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Daily Journaling Template Updated, 2020-02

Tuesday February 4, 2020

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far! I just published some updates to my daily journaling template: Daily Journaling Template, Markdown Format, February 2020

The updates include:

Various minor formatting updates
Removal of unnecessary scheduling information, blanking out the schedule area for a cleaner start (I am moving my presets for scheduling into a text editor snippet)
Added information and cues for integrating Task BATL
Slots for breaking up To-Do list items (Completed items, Tomorrow’s items…)
New section for evening journaling, including pre-sleep questionnaire regarding stressors to possibly improve sleep quality (this is based on my personal experience)

With these adjustments, the template is now more temporally balanced, in addition to covering various aspects of the Jungian-style cognitive functions. It should be something to which one can more comfortably return later in the day.

The evening journaling represents a factor which I have rediscovered recently: About a decade ago I was struggling with insomnia, and I discovered that writing 700 to 2,000 words about my problems before bed allowed me to sleep like a baby. More recently, I have been trying out different sets of questions that help me bring more motivation and confidence into the next day. Some of those are included in this template update.

I’ve also enjoyed doing Task BATL and am really proud of the way it’s impacted my life for the better so far. I’ve heard good things from others who have tried it. It shocks me, sometimes, just how much fun I need to inject into my day to “take the day back,” and what that means. I will continue to share what I’ve learned when I can.

As always:

I continue to use this template myself, and find that it has become one of my most useful tools for near-instant stress relief. Over time, this habit also tends to build a pool of documentation which can be used for knowledge capture.