Need a Manageable Way to Keep Memories Vivid? One Solution

Of everything I've ever written, I think this one-minute video resonates most with people, and the phrase, The days are long, but the years are short.

For a long time, I’d been alarmed by how little I remembered about my own past.

I wanted to do a better job of recording my memories, but the idea of keeping a proper journal was far too daunting, so I decided instead to keep a “one-sentence journal.”

Each night, I write one sentence (well, actually, usually it’s three or four sentences, but by calling it a “one sentence journal” I keep my expectations realistic) about what happened that day.

My hope is that, years from now, when I’m trying to remember what life was like at this point, I can look back at my one-sentence journal. Of course, I’ve missed a lot of days.

Keeping this journal adds to my happiness: it helps keep happy memories vivid (because I’m much more inclined to write about happy events than unhappy events); it’s manageable, so it doesn’t make me feel burdened; and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment and progress, the atmosphere of growth.

I've heard of one-sentence journals dedicated to more specific topics, as well. One guy kept a one-sentence journal about his career – especially useful if you were starting a new business. It might be helpful to keep a one-sentence journal as you were going through a divorce, a cancer treatment, or other kind of catastrophic event.

One reader keeps a journal for his children.

I made little one-sentence journals for sale, and I've been amazed how popular they've been. One kind of journal is for anyone, and there's one especially for mothers. Many people share this urge for an easy way to keep a journal.

One thing is true: we tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, and underestimate what we can do in the long term, if we do a little bit at a time. Writing one sentence a day sounds fairly easy, and it is; at the end of the year, it adds up to a marvelous record.

This is a good example of how effective it can be to make a a somewhat abstract aim -- like "recording memories" -- into a manageable, daily habit. For more about how to make and break useful habits, check out my forthcoming book, Better Than Before. Sign up here to hear when it goes on sale.

Have you found other ways to keep memories vivid -- in a manageable way?

• Do you love great quotations? Sign up for the "Moment of Happiness," a free daily email with a quotation about habits or happiness. Or if you're always looking for a good book to read, sign up for my monthly book club. Each month I suggest one book about habits or happiness; one work of children's literature; and one eccentric pick.

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Gretchen Rubin is the author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She writes about happiness and habit-formation (the subject of her next book, Better Than Before) at gretchenrubin.com. Follow her here by clicking the yellow FOLLOW button, on Twitter, @gretchenrubin, on Facebook, facebook.com/GretchenRubin.

Photo: ilouque, Flickr