27 ms·

What is your specific methodology? Or is that what you mean by your next answer? Also, do you revisit your journals?

agentultra 10y ago
What is your specific methodology? Or is that what you mean by your next answer? To answer both at once: the methodology used is specific to my goals. They're specified by me and probably only work with how I approach each topic. For example, my mathematical journals are rather structured. I move between branches over time but I tend to stay focused in a single area for quite some time working on problems, derivations, and occasionally formulating simple proofs from theorems I've built up as I ask questions. Often re-inventing much of what has been discovered but the purpose of the journals is to learn the process and to make maths a habit as much as it is to document the journey. My personal journals are much more free-form. I just write stream-of-consciousness what I'm thinking as I look at the page. Also, do you revisit your journals? Often. The point of objectifying myself is to examine why I think the way I do, how opinions and habits entered my life, etc. The result of such examinations is that I can choose to change these qualities over time. The unexamined life is not worth living. The significance came to me late in life but began as child when my mortality and that of those I loved came to me in the night. Life is a horizon of filth, gore, tears, laughter... surviving. On the shores of death I do not wish to go without leaving some evidence of my journey. The pursuit of wisdom, to me, is the joy of being human.
- throwanem 10y ago
  > the methodology used is specific to my goals I strongly recommend this attitude. A tool off the shelf rarely fits the hand well; when the tool in question serves to help investigate the self, a prepackaged methodology poses the risk of shaping oneself to fit the tool, rather than the other way around.
  - stinkytaco 10y ago
    You are right, of course, but it's easier said than done. The blank page is intimidating and frustrating, so structure is often the best way to get going. It brings to mind fitness trackers, actually.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      True, but you don't necessarily need a whole lot of structure to get started. Or at least I don't; in my personal journal, I just use a headline and a timestamp, generated by means of snippet expansion, and come back later to add a proper title. My work log uses dated headlines. On the other hand, my personal journal is very freeform, and my work log is mainly a list of tasks and actions taken toward them, so I'm not sure how well that generalizes. Perhaps a useful recommendation for someone struggling to start might be this: - Spend a few minutes thinking about what you want to accomplish by journaling. - Spend a few minutes more laying out minimal structure that might help you work toward that goal. If you're working in a text or org-mode file, for example, perhaps put togther a few lines of boilerplate that you can copy and paste to start an entry. - Spend a few days working with that structure, and see how well it suits your purpose. Where it does this well, preserve and perhaps expand; where it fails, rework it. ...and iterate from there.

What is your specific methodology? Or is that what you mean by your next answer? To answer both at once: the methodology used is specific to my goals. They're specified by me and probably only work with how I approach each topic. For example, my mathematical journals are rather structured. I move between branches over time but I tend to stay focused in a single area for quite some time working on problems, derivations, and occasionally formulating simple proofs from theorems I've built up as I ask questions. Often re-inventing much of what has been discovered but the purpose of the journals is to learn the process and to make maths a habit as much as it is to document the journey. My personal journals are much more free-form. I just write stream-of-consciousness what I'm thinking as I look at the page. Also, do you revisit your journals? Often. The point of objectifying myself is to examine why I think the way I do, how opinions and habits entered my life, etc. The result of such examinations is that I can choose to change these qualities over time. The unexamined life is not worth living. The significance came to me late in life but began as child when my mortality and that of those I loved came to me in the night. Life is a horizon of filth, gore, tears, laughter... surviving. On the shores of death I do not wish to go without leaving some evidence of my journey. The pursuit of wisdom, to me, is the joy of being human.

throwanem 10y ago
> the methodology used is specific to my goals I strongly recommend this attitude. A tool off the shelf rarely fits the hand well; when the tool in question serves to help investigate the self, a prepackaged methodology poses the risk of shaping oneself to fit the tool, rather than the other way around.
- stinkytaco 10y ago
  You are right, of course, but it's easier said than done. The blank page is intimidating and frustrating, so structure is often the best way to get going. It brings to mind fitness trackers, actually.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    True, but you don't necessarily need a whole lot of structure to get started. Or at least I don't; in my personal journal, I just use a headline and a timestamp, generated by means of snippet expansion, and come back later to add a proper title. My work log uses dated headlines. On the other hand, my personal journal is very freeform, and my work log is mainly a list of tasks and actions taken toward them, so I'm not sure how well that generalizes. Perhaps a useful recommendation for someone struggling to start might be this: - Spend a few minutes thinking about what you want to accomplish by journaling. - Spend a few minutes more laying out minimal structure that might help you work toward that goal. If you're working in a text or org-mode file, for example, perhaps put togther a few lines of boilerplate that you can copy and paste to start an entry. - Spend a few days working with that structure, and see how well it suits your purpose. Where it does this well, preserve and perhaps expand; where it fails, rework it. ...and iterate from there.