I am not new to journaling. When I was little, my mom gave us journals and made us write in them every so often. As a teenager and into my twenties I religiously wrote in my journal every day for years. I’ve used physical journals and digital journals. I’ve journaled at night right before bed, in the morning as I started my day, and in the afternoon right before leaving school. At times I’ve included quotes, articles, and recipes I liked. At times I’ve done gratitude journaling. I’ve also been through years of not journaling at all. When it comes to journaling, there is very little that I haven’t done.
For the last year or so I decided that I needed to start journaling again, but I didn’t want to just write about my daily life. I wanted to use journaling as a way to think through problems, brainstorm solutions, and reflect on my progress towards my goals. While it took me a while to find a system that worked for me, journaling has become one of the most beneficial parts of my day.
To begin with, I needed to find a way to journal that worked. In the past I always used a physical journal, so that’s what I started with. I got a notebook, put it on my desk at work and decided to write in it at the end of the day. That lasted about a week. The physical journal got covered up and forgotten. The end of the day was hectic and writing by hand was too time-consuming and tedious. I needed something quick, easy, and better integrated into my routine, so I started a blog.
My personal blog is private to me, but I can log in from any device and quickly type up an entry at the end of a school day. I can also tag my posts and organize them by topic, so if I want to go back and look at specific posts, they’re easy to find.
Remembering to journal every day was also a challenge. I needed to make it a part of my daily routine, so at first I made it a repeating task on my to-do list. Every day I had to check that off my list. After a while, I was able to set a routine to end every work day that included journaling. Now I clear out my email inbox, close out any unneeded tabs and applications on my computer, and then write a quick blog post about my day. Once I finish that, it’s time to close my computer and go home for the day.
Once I had a system of regular journaling, I had to decide how and what I would write. My overarching goal was self-reflection, so I basically have two prompts for every journal entry: 1) what went well today and 2) what problems came up? When I write about the problems, I try to focus on solutions. I write out what went wrong and why, and then I try to brainstorm at least a couple of things I could try to improve.
Those few minutes of journaling at the end of the day have a huge impact on my teaching. The act of thinking back on the day and writing down what went well and what didn’t go so well has completely changed the way I approach things. I feel a greater sense of control as I think through problems and find solutions. I’ve come up with ideas that I never would have thought of otherwise. For a few years, I felt like my teaching skills had either plateaued or were getting worse. Journaling has helped me grow and improve again.
Today’s Challenge:
Start a journaling habit! Find a system that works for you and take a few minutes to reflect at the end of the day. You may be amazed at how much it helps.