Journaling for Mindful Nerds
Day One Shortcuts & 'The Reflection & Expression Framework'
Watch the same content of this article in a YT Video Format HERE, or read below :)
In the middle of 2021 I—accidentally—discovered Building a Second Brain and it changed my life. It’s a system that completely revolutionized my approach to consuming content (online & offline), it helped me organize information on areas that mattered to me, but even more it gave me a purpose, motivation and so much passion on trying to find ways to make the most of personal knowledge. It sent me in a self-growth sprint where I tried to learn everything I could about habit formation, productivity, and anything related to creativity, inspiration, and developing ideas. Somewhere along the way, I also learned about some other very useful systems or methods like Getting Things Done and Zettelkasten (smart note-taking).
There’s A LOT of things that came as a result of this “awakening” I had in 2021, but one of the most important was a hunger to dive deep into all of my areas of interest and things of value. I realized that note-taking and linking thoughts in my Personal Knowledge Management System was great and all, but another incredible tool for me to intentionally and consistently reflect in a personal way about things that mattered to me was through journaling.
I have a long history in journaling. I won’t get into the details here, but I must mention that though I loved it for a long period in my life, I put it aside for about a decade. There’s only a handful of entries I wrote between 2012 and 2021. It was always one of those things I knew I wanted to come back to, and I knew it was important, but I kept postponing it for later… and later…
Enter 2021 and I was all-in in self-development, growing, learning, organizing my life, daily routines, etc. I figured it was the best time to pick up journaling again and I started using Day One—perhaps the most popular iOS app for this. I just wanted something simple and frictionless that’d help me build up the habit. To be honest I didn’t know where this would lead, but soon I was hooked and the enthusiasm expanded to physical journaling as well.
The whole perspective shift I went through in 2021 allowed me to figure out a journaling system that worked for me. I already had Building a Second Brain to help me deal with knowledge and personal interests, I had Getting Things Done for tasks and productivity, but journaling came in to fill this need for personal reflection that I’m telling you about. I know there’s a huge amount of benefits that come from journaling, but I didn’t want to do it “for” anything. I just needed something where I could enjoy the process without caring about the results—if any. A space to explore the whole idea of mindfulness and being present. Something to help me raise my self-awareness and embrace everything that I find personally meaningful.
If this sounds interesting or you are looking for something like this then I got great news for you! I created something called ‘The Reflection and Expression Framework’ which is just a nerdy way of calling a journaling method which revolves about these ideas of mindfulness I’m telling you about. I put a lot effort into organizing my thoughts and trying to systematically illustrate how I come up with journaling ideas, what I journal about, and how I do it. After months in the making, I’m happy to share with you an online class you can find both on Skillshare or Udemy.
If you are into systems of productivity, capturing and developing ideas, but you need an area that holds a lot of personal value, not for anyone else but for yourself, and not for results but for the process itself… then this may be just what you need.
This past year, after having downloaded Day One my journaling evolved SO MUCH and surprisingly, this app has been able to keep up with me. I know a lot about the importance of a frictionless capture system, and Day One may be the perfect app for this because of the convenience and flexibility it offers with IOS shortcuts. I want to share with you a shortcut creation guide I’ve prepared as part of the class. I wish I had something like this when I was just getting started.
If you are not interested in the class I still suggest you look into other journaling methods. It’s a practice that has done so much for me. It has given me such a deep perspective about life and personal priorities. If you find a way that works for you I’m sure you’ll also get this—and more.
If you liked this you may also enjoy some content I have up on my YT Channel! I don’t hang around social media a lot, but when I do I’m on IG or Twitter. You can also check out some of my online classes, listen to my music, or in case you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thank you for reading!