Ask HN: Do you write a diary? - 0x54MUR41
======
technobabble
Yes, I have a proper moleskine journal as well as a spreadsheet to keep track
of my mood/work hours in 15 minute increments.

Why do I have an actual journal?

\- to keep track of my mood/depression, and to try to improve it. I used to
journal every day, however that proved tedious and not as helpful, so now I
write when I feel the need to (about once per week)

\- Ideas can hit you at any time, and I personally find its easier to sketch
diagrams as opposed to typing on a smartphone. Exception: voice memos, which
I've dabbled in \- it's a physical book that, unless someone stole, I know is
_mine_ that I can call my own.

Tips on starting a diary/journal (your mileage may vary)

\- journal: moleskine, Lechtturm1917 are my personal favorites.

\- keep first two pages blank for a table of contents. You don't have to
content every page, just important ones you want to refer back to

\- I don't use a bullet journal format, but it's something other people really
like

Conclusion:

In Edmund Morris' bio of Theodore Roosevelt, he mentioned that TR's journals
were written as if he knew other people will read them. When I'm writing, I
make a conscious effort to have that mindset because it keeps me accountable
for writing the truth, and writing down my entire thought process.

meta: this was a long write

~~~
pmdulaney
Very helpful.

Only I prefer twin-ring notebooks since they lie flat better.

[https://www.jetpens.com/Twin-Ring-
Binding/ct/2618](https://www.jetpens.com/Twin-Ring-Binding/ct/2618)

------
trykondev
Yes -- it's one of my most prized possessions. I have been keeping a daily
diary for the past five years in a text editor, recording thoughts, events,
and useful links.

I find it very helpful to have a place to vent or just elaborate on my
thoughts. I rarely go back and read previous entries, aside from reflective
times like New Year's. I love its existence as something akin to an art piece.
It provides a candid snapshot into the daily train of thought of a
twentysomething developer and writer.

It's deeply personal, but I do hope someday to make it available for people to
read in some context -- it's the most real and honest thing I've ever created.

~~~
kotrunga
People love learning about other people's lives- let us know when it's public!

------
ryanmercer
Not a proper diary.

I have blog posts going back to 2001 on
[http://www.ryanmercer.com](http://www.ryanmercer.com) though (starting with
all of my embarrassingly angsty and emo high school live journal posts) and my
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook posts all get copied via IFTTT and Zapier zaps
for future reference/mining if I ever see the need.

I also use 'ryanmercer' everywhere I can online so that, with a little context
of a past thought or conversation, I can relatively easily find the thread via
Google. I also have years of IRC logs in Channels I participated in, however I
stopped logging them when I switched my daily driver to a Chromebox a year and
change ago.

My hope is that some day I'll be able to take all of my blog posts, all of my
ryanmercer comments online and my social media posts and feed them into a
service or piece of software and create an approximation of me as
sufficiently-advanced chat bot.

------
fuball63
I see the value of keeping a journal, and I've tried to do it a bunch of
times, but I can never stick with it.

I do maintain a hipster PDA [1] with index cards for ideas, general lists, and
doodles/scratches. I've found that to be a helpful tool.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_PDA)

------
sgillen
I keep a journal emacs org mode, it’s mostly a daily TODO list and a place to
take notes on what I read that day. But I will sometimes reflect at the end of
the day or week and put my thoughts in there as well.

------
freetonik
I do, for 4+ years now, and I'm using DayOne suite of apps.

