“Ideas can come from anywhere and at any time. The problem with making mental notes is that the ink fades very rapidly.”
~ Rolf Smith ~
Sometimes we don’t have time to journal. (Or we don’t make the time to write.) If you value the benefits of journaling but have trouble committing time to do it, try these three practically instant journaling tools.
1. One Word Essence Journaling
Spirit lives in the essence of things, not the thing itself.
Each night before bed, write out just one word that captures the essence of your day. Check in with your body, heart and head and make sure you have chosen the best word for the day. (We did not say it was going to be easy!)
After a few weeks, review your essence words and look for trends, insights or predominant experiences.
2. Headlining
The fewer the words, the stronger the impression.
Headlines concisely summarize any experiences. A good headline is typically less than 7 words. Start a page in your journal for daily headlines. Capture a key highlight, feeling, accomplishment or insight each day.
Eventually you will have a concise overview of the highlights in your life – your own newspaper! If you’re in the mood, have fun by using alliteration, exaggeration, humour, metaphors, rhyming, puns and dualities.
Consider combining these first 2 tools on one page. Create a 3 column form to record the date, one word essence and a wider column for your headline.
3. Daily Tracker
If it is important, track it. Hindsight is 20/20.
The Daily Tracker creates a great audit trail for what is important to you and what has happened in the past. It helps you see cycles that reoccur and identify causes and effects.
Make your own Daily Tracker form by creating 4 equal-width columns on a piece of paper or in your journal.
What is important for you to monitor in your life? Examples are: feelings and emotions, personal energy levels, money earned, people met, health changes, weight, relationships, accomplishments, appreciations, intuitive hunches, synchronicities, motives, ideas, dreams, insights, events, etc. Select and write your 4 most important topics at the top of each column on the form. Write a few words in each column daily.
Journaling offers an easy but incredibly powerful path for self-growth. It empties the mind of circular counter-productive thinking and emotions. Once these are released and captured on paper, you are open to new perspectives, and new perspectives change our lives.
Enjoy these quick journaling tools. If you’d like to explore journaling more deeply, download our Go Deeper… Reach Higher… Journaling E-book or sample from more than 40 journaling tools on our Higher Awareness member site.
