How Daily Record-Keeping Changed My Life
Writing a diary made me happier; keeping things-to-do lists made me more reliable (which, in turn, made those around me happier), and I learned never to go to a doctor’s appointment, or a meeting of any kind, without taking notes of what I heard. But there appeared to be creative benefits too. Every artist I met seemed to have a sketchbook to hand,... See more
Roland Allen • Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era
Writers have kept notebooks since time immemorial. The auctorial equivalent to the artist’s sketchbook is the “commonplace book,” which can contain everything from newspaper clippings to grocery lists to attempts to capture those inspirational bolts out of the blue.
I’m sure that somewhere out there, there is a writer who is far more disciplined tha... See more
I’m sure that somewhere out there, there is a writer who is far more disciplined tha... See more
Cory Doctorow • The Memex Method
Of all the self-help tools I've tested through the years, one has proved more enduring than the rest: Morning Pages. Each day, I rise at 6am sharp, brew a piping-hot...
oliverburkeman.comgot a piece of paper and a pen and I wrote down everything I did in a day. Everything. All the tiny minutia like going to the bathroom, driving to work, and making lunch. I included eating dinner with the family, making client calls, and watching TV before bed. It all went down in one giant list. Then I went straight down the page and started cross
... See moreTim Grahl • Running Down a Dream: Your Road Map to Winning Creative Battles
But for me, as a person for whom narrow focus is against my instincts, the most remarkable thing about it is how rich it feels. My life these days is small and boring. I bicycle across the same fields every day, I notice how the wind turbines turn to face the wind, I rarely travel, and I spend my spare time staring at a Word document. Annie Dillard... See more
Henrik Karlsson • Almost Everyone I’ve Met Would Be Well-Served Thinking More About What to Focus On
So sometimes, it’s not about hoarding every moment as much as being able to value the experiences you’ve had. Because if you have one experience that is valuable that you could draw upon later on from the past week, that’s a whole lot better than mindlessly documenting everything you’ve ever done for the last week, right? And that’s going to be mor... See more
Becca Rashid • Can We Keep Time?
juliana ong added
I keep a daily diary for many reasons, but the main one is that it helps me pay attention to my life. By sitting down every morning and writing about my life, I pay attention to it, and over time, I have a record of what I’ve paid attention to.