Journal Technique

[edgitarra]

I was thinking about creating a method that could be useful for writing my journal. I developed this idea(it might be already available, I am not sure), if anyone has opinions or something that could add to make it more easier, it would be just great!

Here it is:

Write a resume of every day (in the evening, or whenever there is time during the day, and then put the pieces together).
So you have 7 days which have 7 resumes. One will read them every day, during the week, so as days pass the number of resumes to read increases, reaching to the point where one will have to read 7 resumes at the end of the week (Monday – 1, next 2(from Monday as well), 3 and so on). One will not read in the next week the resumes from the week that passed.

At the end of each week (Sunday), write a resume which contains dominant points, traits behaviors that happened during the week.
As a total, there will be 4 resumes per month.

Next step is to create 1 resume per month made from those 4 weekly resumes that represent major traits, behaviors, dominant aspects etc.
This will be done for the first 6 months; when reached 6 months one will try to create an analysis from these resumes, as find out why certain behaviors, dominant points, manifest themselves.
If the analysis is valid (finding the real cause) afterwards one will try to find some solutions, to try to fix some aspects. In the next 6 months one will write the journal in the same way, and observe if any changes were made. This can be done as long as one wishes to reach his aims.

I hope it helps those who want to write journals! Ed

 

[nicklebleu]

That's quite a nice idea! Thanks for sharing, edgitarra.

 

[sacriface]

That sounds like a very good idea.

Considered journalling myself, and couldn't really stick to it, sometimes because of the mood, daily affairs, etc.

And as I read your idea for it, it came to me, this might be the thing! Structure!
A coherent plan that keeps the emotion at bay during the process, a kinda more cold-blooded observation, knowing what to look for, repetitive things and traits, etc. instead of getting oneself to start writing and, if one isn't a writer type, it might be difficult and take much time if one doesn't know what exactly to look for.

Thanks for sharing this, Edgitarra.


Edit: A good part of it is also, the resumes of longer divisions of time, helping to sift through the daily patterns without many hours of reading daily journals after a fw months, etc. V.cool

 

[Zadius Sky]

Very interesting, edgitarra.

At first, I thought you were referring to a résumé that is involved with a job search because I had written job résumé everyday for about a month last year or so on many different job position to determine my "values" in that position and put one set of these résumés under "less likely to get this job" and other set under "mostly like to get this job." It was a good exercise, at least for me.

Then, I thought about a résumé using an autobiographical material, but only using emotional aspects of it, not only what you did in any given year. In the top of the sheet would be your information, then current situation, then formation (years when you were "educated" and how you felt about it), then experiences (what happened, trauma and whatnot, good vs. bad, and how they affect you), and others like tendencies or addictions. It was sort of an outline before writing an autobiography.

But, writing a résumé every day, just for a given week, just might prove useful. :)

 

[edgitarra]

I was referring to resume as a conclusion of the day, what one can remember from during the day, anything he can include from what happened to him every day, and how he reacted.

I also thought adding as a conclusion the fact that, after having the monthly conclusions/resumes, after 12 resumes(first 6 of collecting data, pause to analyze and find the causes, then try to create solution, and after 6 months of collecting data as well and also applying the solutions), one can have big final resume of the year. So that can be yearly conclusions, resumes etc.

 

[davey72]

I was referring to resume as a conclusion of the day, what one can remember from during the day, anything he can include from what happened to him every day, and how he reacted.

I also thought adding as a conclusion the fact that, after having the monthly conclusions/resumes, after 12 resumes(first 6 of collecting data, pause to analyze and find the causes, then try to create solution, and after 6 months of collecting data as well and also applying the solutions), one can have big final resume of the year. So that can be yearly conclusions, resumes etc.

As has already been said, this may just be the thing for me as well. Seems like a great idea. Do you have some sort of outline you may be able to share?

 

[edgitarra]

I made an outline in Paint. Hopefully you will understand!

To see the image in high resolution, just right click on the image to save it. In this way it will be easier to understand.


I also created a legend, down in the left. Unfortunately I don't a better program now. If you don't understand just let me know and I will redo.
ed

 

[sacriface]

Seems very legit to me.
Thank you for that tool.
Geting a notebook tomorrow.

