Below are some examples of why I use a journal. Journaling comes in handy to notate the date, day, time and activity when one cannot remember the events from a previous or current day.
Days and dates were frustrating to remember when, upon arising to a new day and finding I had no clue what the day or date was. Using a calendar did nothing for me because I would forget to mark off the days.
Mobile devices are great for getting whatever information one requires; however, it does not exercise memory, whereas writing it down in a report does.
It has strengthened my handwriting and memory since I use this daily reporting method.
How would it benefit you to use the journal method;
It helps one to focus on a topic that interests you. Do this daily, and you will surprise yourself with your dedication to maintaining a work ethic.
From time to time, we find ourselves in a situation where journaling is helpful. For instance, being home alone with no one to talk to, use a notebook to write your thoughts and feelings.
Are you learning a new language?
The journal is excellent for repetitious sentences, such as gaining knowledge, writing sentences in your language and translating back to the foreign language and vice versa.
You can study the last lesson learned offline by using the journaling method.
The audio message for pronouncing sentences in a foreign language is available to the student in the online course. However, students who practice daily with another human who speaks the same foreign language would enhance their learning quicker.
As adults, we suffer from embarrassment by trying to speak in a foreign language when we have insufficient knowledge to talk confidently in that language.
Children have more confidence in attempting to speak by mimicking the adults. If they make mistakes, they quickly learn to overcome errors, such as adults do not, so some adults do not venture into those circumstances.
Here are some examples for journaling;
Car journal;
Keep a small book in the glove box, and remove it to enter information about the journey, such as the miles/kilometres travelled and the purpose of the trip. Remember to reset the trip meter to zero to record the actual mileage.
Expense Journal;
Notate the following in the expense journal.
- Credit card
- Savings account
- Cheque account
- Gas and electricity accounts
- Home and car insurance
- Car registration
- Other expenses
I find this form of journaling keeping expense records up to date and finding by particular entry date, month and year if I am explicitly searching for an entry,
I was discussing this topic with a friend of mine, and he
mentioned that when he pays an account over the phone and jots down the date, receipt number, and purchase price on a piece of notepaper, he cannot find where it was left. Avoiding this mishap would be to journal it.
Daily Activity Journal;
In this journal, write the date, day, time and activity.
It will report on how productive your daily routine is.
How long does it take you to complete a task?
Is there a job you hate to do and always leave for later or the next day?
Are you studying online and need to complete a subject?
Good habits, at first, are hard to form, but over a short period, you will surprise yourself.
I record in this journal the amount of water and coconut water I drink during the day. If I exceed the number of drinks during the day, I have to put up with numerous visits to the bathroom every night, which interrupts my sleep.
Journaling helps me to work out when to stop drinking
to reduce the number of visits to the toilet.
Dog walked twice a day; each walk is recorded by date and the time it took. The dog and handler get exercised.
It also helps to record the time one retires in the evening and record the time waking up in the morning. First thing in the morning, I drink a glass of filtered water on an empty stomach, and something happens to my body.
I read about the glass of pure water consumption on an empty stomach; a lady made this remark. I was curious, so I tried it out and now drink a glass of water before breakfast every day.
How much sleep do you get? We are fully alert when we get the required rest.
On a particular day of the week, I have noted to take the rubbish bin out to be collected. Before journaling, I used to forget to do it on several occasions.
Personal;
Here are some other topics to discuss;
You are doing something you have never done before or seeing something out of the ordinary that instils an expression of fear.
A friend of mine knew that I had no fear of spiders, called me one evening and said that he had a giant hairy-legged black spider crossing the wall where he was sitting and asked whether I could come over to catch it and do it now, not later. He was hysterical and couldn’t give me an accurate description of it. When I saw the kind of spider, it was a Huntsman, not black but brown and medium size.
I armed myself with a see-through plastic container and lid and arrived at his place, and proceeded to capture it. I placed the larger container over it, opened the bottom at an angle, and slid the lid underneath, forcing the spider to move towards the top of the container.
Once in position, I quickly enclosed the spider into it. The lid was not firmly in place because I was releasing the spider to another site well away from my friend’s house, and I did not want the spider to pop out unexpectedly whilst struggling to open the lid.
These are some things I use in a journal, and yours will be different.
Keep a journal within easy reach and write the information directly into it.
Start today!
Julie Eden