I started out 2020 strong with a whole new {pretty heavy} journalling routine. Back in high school, I used to blog every day (possibly multiple times a day), and it really helped me process the day. I'm still in the process of archiving my old Blogger blog, and some entries were really good to come back to, for me to see the progress that I've had since then.
(Granted, 90% of the blog was just an early, longer version of Twitter where I dumped all my weird internal monologue and is very cringey to look back on. But there are some good nuggets in there).
So without further ado, here is my 2020 journalling routine. Which I can now call a routine because I've done each component at least 3x.
1. The daily morning journal
What & How
Morning pages where I dump my thoughts for 10 minutes
I try to include reflections on my goals for that day, including one strive goal (i.e., if nothing goes wrong and I still have time) and one definite goal (i.e., minimum that I need done)
Google docs, I add new entries at the top every day
Why:
Doing morning pages really helps me a) get geared up for the day and b) clear my mind of self-doubt. b) is especially helpful because it helps me lockdown and identify these thinking patterns and challenge whether they play a role in my life
I do mine digitally, which is different from the usual recommendations! (See the end of this post for the classic morning pages from Lavendaire) -- I do this because my typing speed is close to my thinking speed, especially my morning speed and I like seeing my thoughts visualized.
I get really frustrated writing things out by hand because I think a lot faster than I write and sometimes I want to write so fast that I can't go back and read what I've written. So that's why.
2. The daily "evening" journal
What & How:
I have a custom 5am to 11pm calendar that I printed from staples
It shows the entire week, at 1hour increments
I track the activity that took up the most time during that section
I also give a little symbol to represent how the hour made me feel: + = positive, ø = neutral, - = negative)
I jot down 3 things I'm grateful for that day
Why:
The idea of reflecting on +ve things that happened today to counteract my by default negative filter
I'm also tracking the types of activities that energize me vs. drain me. It helps inform me how I should plan my ideas (i.e., don't leave the heavy work towards the end of the day), and help me reflect on whether the draining stuff is worth it in the long run or whether I'm just doing it because other people are doing it also/ I feel some invisible social pressure to conform
I use a custom printed "agenda/planner" layout because too many agendas pretend that weekends don't exist and I don't vibe with that at all.
3. The weekly reflection
What & How:
(I repurposed and old lab notebook from undergrad for this loool so the first 50 pages of this journal are lab meeting notes but we'll ignore that)
Every Sat (though usually I procrastinate and do it on Sunday)
Section 1: reflect on my 3 intentions of the year (i.e., clinical skills, finish phd and self-care), and track how much time I spent on these intentions (which I tabulate from #2).
Section 2: reflect on a) what's working/ what do we celebrate this week?, b) what's not working, what should we let go of?, c) schedule + make time for what's important in the upcoming week
Why:
This helps me reflect on whether I'm still living according to my values, because life sometimes throws a lot of stuff at you and you kind of knee-jerk say yes and go with the flow
On top of daily gratitude, I'm making the time to celebrate the good things !!! Especially sometimes it's hard to celebrate at the end of the day because I'm T I R E D
I'm also making the time to honour and let go of things that aren't working, so that I can make time to say yes to the things that I want to do.
I love this journalling time each weekend tbh, I LOVE IT
4. The monthly check-in
What &How:
I use IG: heyamberrae's (see resources in the footer for the March reflection prompt) monthly reflection prompts
Why:
She makes such an aesthetic monthly prompt and is so consistent in posting these
I no longer do them though, although I do use her reflection prompts to guide my weekly ones -- I realized I actually preferred the more frequent check-ins
It's not the end of this though, I foresee that if things calm down for me in the future that I might revert back to a sparser monthly check-in
5. The weekly blog
What & How:
That's you!
I learned to stop oversharing every small thought that came to my head on a blog because I soon realized that blogs have tangible storage limits and I ran out VERY quickly (I use twitter now, oops)
I jot down notes and ideas of things that really impacted my life that I want to share with other people!
Why:
Honestly, because my very supportive friend E. suggested it
Also because I honestly really enjoyed blogging in high school and wanted to continue the habit of sharing ideas
I just needed it to not be associated with my google storage (i.e., blogger) because man, I also hoard a lot of files on google drive (oops)
6. Talkspace therapy
What:
2x daily text-based check-ins with a licensed therapist
I'm on the monthly plan that's $49USD/month and features a weekly check-in, but my therapist checks in 2x a day regardless, we just converse in smaller quantities and this feels more like a text message convo than like, the full plan, which felt more like emailing
Shameless plug but here's my promo code: https://talkspace.com/invite/1317883?p=2.
(Full disclosure: we both get $250* off the next plan if you use this link)
Why:
I see it more as maintenance therapy where if something arises and I don't know how to apply a skill, I have someone to check-in with to stay on track
It's also keeping me accountable TO check-in with myself on a regular basis on how my mental health is, instead of focussing on this eternal grind of academia where I become this emotionless productivity machine
7. My art scratchpad/ journal
What & How:
I have a little ikea notebook where I just draw and write ideas that aren't typable
It was my old morning pages notebook before I swapped back to doing an online typed one
I use a date stamp like this one to stamp the date bc I'm a fancy pants
Why:
Not all ideas can be typed and sometimes I just need to doodle as a mindfulness meditation thing
8. Research journal
What & How:
Google doc (this is where the idea of my digital morning pages came from)
I document everything in the science process, almost like a chemistry lab book, but more intense
In my research, this looks like: documenting all research related meetings, talks I attend (ideas and names and contacts!), ideas that I don't have energy or resources to do right now, rationales behind decisions made (e.g., why we set 2.0 as an arbitrary threshold and the exact citation and link to paper for THAT specific choice).
It's in google docs so I can ctrl+f easily and find the decision
It's also where I make research to do lists now e.g., if I need to visualize the steps I need to do for an analysis, or document where I saved something, then 1) I'm helping myself stay on track, and 2) if I get asked 5 years and 3 months later what parameter I entered into an analysis and it's not recreatable from the code I can consult my to do list to be like hey, I set it as this
Why:
The google docs idea of adding a new entry to the top is actually inspired by EMR (electronic medical records) systems that I've worked with
I REALLY LOVE THE IDEA of having a system where you can just add entries, tag different things, etc. and just document things and I was like, no one cares, but I need an EMR system for my internal thoughts
And thus the google doc of internal monologue of research thoughts was born, documenting all of my meetings, questions, important emails, successes, rationales, etc.
9. Budget journal
What & How:
Another one of those adorable ikea notebooks
I tape receipts to each page and reflect on each purchase
Specifically, I reflect on a) whether it was a planned purchase and whether it's a planned purchase I want to continue forward in my budget and b) if it's unplanned whether I should PLAN for it next time / whether there are alternatives that I can make more readily available so next time I resort to the alternative more easily than fall back into the habit of spending money
Why:
Wow, this was a long post so I'm going to wrap it here. Let me know what kind of journalling you already do or whether you have suggestions / resources that you really like!
Resources I recommend: