I'll put it right out there - I'm terrible at keeping a journal. I've started dozens over the years, each with an average lifespan of about three days. I've always admired a friend from college who is a dedicated journaler - he writes pages a day, every single day. I would love to have that kind of record of my life, but if there's one thing that adulthood teaches you, it's that you can't be good at everything you'd like to be good at. I know that no matter how hard I try, I'm never going to be motivated enough to sit down every evening and write pages of introspection about my day.
Enter the savior of the lazy journaler - the One Line a Day Journal! One line? Even I can handle that! The best part, however, is the layout: there's a page for each day of the year, followed by five spaces to record a line about that day for five consecutive years. That means you can revisit what you were doing on a certain day over the course of five years - love it!
I've had the journal for about two months now and am still keeping up with it. I keep it on my nightstand and it takes no time at all to jot down a line about the day before I go to bed. Plus, even if I fall behind for a day (or two), catching up isn't overwhelming.
It's a new feeling, but I think this journal and I might have a long and happy life together...
Do you keep a journal or a diary? Are you good at keeping up with it?
28 comments:
I absolutely love this idea! I too am a wanna-be consistent journaler. I do it very sporatically. This book would be perfect! And I love that you can look back at the same date for five years. How cool!
Love this, too! In the past I've been an obsessive journal keeper, but with kids it's too hard. This would be easy and I love the look of it...
i am horrible at keeping a journal, which is why i blog.
this journal, though? amazing. i think i might jump on this bandwagon. i love the layout of the journal, plus it's pretty!
thanks for sharing!
~Andrea
Glad to hear I am not alone! I have been trying to keep a constant journal for years now and once my son was born I tend to write sporadically when I can remember. Days weeks and months inbetween entries. I might just give this a try.
i love the idea of this journal! keeping up with the blog keeps me pretty busy but this seems do-able! xoxo jcd :: cornflake dreams
Thanks for sharing this, even I might be able to handle a journal like that :)
I LOVE this idea. I have had a journal since I was 8 or 9, when a math tutor I had gave me my first jounral. I have written ever since, although I must admit sometimes sporadically. I update at least once a month and I find that if things are bad I never update, so I try to force myself and it always makes me feel a bit better.
velvet cupcakes
i like this idea, because i'm a horrid journaler.. but i still think this would end up being left after a few days for me too, haha.
I'd love to do a journal but I'm useless, I always forget about it! I keep meaning to start cos it's on my 26 before 27 list! This is a great idea though, a line a day is pretty manageable!
Love this idea. I, too, am I terrible journaler. The longest mine ever lasted was about two weeks. I could never remember to keep up with it.
I think this is a great idea, because there are always events or conversations that I want to remember, but never remember to write them down! I may have to get this. :)
I journal, but I keep a one line a day journal (of my own design, I'm too cheap to buy one :D) in place of a real baby book. It's a lot easier to write down what my son is doing in a quick sentence at the end of the day than to flip through the baby book and fill in when he got what tooth and when he said what word.
What a wonderful idea. I'm going to look for this. I'm a horrible journal writer but this looks do-able!
wow, this really is a great idea!
i had an diary a long time ago.. now? just a small art journal, once a two weeks i make something init.. :)
So, I made myself this super cool journal from a century old hymnbook and I have written in it approximately once. I'm going to have to try the line-a-day approach, this poor book is lost somewhere behind my bed now.
Just found your blog via your sponsorship on Kyla Roma and it's simply lovely! (I'm off to follow you on Twitter in a minute!)
Love this idea. I'm bad at keeping a journal as well but it seems like this approach could work wonders!
I love this idea! Where did you find the journal?
what a neat idea!
A friend got me "Mom's One Line a Day" right after I had Elise. Four months old- not a day missing yet (can you tell I'm super proud of that). Maybe I should do a blog post about this, with the lack of knitting in my life these days I have to think a little harder!
While researching this journal I just now came across this one: http://amzn.com/0307719774
WANT. I like that it has a jumping-off point for each day, and that you get to fill it over 5 years. I'm also a terrible journaler, but have such high hopes each time I buy another pretty leather-bound journal (or two, if they're on clearance).
I managed to keep a journal for about a year, but I got too busy in January, and haven't written since :/ But the way I kept myself writing in it was that I addressed the journal to someone I loved, but he didn't know it yet. It was quite exciting the day I got to record that he had told me he loved me too :)
Isn't your great blog a little like a journal? I do like the idea of just one line a day. I write 3 pages every morning but that's more like therapy than it is journaling.
I'm glad you all like the journal! It really is very manageable and pretty enough that you want to use it.
Emma, I found it at Paper Source (it's available online).
Holly and Melynda, I love the idea of a one line a day journal instead of a baby book! I might have a new go-to shower gift...
Katie Ann, the questions journal is so cool! I wonder if it would be overwhelming to try to do both?
Olive, I think blogging is a little like journaling, but I record such a select portion of my life here that it doesn't really count in my mind.
Alli,
I think that the universe is telling me to start a 5 year journal! First I read your post, followed the link and shrunk it down to ponder the idea. Just a little while later I found a link to this blog: http://www.herfiveyeardiary.com/ . Check it out!
I'm off to buy that journal; I know a sign when I get one!
Have a wonderful day, xoxo, a.
I have been wanting this journal for forever! i've seen it at barnes and noble. i want to go pick it up! this is the only written journal i'd be able to manage.
I really really want one of these! I saw one in a book store a few months ago and didn't have the cash for it. Thanks for reminding me!
I've been doing this since 1989 believe it or not. the journal I started with was just a whole year of dates including feb. 29th but no day or year specified, so I just started doing literally one line per day. The first year was hard at times, but after that, when I could look back at what I was doing last year at this time it became a real habit. I only have about 6 lines left... at that point I will have to figure out if I declare it done or start a new one. Oh well, a quality problem to be sure.
Love the journal idea!! I am pretty good at journaling when I want to - you know, every couple of days I'll write a page or two. I like to keep notes in my journal from Church or even from the book I'm reading right now (Secure in Heart). I'm a mentor for a younger friend I've known for a few years. She struggles with self confidence and worth and such - something I think a lot of ladies go through in their lives at some point. She's young and really weighted down by her thoughts like this.. I wonder if suggesting she keep a journal like this - one sentence a day - where she wrote a positive thought/reminder about herself - would be good for her? Especially if she could go back and read the things she's written when she's has a bad day.. Just a thought!!
I know this is quite old but I ended up here from you end of the year post and I HAD TO comment. My grandfather bought my grand mother one of these for her 18th birthday - just before they got married - and every 5 years after that. She wrote in it everyday. When she passed away she left word that we could read them so my uncle typed them up so we could all have a copy. It was so much fun reading about her everyday life.
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