This has been an interesting week. In the sense that it hasn’t really been all that interesting. I guess not all things will have as clear of an impact on my day to day as biking did in my last trial run. All in all, I feel that forcing myself to journal every morning and every night has really driven me to develop an actual routine other than roll in or out of bed and start or end my day.
For anyone unsure of what I might mean by a journal, it’s not so much a diary or long form reflection of the day or anything. As of right now, I start by jotting down how I’m feeling on a scale from one to ten, my mornings are more often than not on the lower part of the scale. From there I just sort of write what’s on my mind. For those more familiar with the idea, I’ve decided to not to follow a particular form of journaling. I want to take this opportunity to try a few different styles of getting my mind on paper.
In terms of the impact that this has made, other than my routine building already mentioned, I think it’s helped me focus in the morning and wind down at night.
Every morning, I try to jot down a couple things I’d like to get done on that day in particular. More than “go to work” but any additional goals I need to get done that day. Whether it be something that feels more like a chore, getting groceries for example. Or something that is more general, like going to the library to grab some books I want to read. Just having written something down in the morning one, reminds me to do it, and two, makes me actively think about it. It probably would have been good for me to write that I needed to write this post this morning.
At night, I think just mentally spewing out all the junk running thru my mind helps to shut off my brain when I close my eyes to sleep. This was one of the biggest things that drew me to try this over other suggestions I had gotten. I’m sure I’m not alone when I get into bed close my eyes, then suddenly a slew of topics run thru my head from the mundane such as what will I have for dinner tomorrow to cosmic ideas like life, death, etc. In the past, there was nothing to do but try and force myself to stop thinking. To quote Jerry Smith from the hit series Rick and Morty, “Have you ever tried to relax. It’s a paradox!”
Overall, I’m really enjoying journaling. It’s not having the instant impact that my last trial, but I think in the grand scheme of things, this will pay off big time. For the next week, I’m going to try using the Five Minute Journal style, though I may still just jot down some loose thoughts down as they come. This style has you quickly jot down three things in a few categories in the morning and at night. The morning categories are things I am grateful for, things that will make today great, and a third section that is not so much a list, but a daily affirmation. The affirmation is a statement about myself that I want to drive into my mind. As for the evening, the categories are amazing things that happened that day and how could I have made the day even better. I think having this preparation and reflection period at the beginning and end of a day drives productivity and self-improvement, which are essentially the foundations of me starting this blog.
Let me know what you think in the comments below, or if you have any recommendations for a journaling style I can try out!
Trying Out Before Buying In 
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