Journaling techniques

[StarStruck]

Do you guys use any techniques or a model when journaling? What do you track? Are you consisted? I'm interested to know how others journal.

[Lyubov]

I have a few ways I journal

- Future self: I write about and envision aspects of myself I wish to grow into. This can be powerful if you aren't always feeling a certain way or if you are feeling stuck. You can basically write love letter to yourself from a higher place while feeling low.

- Gratitude: Always powerful, write about things you are thankful for. 

- Honest feelings journal: This is good for shadow content or stuff about yourself that confuses you. Write exactly how you feel about something, the emotions, pay attention to how your body feels and stay in the present moment, essentially talk therapy in journal form. 

- Affirmations: Write out things that are positive about yourself and aid in your growth. Write them so you feel they are honest and are things you feel you accept. If you feel huge resistance to them start with ones you feel you can accept and repeat to yourself. You can also journal about the blockages that come up "IE: I am lovable" if a block comes up when repeating this explore that blockage through writing. 

[IJB063]

1 hour ago, StarStruck said:

Do you guys use any techniques or a model when journaling? What do you track? Are you consisted? I'm interested to know how others journal.

@StarStruck Hey buddy, I did a post on this linked here if you’re interested 

When I journal I do it on my phone mostly, in a common place book, with an app called OneNote. When I want to polish my OneNote yo I use my computer (currently broken and I can’t get it fixed with covid).

“Physically writing out your journal entries activates your brain more and leads to greater beneficial effects for behaviour change.” So if you’re interested in journaling that seems like a good idea, but I feel it would be a pain in the ass. And you can’t link articles, or quotes, images, videos, podcasts, studies etc... with a physical journal so that’s a downside.

As @Lyubov mentions 

Affirmations are good, though I think there is no need for a journal necessarily for this, I find affirmation better to be said in front of a mirror as though they are a mantra so they really sink deep into your fucking head

Writing what your grateful about is a good way to appreciate life more, and the things you have

Setting goals are good / visualisations etc...

”Honest feelings journal” - is good, what I do is I have a topic or question than I either do long form writing to that who immediately appears in my mind. Or sit down and record myself talking via voice memos and play it back and distill and writes about the best bits. That coupled with marijuana I find to be where I do most of my introspection. There’s no need to over complicate the process of journaling, just keep it simple and intuitive.

[Oliver Saavedra]

Sometimes I just write whatever my mind is processing in the moment, feels like vomiting haha, but its not about what you write, is about the process of sitting and doing it that makes your brain better understand it and make connections to then catch insight. I do this on computer. 

But also, journaling on a notebook is so cool and free, I recommend using different colors so your brain gets more stimulus and makes better connections. You can write whole sentences or just keywords, connect them with lines, arrows, or any figure that makes you understand what you're thinking or feeling. Also drawing on it is so good. 

By this point my journaling is like mind-mapping, I have so much fun doing it and my mind has developed its own language and way of making connections. It also improves memory and creativity.

As a start, you can just begin asking yourself a question and writing-drawing whatever comes to mind. Try not to overthink before writing, you have to let yourself go, because your intuition-subconscious know more about what is going on than "you", so allow yourself to write whatever comes first.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Oliver Saavedra

[mandyjw]

I just write what I feel like, when I feel like it. My journal pulls synchronicity from things that inspire me in life together and makes it really apparent without me really doing anything, connections are made on their own. Writing my thoughts out and seeing them in form in front of me changes my awareness of them and just this is really powerful. Having an intention for your journal is really good too especially if you aren't naturally inspired to write. 

[Preety_India]

 

I just write what pops in my head. This gets my creativity flowing. I go into beast mode when I'm on a writing streak. There is no rule to my journaling. I work through chaos to order. 

 

[Elton]

@StarStruck track the most important activities for me, in terms of if it's done or not and how many minutes I spend on it. 

Emotions.

10000 k app, remente app, goal tracker app.

Notes from whatever I learn in one note.

One note is the meta journal. Life transforming.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Elton

[StarStruck]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm using OneNote. Sometimes I have trouble coming up with topics to write about. The problem is that there are topics but I'm not aware of what is going on in my head.

