I’ve always wanted to keep a journal, but the moment I start with one, so many things come up and I just stop keeping up.
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I’ve always wanted to keep a journal, but the moment I start with one, so many things come up and I just stop keeping up.
If you need to keep up any habit, you need to have a good enough reason for it. Otherwise, you will quickly lose motivation to carry on. And this is true for everything. So, if you want to keep a journal you need to give yourself a good enough reason to keep one. It can be to record your life day-wise just so that you can look back on it in future or it can be simply to keep things recorded. The reason does not have to be good enough for everyone, it has to be important for you.
I believe once that step has been taken, the rest is just riding on a wave. It will come to you. I recommend adding pictures of important things, places you visited, people you met, food you had, anything at all. It can be your own personal instagram. Having a records of day-to-day events is a very good habit for numerous reasons. Discover why it will be beneficial to you and you will automatically find yourself finding time for doing it.
I think the reason why people are unable to keep a diary is because of the feeling of obligation. Eventually, it becomes a chore and the whole process feels kind of awkward, like you’re expected to pour your heart out into your notebook. The typical image is one of a person lying in bed at the end of the day and recollecting all the day’s events. On the other hand, when it comes to a journal, it’s basically just a record of your experiences, thoughts and maybe feelings, as and when they come to you. And that’s exactly the approach you should take to journaling.
Don’t try to organise your journal. Don’t try to make it look a certain way. Take down notes in point form, write in long prose, draw diagrams, doodle (doodling actually helps reflect your inner thoughts quite well!) – whatever comes to mind. Just ensure that things are put down onto paper. And remember to date all your entries!
If really nothing happened that day, that’s when you can do the whole lie-down-on-your-bed-and-reminisce routine. That is, if you’re determined to have a journal entry each day.
At the end of it, your journal will be an eclectic mix of different writing styles, maybe even handwritings, and different presentation methods. But it will serve as the most accurate record of your thoughts and experiences. Don’t overthink!