Journalling School in German

If your German is better than your English, you will be pleased to know you can now read Journalling School posts in German. Not Google's approximation of German, but real German. Go to http://filomaniac.blogspot.de/ where you will find Iris is hosting a German version of Journalling School.

Journalling School Session 2: Sustainable Journalling

Welcome to the second session of Journalling School. Today's session is about how to keep going.



Often, it can be hard to sustain writing in a journal. Perhaps you get suddenly busy and lose any possibility of spare time, or perhaps it seems that nothing interesting is going on. Maybe you just forget to write a few days in a row and then the momentum is lost. There are ways to guard against this:

1. Try to develop the habit of writing at the same time every day, say first thing in the morning, or last thing at night. One reader, Josh, says he writes just before bed and this helps him to 'close the day'.  If you’re working, could you devote a few minutes to this in your lunch break?
2. Don’t beat yourself up about making an entry every day; if circumstances mean just one or two entries a week, that’s fine. You can increase or decrease the frequency of entries as you like.
3. Unless your PC is always with you and ready to go, use pen and paper, and keep them with you all the time if you can so you can snatch writing opportunities as they arise. We Filofax users will find this very natural.
4. Use a plain paper book or your blank pages in your Filofax rather than a pre-printed diary, because you might want to write a lot some days, a little on others and sometimes nothing at all. Often, using a pre-printed journal, having a fixed space for each day can feel like tyrrany. Conversely, for some people it may represent a good discipline. 
5. If you get stuck with nothing to write, just write yourself a question, take a breath and write down some answers to it. I’ve included some prompt questions to get you started at the end of this post.
6. Think what it would be like if you had started a year ago. Imagine all the detail you would be able to go back and read.
7. If you do lapse for a period, don’t consider the whole thing a failure. When you’re ready, simply turn to a new page, write the date and start going again.

Look forward to the time when you will be able to look back and find out what you were doing and how you were feeling a year ago or ten years ago. What memories you are preserving for your future, or for your children?

Journal prompt questions

When you're stuck, just write down any of these questions and then answer it. This can be the starting point for quite a long journal entry.

• How am I feeling right now and why?
• What was the best thing that happened today?
• What is worrying me?
• How will I spend the coming weekend?
• What ambition have I had for a long time?
• Who are the people that matter to me and why?
• What is my earliest memory?
• Where have I travelled and what did I see or do there?
• If I could do anything with my life, what would I do?
• If I won or inherited a fortune, what would I do with it?
• What values do I want my children to hold?
• How will I celebrate my next major birthday?
• What would my ideal holiday be like?

Staying positive


You'll notice that among the prompts above, there are plenty of upbeat, positive topics. These give you a chance to break away from current concerns for a while. Now and then, this is important, because if your journal becomes a place in which you just whine and wallow, your motivation to keep writing will suffer, and so will your mood.

In a future session, I'll be talking about using journalling to influence your mood and to effect change, but for now make sure you choose strongly positive topics to journal about now and then.

Homework

If you haven't started a journal after last week's session, try to start this week. You can use one of the prompt questions to get you going. Do the same if your journal has stalled. Make sure at least one entry has a positive mood or outlook.

Try to write at least two or three entries this week, and do it at different times of the day. Think about which time works best for you? When do the words and ideas flow most freely? When do you feel most comfortable and least distracted?


That was the second session of Journalling School. In the next session we'll look at what to do if you want to restart your journal after a long period of not writing.


Feedback, thoughts and ideas are welcome as always. Please share your experiences in the comments.

Filofax Blog of the Week: Crazy Suburban Mom

It's Blog of the Week time again, in which weekly a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog. This week, it's Tracy who walks us through Crazy Suburban Mom.

When did you start your blog?

February 2009

What were your reasons for starting it?

I used to do freelance (humor) writing, art, and cartoons but not recently; I think my primary reason for starting a blog was to get back into the habit of regular writing and being creative.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

It was a Retro Tuesday post I did a long time ago and I don't know why it was such a hit, it's like a lot of others I've done. I do a vintage image of the day now but I used to do them only on Tuesdays. The Filofax post with the most views is Edward de Bono: On Filofax Hacks and it was about creativity and filofax hacks.

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I used to do posts for the now defunct New Jersey Moms Blog. I wrote a post for them called My kid's not going to college and it was picked up by their syndication group and reprinted in several news papers. 

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

A lot of things surprise me about it. Writing is so solitary and when you do it... Well, when I do it I feel like I'm in a vacuum; just me and my thoughts. On some level I realize I'm not just thinking but putting words out there for people to see but I'm always surprised that anyone else sees them. Still.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

I think organization is a very personal endeavor and a Filofax allows for any customization that helps you get where you want to go and allows you to go back and see how far you've come. I post about what worked for me, what didn't, and why.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

I didn't post about Filofaxes initially because I didn't think anyone would be interested in the odd stuff I ponder... Old rings vs. new rings, the varying size of front and backside pen loops, how you can stick a full Midori traveler's notebook in an A5 Finchley slot. Who cares, I thought. But a few months ago blogging didn't feel fun anymore and I wanted the fun back. Enter Filofax blogging... I found out if I care about something there's a good chance least one other person cares about it too and appreciates that I took the time to write it. It was a good lesson for me, so my advice is to write about what jazzes you and do it in a way only you can.

My thanks to Tracy for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.

Handy Task Tabs: now for the Pocket

Remember my Task Tabs for the Personal Filofax?

These are little half-width pages you can slot between diary pages to collect and manage ad hoc tasks you can move around in the diary, putting them between different pages without having to open the rings. 