What I noticed that it is important to go deep into topics and not stay on the service level. I think this is called going meta. This is something my mind really like to do. I rather browse on the net or do something else to distract myself instead of being aware what is going on in my head.

I recently bought a more comfortable phone. I'm going to try to keep track of my automatic thoughts. These thoughts are so rapid that most of the time I'm not even aware of them. The problem with that is that I can be stuck in my own web of thoughts. Especially because I'm negative minded. Before opening this topic i checked my daily journal and I noticed that most of my entries were so similar. This is probably why journaling is something I dont like to do. I don't get a lot of return on invesment. I'm going to implement the tips I got in this topic and I hope that will bring a change.

[IJB063]

@StarStruck

If you want to be more aware of your thoughts, set reminders on your phone to notify you to write them down occasionally, that’s personally what I do

If your struggling on what topics to write about read more 

You can write only about what you know, so learn something 

BUT, don’t read too much, reading too much robs the mind of elasticity, the best way to make sure you have no thoughts of your own is to read/listen to a podcast etc... every time you have a free moment

Read to kindle thought, and then when thoughts dry up, then you can read some more

That way your thoughts are your own and the journal is your own

I’ve had issues when writing about topics where I’m practically just putting down the opinions of someone else.

Also screenshot video timestamp and specific quotations in articles or on blogs, and organise those photos in to distinct categories for your journal, that way you don’t lose interesting thoughts when they presents themselves 

Ypull get your ROIs way later on with a journal, it’ll come in the form of greater clarity throughout your day, just stick with it

Edited May 24, 2020 by IJB063

[StarStruck]

@IJB063 I'm addicted to content. I consume much more books/podcasts and other multimedia than I write about it or contemplate about it.

I tried to stop with consuming information and I notice it is very hard. Probably it is a good idea to go cold turkey and stop with books, youtube and podcasts for a while but it is very hard. There is thus negative sensation in my body if I don't indulge in my addiction.

Self help has become a form of escapism for me. I think my first priority should be to heal the addiction for information and then create a healthy balance between consuming information and self-actualization.

I'm not sure how I'm going to do this. I have to turn inwards. That is what I know and then get my hands dirty. Just being present and deal with life is something I have been neglecting. It is so much easier to neglect the present and indulge in endless self-help material.

[Jacobsrw]

@StarStruck I journal every day and approach it varyingly. In the morning a journal in response to a question and night I journal as a reflective analysis of my day.

For morning journal entries, ask yourself direct, specific questions.

I use to call this “Question of the Day”. This is where I would state a question and respond to it in following. Eg. What do I fear? What continues to be my biggest sticking point?

For the evening, reflect on the events of your day and your responses to them. What behaviours did you enact? What were the main feelings you had. What were your prevailing mind patterns. Write these down. You will find much value in doing this. Since most of it becomes forgotten quickly and never considered again.

Ensure you are consistent, this is important. I recommend doing it daily. Use a journal as record keeping it will much more accurately record your developments and changes than purely your own mind.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Jacobsrw

[innerchild]

@Oliver Saavedra I just like your point of using colored journals for various purposes. Of course, I write whatever comes to my mind on my random journals. I also keep a log of journal on momentary thoughts, emotions and feelings.

Did you consider contemplation as a part of journaling or have any distinction between these two?.

Have you ever tried or having a dream journal?. Yes, it's really fascinating to record your dreams and lookup in a distant future!..

Just asking, have you experienced any sort of tremor or shakiness while writing long journal?. I really love to maintain any sort of physical journal. But, I have lots of shakiness due to my enormous stress levels!.

I think digital journaling is quite faster and gets my job done far better than with a pen and paper...

[innerchild]

@StarStruck So, I also have a same problem like you, for me I have a love and cravings for journaling and Youtube. No matter what I do I'll either turn into Youtube or get addicted over some other form of consumption (like music, food and lot of other shit).

But, you can try many amazing plugins like Adblock, uBlock Origin, Blocksite in order to get rid of some specific sites or segments of the site. uBlocks helps me alot in removing particular section of Youtube. I've successfully purged of many unwanted and most rewarding sections like 'Recommended', 'Comments', 'Trending' and so on...

