In our final writers’ group meeting for 2021, we discussed journaling, its benefits, and how we could use journaling in 2022 to help us to meet our goals.
I was surprised that out of our group of over 20 writers and authors, only two members didn’t journal—and both were determined to try journaling in 2022.
Have you tried journaling? It’s a worthwhile practice, not only for writers. Studies have shown that journaling has beneficial effects on health.
Some of the most notable findings from this study were that the PAJ intervention was associated with better mental health, including lower anxiety, mental distress, and perceived stress after only 1 month…
If you’re journaling in 2022, how will you do it? You have many options. Many members of our group are committed bullet journalers.
Journaling in 2022: bullet journal, or…?
A quarter of the group were keen bullet journalers. The other journalers kept a digital journal, or a paper planner in which they journaled.
The most popular choices for the type of journal were:
Most of us are. And chances are that we’re journaling in 2022 to get a handle on the tasks which matter. Have you ever noticed that many of those urgent, essential, must-do tasks never get done? Life moves on. Things stop mattering.
Our group agreed that the ONE thing which had the most effect on our productivity and peace of mind was spending five minutes planning our day.
Each day, you could make a list of tasks which are:
Top-of-mind: “due today” tasks, those tasks which have deadlines, or which you’ve promised to do today (go to the party shop to buy paper plates and balloons);
… accept that you can reasonably get one big thing, three medium things, and five small things done. So keep your daily to-do list to just those nine items.
I haven’t tried the 1-3-5 process, but I’ve created an Obsidian template which I’ll start using on January 1.
I’d never heard of interstitial journaling, but it keeps you on track. Interstitial journaling works if you’re constantly stressed and wonder where your time is going. It’s a simple process and effective.
This minimal approach to journaling through a combination of to-do lists, links, ideas, reflections, or mood tracking is a great way to journal on the go.
I’ve only used interstitial journaling for a few days, but it’s a good way to stop yourself plunging down rabbit holes.
It’s easy to drop into a rabbit hole.
You think:
“I’ll just look that up”… Forty minutes later, you realize you’ve read ten web articles and have forgotten your original intention.
“I need to speak to Rob about managing another project this week”… Rob’s phone goes to voice mail, so you write an email message which takes you 20 minutes, and makes you late for a presentation.
“Why haven’t I organized this project? It would be so much easier if I created folders, and then…” An hour later, your project is brilliantly organized. Unfortunately, the project is due next week—and you’ve wasted an hour.
3. Track your goals in 2022 and make your dreams real
A new year is a tempting time to set New Year’s resolutions. However, after years of setting resolutions which I forgot by the end of January, I knew I needed a better process.
Her sister Catherine believes that Elaine's hair tells you everything that you need to know about her. It's flame-red. When Sir Oliver Destry trifles with Elaine, she decides on revenge. Elaine soon discovers the truth of the old saying that if you want to make the gods laugh, just tell them your plans.
