My Journalling Ecosystem
How do you record thoughts, ideas and fun facts.
I spent all my time on holiday without an internet connection, can you imagine? However, once I calmed the kids down from being disconnected from their games and my niece, who was about to lose a Snapchat streak—don't ask; I have no idea—it was strangely liberating.
One of the things I did a lot of was writing and journaling using good old-fashioned pen and paper. I have also fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole of people showing you their journalling ecosystem, so I thought it was time I shared mine with you.
First, I want to say that all of these notebooks are for the writing side of my life. My tutoring business is run entirely digitally.
Everything Goes
This is a mini-notebook that fits in my pocket and gets typically battered. As you can see, I always try to stick one of my daughter's pictures on it to make it more personal. I also write quotes that grab me on the back cover.
This is mainly a catch-all place where I write anything from article ideas to to-do lists and shopping lists. It even sits on my bedside table for those random ideas at 2 a.m.
I also time-block in this and write down what I do in a day by the hour. It must be the crime writer in me, but I think it might be helpful one day to know exactly where I was on any day or time.
Travellers Notebook
I have three separate notebooks in this traveller's notebook. The first is my writing planner, which is the same as you would expect from any planner.
The second is my ideas notebook, where content ideas are jotted down and fleshed out.
The final notebook is my commonplace book. I am going to do a longer article on commonplace books, but in essence, it is where I store facts and quotes that interest me. These can be from books, articles or television. If they make me stop, then I write them down.
Personal Journalling
My final two books are traditional journals in which I record my thoughts, feelings and fun times with the family. I also write three things every day that I am grateful for, as well as any book thoughts and feelings I have. These are more personal observations, as quotes and analyses of the texts go into my commonplace book.
The last book is a sentence a day for five years and contains one highlight per day every year. Looking back on the previous days and seeing what my highlight was has been a lovely experience every day.
So, tell me in the comments how you journal. What is your process?
Until next week, stay safe
Sam 😊
One thing that helps toward it is to keep a diary, or, at any rate, to keep some kind of record of one’s opinions about important events - George Orwell