 

[edgitarra]

It is good that one is free to use a notebook, or a computer etc.
I started using it on my computer, so i structured it this way:

I created a main folder named Journal. In that folder I created 6 sub-folders:

- Weekly Journal -> each file from this folder contains every week collected data{every file[I use Microsoft Word] is named "Journal Week No.[number of the week, e.g. Week 1, Week 2 and so on] and it contains all the written data from each day, e.g. "Journal Week 1 contains all the days in that week I have collected data from}; it is better also to add to each file the period of the week: e.g. Journal Week 1 - 23.02-02.03/2014
- Weekly Conclusions -> each file from this folder contains every week conclusions[e.g. Week 1 Conclusions.doc(Microsoft Word file type), Week 2 Conclusions and so on];
- Monthly Conclusions ->each file from this folder contains every month conclusions which were collected from the weekly conclusions during a month(e.g. Month 1 Conclusions, Month 2 Conclusions and so on); Months could be named instead of attributing numbers: February 2014 Conclusions and so on.
- First 6 months Analysis + Solutions - this folder contains files with analysis from 6 months(a collection of conclusions, where analysis could be written in the same file, and possible solutions). The word file could be named First 6 months(Feb-July) Analysis&Solutions.
- Next 6 months Analysis and Conclusion - this folder could contain an analysis and a conclusion to check if the solutions from the past 6 months resolved the problem.
- Anual conclusions - each file could be named Anual Conclusion 2014, and so on. It can contain what still remained in ones behavior, manifestations etc. and it can also contain an analysis, and creation of more improved solutions.

One can have many folders depending on how he wants to extend it. It could be from 5 to 5 years, 10 or so, and it is also good to see how much it takes to develop oneself better.


Hope this helps! Ed

 

[HowToBe]

This is a very cool idea! A very scientific approach to journaling, it seems to me. The fractal-like structure creates regular reminders of previous observations, while also helping to distill one's impressions over time into those considered most important. It seems like the annual conclusion would be quite information-dense as a result of this process. It also seems like it would really set the unconscious stage for "aha!" moments.

 

[happyliza]

I very much like this idea. I choose to do it in written format as it is lighter to keep a notepad with me rather than my laptop.

I am interested to know what headings to use re the work. May be a good idea to keep things standardized?

For the time being I have been using the headings below but maybe a bit too vague so would appreciate feedback on this:

Achievement Task/Aim
Trauma/Cognitive
Health/Diet
The Work
Feelings/Emotioins
Inner Stability/Balance
Sleep
EE
Jobs/tasks achieved
Relationships/STO
Comments
Overall/General

I feel better headings will give more clarity to our aims, and don't feel my headings totally align with the Work at present. They feel a bit too hazy.

 

[sacriface]

I am interested to know what headings to use re the work. May be a good idea to keep things standardized?

I feel better headings will give more clarity to our aims, and don't feel my headings totally align with the Work at present. They feel a bit too hazy.

I approached it in a looser way at first, have been doing this only for about week and a half, though. More like "let's write, and see what patterns come up", detect, reflect and act on them. But that's just the start, headings could be a good idea too as the journalling acquires more data and detail. Depends what one is looking for, I guess? Already found the "aha!" moments budding :)

It would seem to me that you have fairly specified headings, and in a pretty good alignment with the Work.
What's the you'd like to change them? Or add more?

 

[edgitarra]

I very much like this idea. I choose to do it in written format as it is lighter to keep a notepad with me rather than my laptop.

I am interested to know what headings to use re the work. May be a good idea to keep things standardized?

For the time being I have been using the headings below but maybe a bit too vague so would appreciate feedback on this:

Achievement Task/Aim
Trauma/Cognitive
Health/Diet
The Work
Feelings/Emotioins
Inner Stability/Balance
Sleep
EE
Jobs/tasks achieved
Relationships/STO
Comments
Overall/General

I feel better headings will give more clarity to our aims, and don't feel my headings totally align with the Work at present. They feel a bit too hazy.

I personally like your headings, for example I just tried to keep a track of what I was doing daily, what thoughts I had that I could remember, feelings/ emotions. But I stopped, because I would like to simplify it. Only one day resume takes about 4-5 pages in Microsoft Word(on fontsize 12), so that at the end of the week it becomes to hard to re-read as it gets as big as a short novel. I would like to use the technique but take more care of the content and its size.

I think it is mostly your choice, what aims you want to attain. One might have an issue to repair, but another doesn't need it. I think that the technique can be very flexible(content, intentions), what is more necessary to keep is just the weekly, then monthly and yearly track. It is very easy to see what is fixed within or what is going to be fixed, or if the solutions worked for previous issues etc.

