My Journal Method for 2024

I'm planning today. You might be, also. I thought I'd let you in on how I plan to do an even better job of thinking and executing in 2024, and what my journaling approach will have to do with that success rolling in. You into that? Then, let's give it a peep. (Not the marshmallow birds, mind you.)

I'll Use Two Journals and Here's Why

At first, that sounds like a lot of bother. Trust me, I'm still waiting for the Olympics to add a category for Lazy, so I can take the gold. But I'll explain my reasoning for two journals:

• Digital journal for mostly work stuff - searchable, easy to cross reference. Much more "functional" for my needs. I can go fast.
• Paper journal for mostly life stuff - more reflective, kinesthetic learning bonus, pushes me away from the glass for a while. Makes me slow down a little.

I did this in 2023 and it made a lot of difference. I much prefer the two options, because it "sets my mind" in some ways. Paper and pen means slow down and reflect. Digital journal means go fast and capture every single possible thing and link it to death.

Here's the Structure Inside the Journals (Three Ways I Use Them)

Let me break it down in maybe...three categories: ritual, reflection, capture. That sounds right.

Ritual - Every morning, I put the date in the upper right hand corner. I write my 3 words at the top of the right hand page as well. The left side of my journal is for tasks up top and a 9 box of focus areas down below (not the same as my 20 minute plan 9 box, but a kind of variant). The right side of the journal is for reflections that come up throughout the day, plus often any kind of non-work stuff that's happened.

Still in the ritual category, I'll check my private "Chief of Staff' Trello board for work tasks, then make sure I start a "daily" page on my digital journal. I'll get back to this concept a bit more next.

Reflection - I noticed that one area where I could surely improve my efforts was in reflecting on the notes I'd written, and being able to use my paper and digital journals more like a digital brain. I'll confess: I went to write up one of those 2023 accomplishment things for my boss and realized that I hadn't done a great job in any form or format to gather that information in an easy enough way. I could spend about six hours across my calendar, my digital notes, and my paper journals and probably recreate it. But six hours? So, I need better methods.

One of my 3 words in #my3words for 2024 will involve a much more active system of reflecting. Rest assured that I'll have a better situation and improved recall for this coming year.

Capture - Here's something I think you'll agree with me on: so much of what we think about in a given day floats away like we wrote it on an etch-a-sketch while riding down a bumpy dirt road. I started a list today for 2024 that I'm calling "Time" and what that means is when I normally would go blindly scrolling YouTube or Reddit, I'll focus that effort and push it into my learning intentions for the year. To do that, I'll keep a running list of some of those "I should study up more on that" things that you and I say but forget about the moment something else pushes it out of our active memory.

How I Write in My Paper Journal

I mentioned that I start with a date in the upper right corner, and #my3words at the very top of the page (right side of both pages as if the journal is open flat on my desk - before you ask, I use THIS exact journal). I mostly use my paper journal for personal and life thoughts, so I don't put work to-do items or anything.

Left page top, I put some of my to-do tasks (mostly personal). Left page middle to bottom, I draw out 9 boxes (3x3) representing the "blocks" of work I want to focus most on in any given day. Thus, I manage priorities, not time.

A sample of something I wrote in my journal the day I wrote the other day:

"They say Boxing Day is for the working class, and so for whatever reason, I have always loved it. I've always felt like (and wanted to feel like) "the help." I think it's weird to aspire to rule. I seek to serve. I don't think I ever said it this way before, but it makes a ton of sense."

Here's the piece that sticks out:

I think it's weird to aspire to rule. I seek to serve.

Like, that's a really interesting thought, and it sums up who I consider myself to be. I operate as a leader, but I do that from the mindset that I'm a servant. I think the best leaders are. (Yes, I read Greenleaf.)

That's why I like the paper journal. That thought wouldn't have likely come out in the digital format.

How I Write in my Digital Journal

It's all about capture, refinement, lists, and linking. I use Obsidian and yes, you can use whatever, Notion fans. But the part that I love about Obsidian is that it's very very very flexible, very easy to export to many tools and THAT is the key sneaky thing I'm doing digitally.

I write many notes in a capture mode - write all the words I hear and then reflect on them digitally as a second revision of the notes (keeping the first). So, it's like:

• Raw notes
• Revised notes
• Links to other related notes
• Lists onto which certain notes have to happen

For me to do this (make links) in Obsidian is as easy as typing [[ <-- that basically tells the software, "Oh, go and find the note Chris wants to put here.) I also will use a lot of hashtags (but in the real version of their value, not #blessed #girlboss #doingitright) and all that. In Obsidian, hashtags are yet another way to show connections between thoughts and ideas.

I keep a daily note to just jot what I did in any given day.

From that daily note, I link to any meeting notes.

I WILL (because I didn't do this well in 2023) keep an Accomplishments note where I'll also link to some of the highlights of the year in 2024.

By the way, my favorite video ever on skilled note taking methods (using Obsidian, btw) is Morgan here.

Writing is Thinking

If you haven't yet stumbled into the value of journaling, I don't blame you. It took me decades to care. But once it really clicked in, the real benefit was that I would find nuggets of thought that I could then reflect upon, work up into other useful information, and bring forth to use at different times.

It's also a great second brain, to steal Tiago Forte's definition. I don't have to remember everything; I just have to capture it down. I use my digital notes often when reflecting on coaching I've given my executives, or progress I'm tracking in other leaders in the company. I also use it as a way to revisit my intentions and make sure that I'm staying aligned. (I also keep my boss's intentions front and center on a note so that sometimes, I can say, "You told me at the beginning of the year that you wanted to X. Does THIS match that intention?")

I'm eager to hear YOUR journaling methods (not which tech you use, but the actual methods) and how they vary and differ. Maybe I'll have to learn and adopt some of YOUR ideas.

Chris...