Finding the Time

Journaling has been a very important part of my life since college. My journal is where I go to work things out. I've been known to joke that it's my brain on paper. For years I have written in my journal almost every day. Sometimes I would even write several times in one day. My journal went almost everywhere with me and I could often be seen writing in it whenever I had a few minutes down time. All of that changed once I had my daughter. The first few weeks I was so sleep deprived that I sacrificed my journal time for some much needed sleep. After a few weeks of that and all the new responsibilities a new baby brings; I was suddenly out of the habit of regularly journaling.

It has now been almost seven months since I had my daughter. The mental clutter has been building during that time. Now I've reached a point where that buildup is causing my stress level to increase and stupid little things that I can normally shrug off are bothering me. So this weekend I am going to take the time to do some serious journaling. Either my husband or my mother will watch my daughter and I will find somewhere quiet that I can be alone to journal. Right now I am really looking forward to that time away from everything where I can be alone with my thoughts. It has been way too long since I took time like that.

I do plan on building regular journaling time back into my schedule now. It is something that I need to function at my best. Taking the time to take care of myself helps me to be a better wife, mother and person in general. So it is in the best interest of everyone that I make sure to take the time to take care of myself. Sometimes it is hard to remember that. There is so much that needs to be done on a daily basis and it is often easiest to sacrifice the things that appear to only benefit ourselves. I'm finally coming to realize that having a happy mommy is in the best interest of my daughter too. Would she rather spend all day with a cranky mother or have slightly less time with a happy mommy?

What benefits have you noticed in your life from journaling? Do you notice a difference if you miss a lot of time?

Journal Kit

I came across a post on Michelle Ward's blog about creating a journal kit. This is a tote, box, etc that has all of your favorite journaling tools in it ready to go. The idea is to make it easy for you to pick up and journal anywhere. I love the idea and plan to create my own journal kit. I already had a bag of favorite pens that I kept with my journal, this will just expand on that. Check out the links on the left side of her blog for crusade number 17. These are pictures of the journal kits others created in response to her challenge. Why not try creating your own journaling kit?

Time to Write

Lately I seem to be having a hard time finding the time to write. The combination of a new baby and working full time pretty much fills up my schedule. Before my daughter arrived, I was able to write every day. Now I'm lucky to write twice a week and I'm feeling it. It drives me nuts that I'm not able to write every day anymore. There are so many things going on that I want to write about, but I never seem to get around to them. I definitely need to start getting writing back into my schedule. I know from past experience that if I don't make it a priority, it will never get done.

Does anyone have any of their own tips for finding time to write that they would like to share? I would especially love to hear from other working moms.

Anniversary Journals

When my husband and I got married we used a journal as our guestbook. The first page has one of our wedding invitations attached and the next few pages contain signatures and messages from wedding guests. After the wedding there were still lots of pages left in the journal so I decided to use it as an anniversary journal. Every year on our anniversary we write a nice letter to each other in it. It's a way for us to record our relationship and let each other know how much we love them. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget to let your spouse know how much you appreciate them. So every year I look forward to writing this letter to my husband and reading what he writes for me.

How do you let your significant other know how much you appreciate them? Do you have a way to record the love in your relationship?

Journal For Your Child

I have a journal that I keep just for my daughter. I do this instead of a the typical baby book that so many mothers keep. For me, the journal is so much nicer because I am able to write letters to her and tell her about all the things going on in her life. I want her to have something that shows her how much she is loved.

While I was pregnant I pasted in copies of the pictures from my ultrasounds and one of the invitations to the baby shower. After she ws born I added a copy of her birth announcement. Now I like to add pictures of her. It's amazing how much she has changed in the few weeks that she has been with us. She is growing up so very fast.

Unlike my regular journal, I don't write in her journal every day. Instead I just write when something important happens or when I have something I want to say to her. As the years go on I plan to write an entry every year on her birthday at the very least.

What ways do you record the special moments in your child's life?

Writing Through Insomnia

The other night I woke up at 1:00 am and was unable to get back to sleep. Part of the problem was that I had way to many thoughts running through my head. So after tossing and turning for over an hour I decided to get up and write out some of the thoughts that were keeping me awake. It had been awhile since I had a chance to really sit down and write. It felt so good to get those thoughts out and I really enjoyed having time to write while the house was so peaceful. By the time I got all of those thoughts written down it was too late to go back to sleep. So it didn't help me sleep that night, but the next night I slept like a baby. I definitely need to start finding more time to write during my regular schedule so that I can hopefully avoid these instances of insomnia in the morning.

What do you do when you can't get to sleep? Does regular writing help you clear your head?