 

[HowToBe]

I personally like your headings, for example I just tried to keep a track of what I was doing daily, what thoughts I had that I could remember, feelings/ emotions. But I stopped, because I would like to simplify it. Only one day resume takes about 4-5 pages in Microsoft Word(on fontsize 12), so that at the end of the week it becomes to hard to re-read as it gets as big as a short novel. I would like to use the technique but take more care of the content and its size.

I think it is mostly your choice, what aims you want to attain. One might have an issue to repair, but another doesn't need it. I think that the technique can be very flexible(content, intentions), what is more necessary to keep is just the weekly, then monthly and yearly track. It is very easy to see what is fixed within or what is going to be fixed, or if the solutions worked for previous issues etc.

I can completely relate. At present my journalling is basically done whenever I have a pressing issue that either requires planning/organization of thoughts, or an emotional issue that needs exploring. I also record interesting dreams. Here's the kicker: It takes me roughly one hour per handwritten page (very roughly 370 words as it's a large journal.) What about you guys? I usually feel the need to write at least one page, sometimes up to three or more, so it's time consuming, and not practical to do every day. I think it's partly perfectionism issues when writing and describing things, but also I've always been naturally slow at writing, although I enjoy it.
I also like to record my dreams sometimes and analyze them, which has the same problem of time/energy spent.
Maybe part of what's needed is an Aim to help prioritize what should be recorded? And then not being afraid to toss grammar out the window if necessary for efficiency? I'm not sure.

To combat my slowness when writing, I've been thinking about developing a special system for everyday records. I haven't actually developed it yet, but I call the idea a "symbolic journal", where in this case symbol basically means abbreviation. The idea is to figure out a way of using abbreviations and maybe even charts to give the gist of how a day went, physically, emotionally, mentally, progress-wise, maybe a simplified idea of what you ate that day, and whatever else is useful, such as Benjamin Franklin's journaling technique for developing virtue: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,26247.msg314570.html#msg314570
The idea is to establish a compact format ahead of time which can be filled in each day as if recording data on a scientific experiment. So you wouldn't have all the details about the day written down, but you would have to think about the day, your accomplishments and failures, the fact that your alertness was only a 5 out of ten today and you also had coconut for breakfast, or you've just experienced a big shock and today your self-remembering is a 9, or whatever. Might be crude, or it might be useful. The tricky thing is developing a useful format.

Getting back to the main topic, one could even do weekly/monthly/yearly I-Ching readings, if so inclined. Could be interesting. I'm not clear, though, on whether I-Ching comes with the same sort of warnings that go with using the ouija board or not, so I'd do my homework first.

 

[edgitarra]

To combat my slowness when writing, I've been thinking about developing a special system for everyday records. I haven't actually developed it yet, but I call the idea a "symbolic journal", where in this case symbol basically means abbreviation. The idea is to figure out a way of using abbreviations and maybe even charts to give the gist of how a day went, physically, emotionally, mentally, progress-wise, maybe a simplified idea of what you ate that day, and whatever else is useful, such as Benjamin Franklin's journaling technique for developing virtue: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,26247.msg314570.html#msg314570

I also thought sometimes at this. Basically it could be like a language that one would learn it and then using it. It could start with abbreviating the days,week, years(D7W2Y'92), and then some headings, in a branch system:

*Physical(Maybe a rating from 1 to 10, and a short description of why that rating):
- Fitness/Energy(1 til 10, short description)
- Food(One could plan a day before the type of food and the amounts, otherwise he will note why he eat more, or other stuff than previously planned)
- Water
- Injuries(if to be mentioned, this also shows how one cannot pay enough attention)

*Emotional/Feelings(with possible rating/intensity):
- Moods(and trying to see what was behind the moods, maybe combined with an analysis of thoughts in that moment)
- Feelings(analogue)
*Mental(rating again):
- Conscious thoughts
- Automatic thoughts, prejudicies
- Contradictions

*Progress-Wise(I think this depends on what a person wants to attain)

It is pretty difficult to create a simple language for short writing, unless you think of a tree and how it's branches develop in a fractal pattern. This language could be combined with numbers(quantities/intensities etc), colours(that could define how it can be suited with a mood), maybe even the use of music(not how one wants to hear it, but expressing how he feels in a moment).

One can also have a voice recorder put in a pocket, and could it be used for specific events to analyze in detail how one behaved when he didn't pay attention to what he said(external consideration), or when one has automatic thoughts, or negative thoughts to spell them in order to hear them coming from his mouth(brings a greater realization to what is in his mind).