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Ask HN: Do you keep a journal?
If so, how long have you done so, and has it had any effect on your life? I've been keeping one for a couple months now, and I still find it to be a bit of a "chore." I document my daily work, thoughts, feelings, vent frustrations, confide to it, and monitor progress in various ways. But I have not found it to be useful other than as another distraction and pull on my time. I've read that journal-keepers are usually more productive, but I'm more productive on days I don't spend thinking about my journal.
- a_lifters_life 11y agoI do, I update it a few times a year (then its not a chore), but i can go back and look at what i was thinking about certain topics in the past (job, rel, etc).
- halpme 11y agoI use a composition notebook at work. Every day I write down a list of things I'm going to discuss at the scrum meeting, a list of things to do that day, a list of goals for that week to remind myself what I'm supposed to be doing, and then take notes on the bugs I'm working on. I'm a huge fan of diagrams and mindmaps so I fill up the pages with those, as well as notes of ideas that pop into my head or something my coworkers/boss mention that might be useful information later. At the end of the day I write a summary of what I accomplished and make any quick list of things I want to get done the next day. I can flip through pages and actually see how my progress with certain things evolves over time. Sometimes, as a self-esteem booster, I look at my notes on something I've been struggling with a few months ago, and compare it to my current state of knowledge. I also have a bad memory and get somewhat nervous during scrum, so having notes to reference when its my turn to speak is super helpful.