I highly recommend that anyone, everyone, keep a journal.

First, it puts oneself at the center of their life, recording the time they’ve spent, what they’ve done, and whom they’ve interacted with. In a world where we are bombarded with attempts to get our attention on others (other people, products), it is grounding to spend even just a few minutes a day on oneself, and a journal is one of the best ways to do that.

I prefer a paper journal, just a simple spiral-bound college-ruled notebook, and a good pen. (My favorite is the Pilot PhD series, with 0.5 mm ink, if you’re wondering.)

Why just paper and pen, as opposed to a mobile or computer app, or just a Google or Word document?

Paper and pen require no power, no internet connection, and can be done anywhere – sitting outside, laying on the floor, in bed with a flashlight, in the car (as a passenger, please).

A corollary to that is that it’s far easier to get distracted with one’s phone or computer than with a notebook. When you’re picking up your phone or going online, you are going into an environment rife with distractions – and distractions deliberately focused on you, to pry you away from your time, energy, and money.

So a notebook is an innocuous alternative to the threats of online manipulation. As a computer programmer I often “write” my most challenging code in a notebook at a coffee shop, where email, Facebook, Google, Skype, etc. are unable to conspire to undermine my progress.

Writing gives us a chance to do practice and develop something that many of us just don’t have opportunities to do: handwriting.

I prefer to journal in the morning, after my coffee and reading time, and before starting any other activities for the day. That is the time where I find that my mind is shifting from reflecting on the day before to gearing me up for the day ahead.

My journaling technique is quite simple, having evolved somewhat since I started in 1991. I use the eight categories as a common structure.

To review, the categories:

  • Physical
  • Professional
  • Social
  • Solitary (or Recreational, Hobbies)
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Emotional
  • Financial

At the top of each page in the journal, I write (on the top left) the city and state (and country, if traveling). That makes it interesting as I read back through journals, putting me back into the location where I was at the time, some of which I’d forgotten.

On the top right goes the current date.

I then go through the categories, writing a sentence or do for each. That is generally a terse description applicable to that category, such as, for Professional, “Worked at office on the ABC project. Wrote 200 lines, and finished the XYZ task.”

Then comes the quantification part. I give each category a grade for that day. More accurately, I give two grades: one for the effort, and the other for the outcome or current state.

My grading system is an altered version of the 1 through 10 system, where 10 is essentially perfect, and the actual low is 6. I find it less negative and demotivating if I consider my “worst” to be 6 instead of 1 or 2, so I allow myself some delusion.

Thus, a day of no exercise, bad diet, and poor sleep would be a 6 in the physical category. A day (night) of good sleep and a decent diet would be a 7 (or average). A moderate amount of exercise could bring that to an 8, and reaching a monthly goal (such as running a 10K) would be a 9. A life goal, such as running a marathon, would be a 10.

Similarly for the professional category: a complete day off, a 6. A moderate amount of work, a 7. A productive day: 8. Very productive day: 9. Starting one’s own company or being promoted: 10.

So an actual entry would be:

Physical: On the diet. Short walk at the park. Slept 11 to 6:30 (before alarm). Weight: up a pound since yesterday. (8/7)

It takes a while to get into the habit, but after doing this for 26 years, my only regrets about journaling are that I didn’t start it earlier – I’d be fascinated to read some of what I was doing before 1991 – and when I took a few months off of it, in what was a whirlwind time for me in terms of major changes with my career, location, and relationships.

So give it a try, at least for a month or so, then go through the entire journal and read it back. You may also find it reinforcing some memories, as well as give you a different perspective on the past.

A life worth living is a life worth recording. – Jim Rohn

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