Most of us don’t have time to keep detailed diaries of our lives. Perhaps you’re too busy. Perhaps you wouldn’t really want to even if you had the time.
The good news is: keeping a journal isn’t the same as keeping a diary.
You don’t have to sit down every night writing screeds (and screeds). There are lots of other quick, simple and creative ways to journal.
Here are five that might be new to you:
1. Take Photos
Taking photos is a simple but powerful way to capture a moment. To look for its essence and to give it a frame (of your own making, through your eyes only.) When you look back over old photos – you’re there, back in that moment, that feeling, the way things were at that precise moment in time.
You can also develop the way that you take photos, not so much in terms of technique, but the things, objects, moments, patterns that you look out for. It’s a way of adjusting your filters, the lens through which you view the world. (This is one of the things that’s built into all the journal classes here – it’s a small shift that makes a big difference.)
2. Cluster and Connect
Take a blank sheet of paper, put one word down in the middle of it, then jot down the words that spring to mind from that word, or seem connected to it. (Some people would call this mind mapping, but I know a lot of people have a block on doing mind maps, so I thought I’d refer to it as clusters instead 
)
Here’s one I did by way of preparation for this post.
A Cluster Around Different Ways to Journal
It not only helped me identify the different ways you can journal, it also pointed out the importance of why you might want to journal. A cluster will often point out things your conscious mind had ruled out of bounds. Once down on paper, the old limits seem… limited, and new possibilities open up.
3. Jot Down Numbered Lists
This is quick and simple – just give yourself a number (5, 100, 27, it doesn’t matter what the number is) then jot down ideas, thoughts, things you need to do, what you’re working on or worried about, what’s making you smile… around the topic you’ve got in mind.
Your unconscious mind enjoys that kind of challenge and will dream up things to go on your list that you didn’t consciously ‘know’ before you sat and wrote them down.
This is also a great way to gain perspective – to get things out of your head and onto a bit of paper where you can do something about them.
4. Hoard Fragments and Phrases
There are days when there isn’t time to write a lot, or to be ‘properly’ creative. But fragments of thoughts, ideas, images, conversations, interesting turns of phrase will still come your way. You might read them, hear them, think them. Spend a minute or two jotting them down. You can do something with them later – or not. Even if you don’t, that moment in time will have been saved by your act of recording it. The world will have become a little bit more colourful, and magical.
Here’s a line that popped into my head earlier while I popped to the Post Office. It might turn into a poem some day. For now, I just like the words:
A flower washed by rainlight kissed by sundrops
5. Compose Updates Online
There are lots of different ways to share what you’re thinking on the web. Things that you notice, ideas you’re wondering about, something beautiful you’ve noticed, insights that seem important.
Sharing those perspectives – through a blog, on Facebook, on Twitter – is a way to journal. To capture a moment, to gain some perspective, to find a creative frame for your experience (and thus, in some way, to notice it, and remember it.)
Some of these suggestions might sound far removed from your idea of what it means ‘to journal’. Maybe I’m stretching the definition. Maybe.
But one of the things that became clearer to me when I was doing the cluster exercise is that how you journal is way less important than why you journal.
Taking just a bit of time to journal can help you to:
- Gain perspective
- Take stock
- Be more conscious of the journey you’re on
- Pay attention to details
- Open up new possibilities
- Develop your creative muscles
- Highlight limiting beliefs… before you zap them
All of which are useful things to have in your virtual toolbox – or metaphorical handbag – as you shimmy your way through the middle of life.
What other ways to journal without writing would you add to this list?
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If you’re interested in trying some different approaches to journal work this free taster class: Light Work is designed to let you do just that. Find out more here.
Learn how to write your way through the middle of life. Follow the links for more information on classes where you can learn in a group setting, or 1:1 coaching to reflect on what’s emerging from your writing and creative work, and to get past any blocks and barriers to a life more creative, lived fully out loud.
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