Thinking About Journaling

This morning I was flipping through my journal, looking for inspiration. As I came to a list of potential articles for the blog, I thought about the importance of journaling in my professional practice. I use a journal every day, just not in typical ways. My journal has a table of contents, sticky notes, lists, writing, drawing, and lots of non-traditional content.

When I first tried to keep a journal, I always lost momentum, trying to write my thoughts down every day. I journaled in fits and starts until I traded in my journal for the ‘to-do’ list. I found a ‘to-do’ list very satisfying, being able to cross items off my list. My to-do list evolved into a combination of meeting notes or essential things to remember. The to-do list method worked for many years until I gradually transferred to an electronic platform. 

However, I realized that I missed the paper/pen aspect of recording information. There was something about pen and paper writing that was unavailable from a phone, tablet, or computer. Dannelle Stevens and Joanne Cooper wrote the book Journal Keeping: How to Use Reflective Writing for Learning, Teaching, Professional Insight, and Positive Change. The book helped me with the art of journal writing and freed my mind about what can and cannot be in a journal. 

The act of choosing to create a journal is of great importance. I think of my journal as a second brain or external hard drive. Journaling is a way to capture ideas, notice patterns in our thinking, and reflect on our practice. Journaling is where I permit myself to slow down, creating space to think deeply about how I work. 

It may take a few tries, but eventually, you will find the type of journal that fits your way of thinking. Keeping a journal helps educators dig into our practice, but the journal needs to match our learning style.

I wanted my journal to have plenty of space. Being a kinesthetic learner, I find it most helpful to capture my thinking in non-linear ways, so my journal has faint graphic print on each page. I decided on a hardcover journal so it is still in one piece by the time I fill the pages. 

Here are some tips from Dannelle to help you organize a journal.

Organizing your journal supports your ability to go back and use your thinking and reflections. Always leave the first few pages of the journal blank. The first page is always the Table of Contents, where you capture the theme of each page (which I number). Having a table of contents has saved me countless hours looking back through past journals to find a specific idea or plan. Save the following few pages for quick reference content. Save two pages for resources. When someone mentions a book, website, or another resource, flip to the front of your journal and write it on the resource pages to help you find information quickly. Past the resource pages, create two pages for contacts with names, emails, and phone numbers, then write a sentence about the connection.

As you move into your journal, capture ideas from meetings, make lists, draw concepts, and use sticky notes to express your thinking. I find sticky notes beneficial, especially the one-inch type, and I am always careful to place only one idea per sticky. With a single thought on a sticky note, you can move your thoughts around the journal to increase clarity.

With over a thousand pages of journaling behind me, I can honestly say that journaling is part of my everyday life. Journaling allows me to have a professional dialogue with myself and helps to focus my thinking and problem-solving. I don’t think I could go a day without it.

What do you think about journaling in your professional life?