Decorating the Page

Recently I have begun to spice up my journal pages a little more. In the past it was typically just page after page of writing. Then I started adding stickers, but it still wasn’t enough visual interest for me. So when I saw the post-it photo papers I just had to try them. Now I print pictures on the post-it photo paper and add them to my journal on a regular basis. I’ve also started using printable sticker sheets. Using these sheets I can print all kinds of pictures on one letter size sheet of stickers. Then I just cut them apart and use them in my journals. I enjoy this because I can find pictures of things that relate my journal entries. All of these pictures get printed on my home printer so I can add them to my journal that day. Technology is such a wonderful thing.

Year End Review

Now that we've reached the end of the year you may want to take some time to do a year end review entry in your journal. In this entry you can recap significant events from the year and even talk about things you're looking forward to in the next year. It's also a great time to provide a "snapshot" of yourself. What things are important to your life right now. It's amazing how much some things can change from year to year.

Here is a site that has a top 10 list of year end review questions. This should help you get started on your own entry.

Journaling Your Beliefs

Have you ever taken the time to write down your beliefs in your journal? Your beliefs are probably something that you don’t give a lot of thought to, but it is an important part of who you are. I hadn’t really thought about writing down my beliefs until I came across the NPR This I Believe invitation. You can find the invitation here. Reading this invitation will give you an idea of what a good statement of beliefs should contain. Here is a quick summary of some of their points:
1. Use language natural to you
2. Tell what you believe, how you reached your beliefs, how they have grown and what made them grow
3. Write what you live by in the terms of “I”
4. Stick to affirmatives

To view essays that have been submitted to the This I Believe project by others, go to their website.

Ten Year Journal

I’ve been thinking about starting a ten year journal at the first of the year. The idea of having a ten years worth of short entries all on one page for any given day just really appeals to me. I’m addicted to my long entries in my daily journal to ever give that up, but I feel that the ten year journal could serve as a sort of index to my regular daily journal. I can also see where a journal like this would appeal to someone who does not like to write a lot and would prefer a short entry for every.

If you’re considering a ten year journal, you could either go buy one, or there is a pdf file available online that you can print out yourself. Click here to get to the online pdf file. It’s free, the link is at the bottom of the page. I’ve been thinking about having the pdf file printed and bound at the local copy shop. It seems like a better alternative then trying to print it at work since that is the only duplexing printer I have access to.

Journaling Music

I absolutely love music so it tends to make appearances in my journal from time to time. The most common way for music to appear in my journals is in the form of lyrics. When a song gets stuck in my head or just really seems to resonate with me, I will write those lyrics in my journal. This tends to turn into me writing my thoughts and ideas on what the lyrics are saying and why they mean something to me.

There are other times when I will simply write down what I am currently listening to and that is it. Certain members of my family have a tendency to twist the lyrics to existing songs to make up their own songs. There have been times when I have written about this and some sample lyrics in my journal.

There is even a small notebook that I carry in my purse where I write down songs or artists that I want to listen to. This helps me to remember new artists and songs. It has worked out well because I am always looking for new music and I was getting frustrated at forgetting most of the leads I was finding on new good music. Now I always have the notebook with me so I can write it down and check it out when I get a chance.

What music has spoken to you? Try writing about it in your journal. You never know where it will lead you.

Online Paper Journaling Community

There is an online community on LiveJournal for paper based journaling, Emodiment. Their goal is to write an entry in your paper journal every day for the year. The community started last year. At the time I didn't join, but I have watched the community throughout the year. It is an interesting community and is worth checking out if you are interested in paper journaling. I did join for 2007 since membership recently opened up again. If you plan on joining, do so soon as membership closes at midnight on December 31, 2006. Click the image below to see the community profile.

Journaling Your Dreams and Desires

I love to take the time to write in my journal about my dreams and desires. It helps me to clarify exactly what it is that I want and why. There have even been a few times where after I wrote about it and worked through the details I realized that I didn’t really want what I thought I did. Some of these things just didn’t fit in with my values and personality. In these cases I’m glad that I realized this before I spent a lot of time and money working towards something that I didn’t really want. On the positive side, there have also been situations where working through my desires has helped to clarify exactly what I want and get me working on actually achieving it. So now, whenever there is something that I think I want, I like to take the time to work through it in my journal.

If time and money were no object, what would you do with your life? Take some time to write about the things you would love to have in your life or do with your life. Why do you want those things? What has stopped you from getting them? What can you do to make this dream a desire in the future? Make a plan and start working towards it. Something that seems impossible at first may not be so bad once you break it down into doable steps.

