My Daily Journaling

How many people start each year with the following resolution, I will write a daily journal. I guess many, but a few do. We all buy a new notepad and sometimes a new pen, and it all ends up after a couple of days and sometimes a week or two in a box under the bed. Me too, I have tried many times to start a daily journal, but I failed.

This year, it was different. Nevertheless, it is 2020. So, the preparation was different too. I started by revisiting my core values, mission, visions, and rewriting my goals, starting in November 2019. This year I wanted to write more regularly, and I decided to publish an article or two per month on my website. I thought by writing a daily journal; I would make sure that I always have a stream of ideas waiting to turn into published articles. Every day I meet new people or treat new patients. I also listen to new music, podcast, audiobook, or watch a movie, an episode, or read a new book, a newspaper article, or a blog. By writing a daily journal, I would have great material to write about.

For the first time in my life, I am now having my longest writing streak of diaries. I was always fond of quantifying personal data daily, but I have never succeeded in making it into a paragraph. I took daily notes of my sleeping hours when I was in middle school, studying hours in medical school, or running sessions later in life. However, I never wrote long paragraphs.

I decided to keep it simple to make sure I won’t stop writing any day.

• Write whatever comes to my mind about the day. Don’t overthink it.
• Don’t edit, only spelling to make sure I would be able to re-read it after.
• Whenever I forget to write on any day, I tend to write the next day morning or write it the following day. Never miss a day.
• If the day was good, I write, “thank god it was a very nice day” or “now I am writing the journal, and it feels fantastic it was a beautiful day.”
• If something bothers me during the day, I write, “today I got upset because .. “or “today I fought with…”. It helps in relieving my negative feelings and sometimes helps in seeing the real cause for the fight or anger.
• I write good habits that I did during the day, such as doing any kind of sport or reading. It helps me keep track and sustain.
• I write about my bad habits to keep track of things I want to stop or at least to make sure that they not overly done.
• I write with a digital pen on my iPad with my handwriting.

Journaling each day helped me to manage myself on many levels, and I advise you to start now and don’t wait for January 2021.

Share with me your thoughts on journaling, your routine, or advice.