You can also try app called Freedom. It'll let you block sites and apps for a particular time.

I've tried cold turkey a couple of times. The tricky side of addiction is, if you ignore a set of things, your mind jumps onto other thing. In my case if I abstain over Youtube, music, and such things. It becomes so condusive to become addicted for ignoring things!..

So, it feels very hard to watch or listen to music after a long period of cold turkey or renouncement. So be cautious of it.

[IJB063]

@StarStruck @innerchild
I share a similar problem with being addicted to content

I don’t believe one should install apps, what’s negative is the willing action to visit a site, if you make it more difficult to do that, you’ll generally just find a workaround, it’s the intention that matters, what instead you should do is set notes and reminders for why it is you are doing what it is you are doing, so when you have the desire to visit a site you’re reminded as to why you shouldn’t 

The issue with overindulging in books, podcasts etc... is that you never really have a thought of your own, you’re always spoon fed your ideas

Its interesting that you see that self help content is addictive to you, it’s generally easier to sit around and contemplate than it is to actualise your theories 

There was a Leo video on the topic of addiction were he’d said something along the lines that a good definition for self help is removing addictions, the less youre addicted to things the more self actualised you are as a man or as a woman, so it’s quite paradoxical to be addicted to self help, am I becoming more self actualised by stopping my process of self actualisation

No, obviously not, because when you sit around and read and listen to self help content, you’re not really self actualising, you’re just fart sniffing, because you’re not implementing what you should be doing

What needs to be do is actually real simple, exercise, meditate, read, pursue something recreationally creative e.g. music etc... and don’t indulge base impulses e.g. mindless television, drugs, junk food etc...

The mind likes to complicate things as justification to not do what needs to be done, but at the end of the day, your only shooting yourself in the foot

I believe one of the main benefits to journaling is to make that abundantly clear to yourself, so you stop fucking yourself

There are no excuses for your own failure, that applies as much to me as it does to you, we just have to put in the work

In the great words of Abraham Lincoln 

 “nut up or shut up”

 

[Oliver Saavedra]

@innerchild @StarStruck

Oh guys I feel you totally, I also find myself addicted to new information, I love learning so I unconsciously masturbate my mind in youtube, books and courses. 

Seems to me like a false sense of accomplishment, an escapism to actual practice. 

Everytime your brain gets novelty it has a spike of dopamine, that's how social networks get you hooked. Scroll-novelty-reward-repeat. Same process applies to us but in another context. 

We're addicts and need to accept it, addicted to mental masturbation, we're "self-help junkies" as Leo used to call his tribe. 

Here my strategy, if you could share yours would be nice too:

I'm applying dopamine detox some days to unhook my brain, so getting a full day with my phone off some days a week is helping. No novelty is the name of the game, and when I got my phone I instantly want to search and scroll on new things. 

Also doing 24-hour fasting which also does detox to my body and and brain, helps a lot to get rid of cravings.

Redirect attention is another one, which is about being fully aware and understanding my emotional-physical-mental and behavioral patterns of addiction, and as they go through interrupt them and change my attention to something more. Replace the habit with another one. Awareness + something healthier. 

Also stop every action and stare into the void. Do nothing but be aware, notice the emptiness you're trying to fill in with your addiction. Get massaged by the sensation of being without doing. 

Make a sacrifice to free yourself. Acknowledge that you want to stop doing this, remind yourself why are you doing it, do some affirmations and visualize how you and your life would be different. 

Remember you're learning, be fully present, enjoy the process and be compassionate with yourself, don't punish and guilt yourself for not being what you "should be", control doesn't work in the long term, so better make your changes gradual. 

much Love to All ?

Edited May 25, 2020 by Oliver Saavedra

[EternalForest]

@StarStruck I journal when I really feel like I have something to say, usually once a week. I find it allows me to be more passionate in my writing, getting the whole week out in one session. It also helps me realize what's most important, the petty stuff from the week falls away and I tend write about the most important emotions/events. Sometimes instead of writing I'll also record myself talking for 20 minutes, that's great if you want to go unfiltered.

That's just my method!