Habits make us what we are. True that.
Many of us are familiar and are probably experts at writing a Diary. In fact any one who has ever tried maintaining a diary at some point of our lives are all potential writers according to me. A diary is the only place where we can put out our thoughts without deliberation, where we can shout out loud about our inhibitions, where we can mention our fantasies without hesitation. I have too many lovely memories of writing a diary. My day would start and end with it. And one thing that would always find place in it on any given day was my love for Prem. Had to stop the habit as it turned out that people in my family got suspicious that I would someday elope with a guy named Salman Khan. I know, you must be having a laugh at it, but back then it was a little serious, not to forget that I was just 15 then. I never got back to that habit again. Yet, he remains my eternal heart throb till date.
Thanks to the advent of technology and our friendly social media platforms, this art is also soon going to be on the brink of extinction. And like all good old melodies have been refurbished on the name of remix, even this little habit has undergone an ultra remix. It's called Journaling now-a-days. Though there is a community out there who are strictly against remixes and calling a Diary a mere Journal, for the sake of this blog, we will tend to ignore them.
We have survived 75 days through the lockdown and things still remain unchanged with no certainty whatsoever. A great achievement, must say. Initially during the first week of the lockdown, when everyone was clueless, I was sure this wouldn't last long. I guess I was wrong then. Gradually I realised that my days are going past and nothing is moving. Yes, there was Work from Home, my passion for sketching and writing that I was reliving, talking to friends and family on chat groups and very rarely helping out my Mom with household chores. But there was a feeling of void. A feeling that I am not doing much at all. That is when it struck me - the idea of journaling my day. Not just to know what I am doing but also to know what I am actually doing.
During the initial days of journaling, I realised that there is a lot of my time that goes into sleep and binge watching shows on Netflix / Amazon Prime / Hotstar etc., This was a definite eye opener. And before you think that I am about to give you some gyan on how important journaling is and why it should be a part of your day, brace yourself. This is just me sharing my experience across with you. It has been a fun 60 day journaling for me. I just thought I should be sharing things that I learnt because of my journaling with you. So, go ahead and read it if you are in for something interesting.
JOURNALING
BABY STEPS
1. Start small - If you want to start journaling, start writing down things that are important during the day according to you. You can write it down on a piece of paper, a book or the tech savvy peeps out there can use an Excel sheet for it. Just make sure you do it every day. Also, if you are a pro at gadgets, you can make good use of the Calendar apps on your phone / tablet / laptop for better results.
2. Be concise - You don't have to explain the whole experience you had with the vegetable vendor while bargaining for Onions. You are not getting extra points for that. Instead just mention the act and how much time you spent on it. Also, if there is something important related to the act that you can always make note of it.
3. Don't think too much - You might struggle a lot initially thinking about what to write and start to put away the writing part. This is not your Auto Biography. Its just a journal of your day. So, I start writing everything blindly till you get the hang of it. You can actually maintain a time slot of 15 - 20 minutes daily to journal your day or do it as and when you are doing something. Up to you.
4. Keep tabs - Take a break. Go back. Check your journal once in a while to see if you are spending too much time on a certain activity or if you are not able to take time out for something you would love to do. You can also pair it up with reminders of things which you can plan upfront and not miss them because you were busy otherwise.
MAKING IT BETTER
5. Beautify it - This one will be easy for those who like playing with colors. You can use color codes for each category of things that you are writing about. This way you will know easily on which color is the most prominent one on your daily journal.
6. Make it alive - For all those artists out there, you should try illustrative journaling. If you are into drawing, you should try and associate at least few, if not all the activities with pictures. You need not be an M F Hussain for that. For example, if you are writing about making breakfast, just draw a tea cup and a plate. For the lazier ones, there is always photography to the aid. If you want to be a little more creative add photos to it.
NAIL IT
7. Share it - When you feel that you have done a good job, share it across with people. If not for anything, just to feel proud of the fact that you have a part of your life journaled all by yourself. It is no less an achievement.
Lastly, remember, do not feel bad about doing or not doing anything. Each one of us has the same 24 hours. How we spend it should be our choice. So journal or no journal, make sure you live it up to your expectations.
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