by approxim8ion on 10/25/23, 8:53 AM with 32 comments
by otikik on 10/25/23, 4:03 PM
I jot down stuff I need exclusively for the current day. An issue number. The phrase " Bob about the thing". A doodle I make in order to give my hand something to do while I attend a meeting.
The pages become completely unintelligible very soon, sometimes during the same day. It is useful - taking something out of the head and putting it in paper allows me to spend less time worrying "I must make sure I don't forget that issue, I must email bob about the thing". Once the issue is addressed, or bob is emailed, 80% of the time the task is done, and the notebook has fulfilled its primary function.
Months from now, it will have become complete jibberish, I won't be able to understand any of it. But I can still enjoy the doodles.
by criddell on 10/25/23, 2:34 PM
Occasionally I found it very useful for reloading context on a Monday morning. Other than that it seemed like just another job I had given myself. Going back and rereading my notes from that time I see that I didn't put down enough information. Most of them don't make much sense to me today.
I kept my log in OneNote and created a shortcut that I could click on to jump to that page. It worked great and for me, it's important to include images and handwriting along with text and it all be searchable.
A personal log like the article's author wrote about is much more appealing to me and I think it would be far more useful. Jerry Pournelle used to talk about his log when he was on Leo Laporte's podcast and I've often wished I had the discipline to maintain something like that.
by petesergeant on 10/25/23, 3:07 PM
1. Don't put pressure on yourself to write a lot. I often write a single sentence. If more is on your mind, write more, but most of my entries are a sentence or two, and that's fine, and still very meaningful to look back on. I can't stress the degree to which not putting pressure on myself to write a lot has allowed me to keep doing this, and yet some entries are very long, if I get caught up in it.
2. Build it into your routine. It fits into my morning stuff I'm doing like checking email (and I have a checklist for each morning).
by placesalt on 10/25/23, 1:59 PM
It avoids situations where there's a feeling of wastage when a page isn't fully filled, or cramped writing when there's more than a page worth of information to write down.
by brightlancer on 10/25/23, 2:55 PM
A bit ago, someone else on HN wrote that he had kept lab style notebooks for work projects. All was fine until someone sued the company and his notebooks were subpoenaed. After that, he changed his note taking and made sure he destroyed them when the project was over. (IIRC)
Have an abusive or vindictive ex-spouse or partner? Even personal journals and diaries can be subpoenaed by a court. At the same time, a daily journal is a great tool to track that abuse.
I used common "single subject" 70 page spiral notebooks with a modified bullet journal style: the first page was a TOC; ~60 of the right-hand pages were each used for a single calendar date, so the notebook covered two months; a few of the back pages were used for a yearly calendar, persistent info or recurring lists; left-hand pages were reserved for monthly and weekly calendars, overflow from single day pages, or specific projects.
Because spiral notebooks are cheap, I never felt bad about "wasting" pages by leaving them empty or just writing one or two things. I also liked the larger page size compared to pocket size notebooks.
YMMV and such, but I think written journals are under-appreciated among "tech" folks, who are more likely to use an electronic journal.
by dade_ on 10/25/23, 11:54 AM
by gooseyman on 10/25/23, 5:13 PM
Every task or conversation gets a todo. “Meet with bob about x” “Work on pdf forms” etc.
Those that I’m doing get set to “doing” which helps keep me on task. When I’m done with a task it’s marked “done” and I get the elapsed time that it took.
Anything not done gets cut and pasted to the next day.
When it’s time to meet with my manager I have what happened on what day very neatly laid out and I simply scroll down.
by darrmit on 10/25/23, 2:39 PM
The challenge I face with anything written is keeping up with the notebook and a pen, though I do like the idea.
by colinflane on 10/25/23, 5:04 PM
by hashtag-til on 10/25/23, 12:47 PM
by robotburrito on 10/25/23, 7:41 PM