Journaling reflections
Oh, it was to be expected: tragically, the free days passed quickly, and after the weekend, it’s back to studying.
I have researched how to document, learn, memorize, and reflect more effectively and better, specifically through writing. Although I don’t draw much anymore, I have kept up with journaling. It has changed somewhat, but it is still something I practice often and enjoy.
My Last Journal Was Blank...
My favorite notebooks have dot grids or are squared. I also find lined paper nice if I would only be writing. However, for my purposes, it’s less suitable because I often play with the layout, draw boxes and borders, and sometimes divide the text into columns. This year, I bought a blank sketchbook to use as a journal which you can see above. I wanted to see if my taste in this regard had changed. Normally, I only buy blank books when they are purely sketchbooks. I struggle to tolerate it when my text doesn’t follow a certain structure. Different line spacings or descending and ascending lines are particularly disturbing to me. Yes — I have tried placing a lined sheet underneath or drawing lines beforehand. It worked somewhat, but for my taste, it was too problematic. For the fact that achieving a truly clean and uniform result is difficult, I find it just too labor-intensive to draw the lines myself. Placing a lined sheet underneath (which I still have from an old journal, for emergencies) served its purpose as long as I taped it to the back of the page to be written on, so it wouldn’t shift. However, it became difficult when one side was already written on or something was stuck there (like a sticker or a post-it, for example), or when I had drawn something. Then the lines were hardly recognizable or only partially visible.
Surprisingly, I still managed to fill the book somehow, but I was glad when I could finally finish it.
Changes in My Journaling Technique This Year
How I write has nothing to do with the page grid or its absence, but rather with the changes in my life. How I keep my diaries or journals has changed over the years, but the most recent established approach was: a cover page for each month, a few trackers to keep an overview of things that are currently important to me, or that I want to track for other reasons (like how often do I...?), and then I always took time to focus on the journal for a while, every day. This was mostly in the morning, sometimes in the evening. I would, for example, decorate my page(s) a bit and write a little or a little more. The writing part was like a classic diary where I wrote about my day. So quite simple: what happened on that day, how it was, and how I was feeling.
Since my retraining, I have no time for extras in the morning, only for the essentials — which includes breakfast. In the evenings, I eat first and then, based on experience, I don’t sit down to write or draw anymore. I’m tired, and the evening goes by quickly. During the retraining, it was mainly in class that the journal got filled. But not with reports about how my day was, rather with notes or paragraphs on learned topics, keyboard shortcuts, or addresses to website finds. I might have some time to write during breaks, but probably not, as I usually have other things to do during breaks. So, my journaling has changed simply because that’s how it turned out. The monthly covers are still a thing though, the trackers are reduced.
Now I want to use the direction I’ve been led to and improve my approach to get more out of my journal. I want to use my writing more effectively, formulate more clearly, think deeper, analyze, and regularly compile the information. I believe this will help me in the long run, both personally and in IT. To this end, I have watched some videos from YouTubers who also journal but have different approaches than I do. The videos I found most interesting were The Best Learning Tool in History - 400 years ahead of its time! by Python Programmer, Writing over Infinite Scrolling | Journal like a Scientist by Charlotte Fraza, and How to Journal (& Think) like a Philosopher by ParkNotes. I made my own notes on these videos and summarized what I want to adopt (without guarantee):
Experiment Documentation
- Questions and Answers
- Successes and Failures
- Hypotheses, Methods, and Results
Resource Logging
- Documentation of any resources
Brain Dump
- Capturing all information gathered during the day (set a time limit)
Continuous Recording
- Write down ideas as soon as they come. Don’t wait!
Weekly Reflection
- Sort and organize all recordings. Best kept separate, for example in Notion or here in the blog.
Some of these points seem difficult to implement, but it’s worth trying. What I find particularly useful is the weekly reflection, so I gather everything in case I want to look back later. Now I would have to flip through my old journals without knowing exactly where I wrote what (at some point, maybe?).
My new journal is squared again. I like that the grid is subtle and the squares are small. To conclude, I want to say something about the journals I buy. This is my opinion, but Moleskine and Leuchtturm are simply too expensive here in Germany and I because of that I would categorize them as "overrated". I used to like buying Leuchtturm, but the paper quality has declined, and the price has increased. Now the paper is no longer outstanding, the number of pages is only moderate, but the price is relatively high. Moleskine may have slightly better paper, but it’s even more expensive. In between, I have tried several others and found a favorite (which is not what I currently have). So far, I liked the Nitoms STALOGY 365-Day Notebook the best. Good size and many pages, so it doesn’t fill up quickly, making the price worth it. The only downside for me: the paper — though it feels and looks nice — is quite thin, and most of my pens bleed through. However, the Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.05 and pastel colors have proven to work well; there are no problems in that combination.
When I’m done with the current journal, I’ll decide whether to try something new, buy the same one again, or return to Stalogy.
Music: In Hell I'll Be In Good Company - The Dead South
Mood: content