Unsent Letters

There have been times in my life when I had unresolved issues with someone who was no longer a part of my life. For various reasons, I was unwilling to contact them to resolve the issue. Instead, I took the time to write them a letter detailing all of those unresolved issues and my feelings. It felt good to get all of that junk out there and helped me to move on with my life. Then, instead of sending the letter, I burned it. The things I wrote in that letter were not something that I could have ever said to that person and there were quite a few things in there that I don’t want them or anyone else to know. So the only option for me was to destroy the letter. Even the actual act of burning the letter helped me. If you do burn the letter, just be sure to do it in a safe manner. I have burned mine in a woodstove, but a fireplace would also work. Putting the letter through a shredder would also work.

If you have unresolved issues with someone or there are things you want to say, but are unable to, try writing an unsent letter. You don’t have to burn it; some people may choose to save theirs. If you save it, just remember that eventually someone is probably going to read it.

Organizing Your Journal Supplies

How do you store your journal supplies?

I try to be an organized person. Unfortunately life interferes and it doesn’t always work out that way. Right now I do manage to have my journal supplies next to my favorite writing spot. There are bookshelves next to where I typically write and I have dedicated one of the shelves to my journaling stuff. That shelf contains an assortment of journaling books, magazines and notebooks with my notes in them, but the most important items on that shelf are my journaling supplies. I currently have a small purse that I keep my pens in and a basket that I keep my stickers, post-its, scissors, glue and so forth in. I found this to be the most convenient storage method because it makes it very easy for me to pick up my supplies and take them with me if I decide to write somewhere else.

Do you have a system setup for storing your journal and supplies? If you don’t, you may want to check out this article on Organizing Ideas For Written Journals.

Some things to consider when organizing your journaling supplies:
* Location - I have found it is very convenient to have my supplies near where I typically journal
* Ability to Move - I don't always journal in the same spot so I keep my supplies in a something that is grab and contains all of my supplies
* Appearance - Your space will look better if you have something to contain your supplies. It may be as simple as a cup to hold your pens or a decorated shoe box to hold everything.
* Cost - Your organization system doesn't need to be expensive or even cost you anything. Try using items you already have on hand. Be creative.
* Size - Put all of your journal supplies together before you start organizing. This will help you visualize the size of the containers you need. Having a container that is either too big or too small only leads to frustration and disorganization.

Technorati Tags: Journaling, Organization, Journal Supplies

Holiday Journals

For the past few years I have wanted to start a Christmas journal. Every year I manage to take a few notes, but so far I haven’t managed to put together the actual journal. So I have decided that this year will be the year that I get it put together. The problem I am having now is deciding which information I want to include in the journal. There is always so much going on during the holidays and I want to record as much of it as I can. Here are some of the topics I would like to cover in my Christmas journal.

1. Decorations – write about getting out and setting up the decorations, any new or special decorations?
2. Christmas Tree – When did we set it up? Who helped? Any special ornaments this year?
3. Baking – What did I bake this year? Who did I give it to?
4. Music – What holiday songs were popular this year? What did I listen to regularly?
5. Visitors – Did we have any visitors? Did we visit with anyone?
6. Shopping – Write about some of my shopping experiences during the holiday season. Were there any crazy sales?
7. Traditions – What family traditions did we follow? Were there any that we didn’t follow this year?
8. Parties – What parties and get togethers did we attend? Who was there? Any special memories of the parties?
9. Parties Hosted – Include the menu and any special recipes, guest list, any tips for next year?
10. Cards and Letters – Include a copy of your card list with addresses. Who did you receive cards from? Were there any especially memorable cards?
11. Gifts and Gift Lists – Include copies of gift lists from special people in your life. What gifts did you give? What gifts did you receive?
12. Church Services – Did you attend any church services? What was the message from the clergy? How did the church look?
13. Special Events – Did you participate in any special programs or events? What were they and how were they?
14. Post Holiday Interviews – Interview your family members after the holiday to find out their favorite traditions and activities, favorite or special memories, ideas for next year and so forth.

Whenever possible I want to include pictures in my journal. This is obviously going to be a pretty involved undertaking for me. For many of the past years I do not have notes on all of these topics, so I will just have to work with what I have. This year I may not even get to everything because of how busy we all get during the holidays, but I do plan on including as much as I can. At the very least you will want to make sure that you record the traditions and activities that are the most important to your family and make sure that you complete the post holiday interviews with all family members. This will give you valuable information which you can use to plan your holiday season next year.

For some additional inspiration, check out this article on Holiday Helps from Creating Keepsakes magazine.