I am now publishing the Pocket template so that you can make your own if you want. 

One piece of A4 card yields four Task Tabs. I've given each a different colour, but you can change these however you like.

If you want to try these out, download the Word file.

Journalling School Session 1: Recording Your Life

Welcome to the first session of Journalling School. Today's session is about why you might want to keep a written record of your life and how to get started.


Life for most of us happens very quickly. Often we do not have time to assimilate events and experiences, but simply allow ourselves to be carried from one episode to the next. Holidays and special times pass in an instant. But a month, even a week after they are finished, how much of their detail is forgotten?

Keeping a journal is something most of us will have tried once or twice when we were younger. For many people, a childhood journal is the start of a record they continue to keep throughout adulthood, but for others interest wanes fairly quickly, perhaps before the first full week passes. So why should you add to your already full schedule by making time to keep a journal? Well, some of the benefits you might derive are listed below.

1. You create a permanent log of certain events, such as when you had a particular business idea, when your child lost his first tooth, or how much you paid for that antique chair. When you start writing, you won’t know how useful this might be in the future, but it will be.
2. By writing, you get to filter events and feelings and your brain gets a chance to process them properly, a chance that otherwise it rarely gets. Without this opportunity, it is difficult to fully appreciate what is going on in your life and what it means.
3. You are able over time to check progress towards a goal or other long-term changes in your life. When trying out a new personal development idea, for instance, you can log your progress and reactions as you go and later look back to see the long term change.
4. Your handwriting quality and/or speed will improve if you use a pen; your keyboard skills will improve if you use a PC.
5. Writing can help you solve problems in your life. The act of writing is slower then the act of thinking, so you have to slow down and be more careful in your approach. Opportunities and ideas you would otherwise have missed can flow in this environment.

Writing your journal isn't really about following rules, and absolutely any subject is fair game. You can write about the events of the day or the week and your reaction to them. You can use it to consider choices you are facing, sound off on something that angers you, or brainstorm ideas for meeting your goals. Or write about plans, dreams, fears or chicken livers. It's up to you. I tend when I'm journalling to try and write grammatically in paragraphs, because this helps me order my thoughts better, but if you want to cast syntax aside and write a stream of consciousness that's fine too. The only real rule is: write about what matters to you.

People sometimes find it difficult to start a journal, and there is a certain amount of self-consciousness involved that you will need to get past. The best advice is probably to trick yourself into it. Decide that you’re not actually going to write about yourself, but simply record some random thoughts and ideas, perhaps with a view to improving your writing, trying out a new pen, or keyboard, or word processor.

Maintain this ‘random writing’ for a few days and without ever trying or meaning to you will simply start writing about what is happening to you or around you and how you feel about it. And then you’re off.

Homework

If you haven't started a journal yet, find a comfortable place where you'll have a little time for yourself, and start. Write the date and under that write about anything you like; it doesn't have to be about you. Write until you feel like stopping. Then stop. If you like, do this more than once.

If you are already writing a journal, then one day this week make your entry about how and why you began your journal. Write about what were you were hoping to achieve in journalling and reflect on how well that has panned out. Think and write about the unexpected benefits and rewards you've got from it.


That was the first session of Journalling School. In the next session we'll look at sustaining the habit.


Feedback, thoughts and ideas are welcome. Please share your experiences in the comments.

Welcome to Journalling School

The 15th of February 2005 was an important day for me. It was the day I began the journal that I have maintained almost every day since.

In the last seven and a half years, I have learned an awful lot about journalling. Indeed, I have learned a lot about writing generally. When I began I was very unsure about how to start, what to write about, how much to write - both in terms of the volume of text and its content - but I've slowly worked most of it out over the years.

So I thought I'd pass on some of the things that I've learned in a series of articles that I'm going to call 'Journalling School'. I hope that it will be useful for three kinds of people:

• People who have never thought of journalling before but who might like to give it a try
• People who have tired journalling in the past but abandoned it, who would perhaps like a kick start to get going again
• People who are already writing journals but would like some new ideas to inspire their day-to-day entries

It's called 'Journalling School' but you don't need to enrol. There are no exams or registers and you cannot possibly fail.

The first Journalling School article will land tomorrow. If you follow this blog already, you'll get all the articles.

I'd love to hear from people about their journalling experiences and ideas; I'm convinced we learn best when we share.

Filofax Blog of the Week: My Once Upon the Moon

It's Blog of the Week time again. Every week a different blogger walks us through their Filofax blog. This week, it's Stephanie who walks us through My Once Upon the Moon.

When did you start your blog?

January 2012

What were your reasons for starting it?

I am a creative person by nature and I wanted a way to keep that going. It was rough going at the beginning because I didn't know what direction I wanted to take it in.

Which post has enjoyed the most pageviews?

A Feeble Attempt to Show Off My Filofax

Which post is the one you’re most proud of?

I think the one I am most proud of is the same one as above. Even though I emailed Steve and asked him to include it in the web finds list, it was the first time I actually knew that people were looking at my 'work'.

What has surprised you since you started blogging?

There are people out there that actually read it, and like it enough to follow it.

In one sentence, how would you describe your blog to a Filofax user who hadn’t seen it?

I have a lot of pictures on my blog.

Finally, what one piece of advice would you offer to other Filofax bloggers, based on your own experience?

Blog what you like, the way you like it. I love visual aids, so I blog a lot of pictures. I can not sit and read a computer screen endlessly so I don't blog that way.

My thanks to Stephanie for participating.

If you own a Filofax blog and would like it to be featured in this series, please complete the questionnaire.