(First post get.) Oh boy, this caught me at a fun time. I'm currently using DayOne for journalling on OS X, but I think I'm slowly switching over to my own frankenstein creation which is basically a ruby front-end to a pretty simple sqlite database. The point of this all being that most of the day I'm at a computer or other device and I can quickly pop open a terminal window, jot something down, and close it again. One problem I have is that my ideal journal/logging application/system/thing should take care of: * Regular, automated (or semi-automated) activity logging * A spark file for writing * Daily activity/task/note logging * A collection box for all non-actionable thoughts * A place for longer-form writing that I just want to get out right then and there * and also, a way of retrieving all of this data in a sane manner (which is where a computerised journal wins). So I guess the point of all this is to keep a record of what I'm doing and reflect on it in the short term (e.g. "What did I accomplish this week?"), but with a bonus of being able to reflect on it longer-term as well ("What was I going through a year ago today?"). This gentleman seems to have a pretty cool journalling system that popped up on my radar, and that's what's got me thinking about the best way to record all this stuff recently. If you want to keep it updated daily, perhaps a service like FollowUpThen could help? If you check your email a few times during the day, a well-timed email reminding you to write stuff down might help.I keep a journal with little aim or discipline. I'm hoping to take after the practice with more direction
I still haven't figured out a better way than my pen & paper journal that I now keep. I've tried every app out there, but it seems like the best way is still the pen and paper for what I want to accomplish. My life revolves around work - therefore what I take notes on is to do lists. My personal life is now a list as well. Namely to do lists for work, personal life (groceries,etc), freelance projects, job #2, personal worky stuff (updates to my website, etc), hubski. I'll note here that "journalling" in the truest sense of the word is now kept track through facebook. Feelings, photos, what I was doing, are mostly displayed and recalled later there. Deep interpersonal thoughts and feelings are lost now. I am considering that it may be important to have a personal reflection journal, but it's not a priority of mine right now. I have Evernote which works for somethings, especially links and articles that I want to find later. But for work, work, and more work, there is no easy way to have the to-do lists with notes that get added throughout the project. Plus that satisfying strikethrough when it's been completed. I am done, but when I need to recall what it was or the folder # or what size screen it was on, I can easily go back and find it. Whenever I have these lists on the computer I end up deleting them to clean up (therefore no recall) or the note taking process when I'm in a meeting or having a quick conversation never makes it to the computer. I personally find it rude and annoying when people are staring at their phones and typing furiously during meetings or desk conversations. That said, I'm sure there is a better way, but every time I try to switch it fails miserably and I don't have time to miss things on my lists.
So I have a few disconnected things to contribute, and this reply has been sitting open on my computer for the best part of a day... It sure has its advantages - for instance, I spent 9am-10am yesterday working on ways to refine my current journalling software, rather than doing actual work. I can't really get quite that sidetracked with pen+paper (or at least, I can't do it as much - I'm sure I could still waste time optimising the correct note-taking procedure &c). I'm assuming you've seen this then? It's basically lists + some additional bit and bobs to keep things on track. While it was originally made for the 2000s-era manger, a decent amount of it is applicable to modern knowledge work, which is handy. The above-linked bullet journal also deals with a lot of the whole "I need to do these four things today" while also allowing for more stuff to come along and even giving you some room for daylogging. I think there's a definite divide between "actionable" stuff (project notes, lists of next actions, shopping lists) and "reference/archive" (thoughts and reactions, mementos, etc.). And while you can combine the two, I can't help but think that decent archive material is going to get lost amongst the monotony of everyday short-term notes, and things you need to do are going to lose their urgency jammed in between recollections and stuff. I've tried note-taking on my iPad, but I've found the same - I can make quicker, more natural notes (still) on paper, plus I feel less like I'm blocking people out. If it's an important meeting I generally make sure I transcribe my notes onto the computer (often a Dropbox folder shared with the other people on the project). Actionable items end up on the task list, so I'm not paging through minutes trying to work out what to do later on. When faced with a problem in my list-making/task-doing regime, I tend to go "I know, I'll make a regularly-running shell script to take care of that!". Then, in Larry Walls, I have two problems, not one.I still haven't figured out a better way than my pen & paper journal that I now keep. I've tried every app out there, but it seems like the best way is still the pen and paper for what I want to accomplish.
My life revolves around work - therefore what I take notes on is to do lists. My personal life is now a list as well. Namely to do lists for work, personal life (groceries,etc), freelance projects, job #2, personal worky stuff (updates to my website, etc), hubski.
Journalling
Whenever I have these lists on the computer I end up deleting them to clean up (therefore no recall) or the note taking process when I'm in a meeting or having a quick conversation never makes it to the computer. I personally find it rude and annoying when people are staring at their phones and typing furiously during meetings or desk conversations.
For me, so much if journaling was visual. I would draw pictures in the margins etc. This was back in 2000-2003. Now that in look back, those drawings are as important to me as the words that accompany them. Is there a way to do something similar with the journal programs you've seen?
Preface: I'm a terrible artist, this probably colours my approach to visual art in journals (i.e. I don't tend to do it). If I were a decent artist and drawing stuff each day, I'd be tempted either to keep a separate paper journal for sketching, or maybe to do sketches in something with removable/tear-out and scan them at the end of each day. If I just liked a more visual form of writing things down, I'd probably end up with something similar to the bullet journal link above. I do have a big (probably too big, really) Moleskine softcover book for when I'm jotting down ideas that can't be summed up accurately in plain text, but things tend to get lost in there quickly. I guess I just really like the ability to search for every entry I've written where I've mentioned flaming goats and have them all appear in less than a second, is all.
I've been fortunate in that I write a TON of music/songs. I can listen to old tracks and it's just as powerful as reading my old journal entries. Just last night I found an old tune, maybe from 5 years ago, and listened to it. It immediately took me back to where I was when I wrote it, both physically and mentally. This morning I was looking through old youtube videos and found this song that I wrote about a bulimic girl I knew that was also a devout born-again christian. -Sort of like reading a journal entry about her. But I've yet to write a song about "flaming goats," maybe it's time I do!I guess I just really like the ability to search for every entry I've written where I've mentioned flaming goats and have them all appear in less than a second, is all.
I don't have that desire, mostly because I never write about flaming goats, but also because of the serendipity of manually searching through my journals. Its fun and always leads me to discover something I've forgotten about. It is a time-suck though. I'll end up spending hours nostalgically looking through old journals in search of "that one poem I wrote one night after the bar..."
Which is fine and even desirable for writing/creative endeavours! Suggests that it might be a good idea to have different systems for this vs. what insomniasexx describes (i.e. task management/project tracking) vs. "journalling" i.e. writing down thoughts on stuff or reactions to events. I realise this is probably a subconscious result of a QDB entry I read some time ago, that's stuck with me.I don't have that desire, mostly because I never write about flaming goats, but also because of the serendipity of manually searching through my journals. Its fun and always leads me to discover something I've forgotten about. It is a time-suck though. I'll end up spending hours nostalgically looking through old journals in search of "that one poem I wrote one night after the bar..."
But I've yet to write a song about "flaming goats," maybe it's time I do!
-Funny.The internet is a beautiful place....
"Because no matter what kind of twisted freak you are, you've got a friend out there :D
You could ask the internet "Find people who have sex with goats on fire."
And internet will ask you, "What kind of goats?"