Technorati Tags: Journal Types, Holiday Journal, Journaling

Family Stories

Every family has their stories, the ones that get told time and time again. Or maybe there are some inside jokes in your family, comments and sayings that only make sense to members of your family. Take some time to write down these family stories and jokes. They show some of what makes you a part of your family. When you’re writing, don’t forget to include your take on the story. If your family is like mine and has a lot of stories, you may want to consider keeping a separate journal or notebook just for your family stories.

Technorati Tags: Family Stories, Journal Types

Household Notebooks

One type of notebook that I have found it very helpful to keep is a household notebook. This notebook serves as my central location for items that help keep my household running smoothly. For ease of use, I have found it much easier to keep my household notebook in a binder instead of a bound book. Mine is currently in a zipper binder which also has a pocket inside the front cover.

My household notebook consists of the following sections:
• FlyLady’s Eleven Commandments
• Tab 1: Routines – Copies of my standard routines. It seriously helps me to keep a regular schedule. Life happens and there are times when I have to adjust it, but I try to stick to it as much as possible.
• Tab 2: Financial – This contains my household budget, copies of current financial goals and my master price sheet.
• Tab 3: Goals – This section contains copies of the goals I have set financially, for the household and for myself
• Tab 4: Contacts – This section has a sheet with all of my doctors contact information, a sheet of assorted household contacts and then an alphabetical list of all the household’s personal contacts.
• Tab 5: Emergency Preparation Tips – a list of all the things I need to do to prepare for an emergency. Click here to see the list.
• Tab 6: Household Cleaning – A list of tips for household cleaning and removing stains
• Tab 7: Copies of Cards – Copies of our insurance cards, credit cards, drivers licenses, etc. (front and back)
• Tab 8: Leave Time Summary – My summary of leave time available and used for work.
• The rest of the tabs contain information related to working on my current goals.
• Working On: Household Inventory

Not everyone will want this much detail in their household notebook and some people may even want more details. This notebook contains a lot of personal information about your household so I would suggest keeping it in a secure place. It is definitely handy to have it all together though.

For ease of updating, most of the information in my notebook has been typed up on the computer. That way I can easily keep my information up to date and in order.

There are two sites that I have found very helpful in setting up my household notebook. In fact, the original idea for this came from one of these sites although I can no longer remember which one. The sites are:
Fly Lady (they call it a control journal)
Organized Home

A similar notebook you may want to consider keeping is a public household notebook. This notebook could contain schedules for all family members, menus for local restaurants your family enjoys, contact information, gift lists for family members, etc. This notebook would be available for all family members to use and could even be useful for a babysitter or housesitter.

Technorati Tags: Journal Types, Household Notebook, Household Organizer

Restaurant Journal

Admit it, you love to eat out. I know I do. Now I’ve even been seeing articles claiming that it can be cheaper to eat out then to prepare a meal at home. At the very least it’s a nice break for the person who typically shops for, cooks and cleans up after the meals at home. People are eating out more and more for various reasons.

I have found it interesting to keep a restaurant journal to record these special meals. In this journal I write about our meals out and have even been known to include the receipt. Here are some of the things I find it helpful to record:

• Where did you eat? – name and location
• Any special reason for selecting that restaurant?
• When were you there? – date and time
• Who was with you?
• Why did you go out? – a celebration or just because
• What did everyone have? – it can be helpful to include a copy of the receipt, maybe even draw a diagram of the table and where everyone sat and note what they ate on there, you could even take a picture of your meal and include it here
• How was the service?
• How was the food?
• What was the restaurant like?
• Any interesting stories from the meal?
• Would you eat there again?

Or maybe you just want to write a review like a restaurant critic. Have fun with your writing and do what feels right for you.

Technorati Tags: Journal Types, Restaurant Journal, Eating Out

Family Recipe Notebook

I started a family recipe journal a little over a year ago. In it I am collecting all of the recipes that our family enjoys. Whenever there is a story related to the recipe I like to add that with the recipe. It helps to make the collection more interesting. One thing I have considered, but haven’t done yet, is adding pictures of some of the food along with the recipe. I started this notebook as a convenience for myself because I got tired of having to hunt for the recipes when I wanted to use them. At first I tried collecting them on the computer. This didn’t work for me because my computer is upstairs so if I wanted to make something I had to go start up the computer, find the recipe and print it. By the time I did all that, I didn’t feel like cooking anymore. So I decided to switch over to a notebook. I selected a notebook which appears to be durable and has a nice plastic cover. Hopefully it will hold up well to the abuse that kitchen use can cause.

Does your family have any special recipes? Why not try creating your own family recipe notebook?

Technorati Tags: Family Recipe, Journaling, Notebook