.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Don't think I'll be able to get a gin from Portland here, I'm in the UK. And with Ryan Reynolds' name on it, an import would probably cost like £1000 or more. Islay scotch... I'm not a fan.

[–] MattiCat 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I have a daily diary, I write evening pages, sort of stream-of-consciousness. I don't do it in the morning because (a) I am very much a night owl and (b) if I wait until morning I won't remember what I did yesterday. First thing in the morning though, I pull a tarot card and set it aside, and at the end of the day I reflect on how it applied to the day's events.

I don't bullet journal for tasks and productivity, all that goes in the calendar app on my phone.

And I have a Book of Shadows (cos I am a pagan) and that seems to qualify as being a very specific type of Commonplace book. In there I record monthly rituals, sabbats, as well as reference information pertaining to things like tarot, astrology, herbalism etc. In practise, this takes up more than one book; one for rituals, one for tarot and one for everything else.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

yes it does seem like a Book of Shadows counts as a commonplace book. Is yours hand written or digital?

[–] MattiCat 4 points 2 years ago

I have both; all the main rituals are hand written, but everything is digital as well. There's a phrase passed down that says the Book should be "in your own hand of write", but years back, the joke was "in your own hand of write, or that of your own dot-matrix printer". I guess that has been upgraded since then (it was before inkjets and laser printers existed).

[–] fatbeets 3 points 2 years ago

I have paper and digital sketchbooks and a paper journal I write in at the end of the day. I like the journaling habit but I have to be careful I skip too many days in a row or I don't keep it up.

[–] kozel 2 points 2 years ago

I have two journals, the first (kept for last ~6 years) is a place where I can vent all my thoughts without autocensure, I don't write there too regularily, so it ends up in a mixture of negativity and traveling notes (while traveling I allways feel full of thoughts I need to restructure in the journal).

The second is a dream journal. I've started it in purpose of lucid dreaming (that never happened), now I keep it just becouse dreams are beautifull and journaling them helps to remember them better. This journal goes in cycles: start dreamwriting - get better and better in it - spend more than hour dreamwriting every morning - stop it to save time - let it be some time.

I have also a notebook where I copy poems I like, but this is rather empty. And also a reader's journal.

Could you elaborate on the concept of commonplace book? (Unless it gets too personal.) How do you decide what is important enough to write there? How vast are the topics you keep together?