How to stay organized with a journal

Let's keep it simple. With something so custom as keeping a journal, there's no single way to stay organized. Having the right system can help, but not every system works for every journalist. And giving general tips for being consistent can help but can be difficult implement if you're just starting out.

I've got over a decade worth of filled notebooks and there is a single thread that has helped me to stay organized with them all. It's not a system or method or tactic.

It's reflection. Yep! Reflection.

The reason why I can stay organized with my journal is because I give myself time to review and think about on what I have written.

Over the years I've learned that trying to review everything in my journal in one sitting is very overwhelming so I've modified my approach. Every week or every few months I'll take time to review my current journal. This gives me the space to evaluate my current journal practices and make necessary tweaks.

I'm not always consistent with completing my reflection. But I have identified some things that make this practice beneficial.

• Don't judge yourself
• Don't compare
• Ask specific questions
• Be willing to change

Don't judge yourself

I like to think of my journal as the space where my thoughts can ooze out of my soul onto a safe page within my notebook. Sometimes...ok perhaps many times, my thoughts can be weird or ridiculous. It's okay, because my journal is for me and no one else.

When taking time to lean back in a chair and review the notes in your journal the last thing you want to do is condemn yourself for what you have written. Reflection is a time to give an ear to your past self that was jotting down and honest thought.

Don't compare

Being in the social media age, I must address the fact that there is much to compare ourselves to online. One thing I definitely don't do is compare my journaling practice with anyone else.

There will be folks that fill 2+ notebooks in a year and there could be others who have better handwriting than you. So what? It's the quality of the content and how it relates to you personally that matters most.

Ask specific questions

This may be the heart of reflection that makes it so impactful for me. Asking good and specific questions is what gives me the chance to innovate my journaling practice. Asking yourself good questions during reflection can yield some great answers.

What do I keep? What do I stop? What do I change? What do I let stay?

After reviewing a section in your notebook it is good to ask yourself good and specific questions. The answers to these questions will help you plot your path to greater effectiveness in your journal but also greater fulfillment.

What do I keep?

• This question helps you to identify the practices, the tools, the habits and the thoughts that you want to continue with in your journal practice.
• For me, I've learned that keeping a monthly log is a great way for me to be grounded with my journaling, so I keep it month to month - even if I go an extended time without journaling

What do I stop?

• Sometimes it's time for a change and this question helps you identify that.
• For me,  I learned during a reflection session that writing in blue ink was not pleasant for me. A small tweak of only writing with black ink has gone a long way over the years. This is an example of how a simple moment of reflection has made a huge impact on my journaling.

What do I change?

Flipping through my journals from over the last 10 years there are some similarities and some things that look different overtime. For me it's been my handwriting, my format and my monthly log template style.

• There could be aspects of you journal that you want to keep but could use some revision. What part of your journaling needs a refresh or tweak?

What do I let sit?

Indecisiveness or careful consideration? Sometimes ideas just need to sit and bake in your mind before becoming full blown changes. Doing this allows you to think deeper about what you decide to change and hopefully have greater commitment if you make the jump.

Right now I'm considering modifying my gratitude practice but I'm not sure exactly how I want to do that. In the meantime, I will continue with my current approach before making a hasty decision that throws me off track. I'll reconsider during my next reflection session and make the change if necessary.

Be willing to change

This one is simple to explain but difficult to implement. If something isn't working the way it use to, it's okay to let it go and make a change.

For example, my journal use to be a tool for capturing my book notes. They looked really nice and it was very satisfying to reference my handwritten notes. Over time and with much reflection. I found that this practice was tedious and it limited my ability to reference my notes quickly.

Through reflection, I found out that the reason I enjoyed capturing my book notes this way was because I enjoyed the physical act of handwriting. My book notes didn't have to be kept in my notebook. That's why I use online tools for my note taking. And now I use my 'everyday' notes to enjoy the physical act of writing. All of this has saved me time and I was able to achieve what I wanted with my journaling practice.