Every day write one line summarizing that day. I call it the one-line diary. Easy to update. Easy to read.
Easy to update
Longer journals can be daunting to write. Bullet journals can be intense with all their code and filling up a page every day. With a one-line diary you have one line to write about that day. Much easier to keep up with.
Easy to read
A one-line diary is easier to review. You can look back at your one-line journal and get a quick overview of what your life was like at that time.
The challenges of a one-line diary
I try to keep a one-line diary, but I often find myself too overwhelmed to fill it in. Yes! One line often daunts me! Some days feel less achievement-filled than others. But looking back at the journal is rather fun.
Now I’m back doing it again.
Different ways to fill out a one-line diary
Currently I keep my one-line diary in a Google doc. Each line is one day.
I’ve also done this on paper with a printed form. It works better when it’s on a sheet of paper, as you have a finite space with just one line per day. Plus, it’s cool to just have that actual physical sheet of paper with your notes written every day. Someday, I’ll post a photo of one my hand-filled sheets from 2008/2009.
But you don’t always have the sheet of paper with you to fill out. For me, the trick is getting myself to fill it out every day. Google docs are available anywhere online.
I suppose you could also do it on a private Twitter account. But sometimes you want to backfill certain days you missed. With Twitter, you can’t tweet something in the past. Although you could just start each tweet with the date. However, I put personal things in my one-line diary that I would definitely not want online.
Reminders of what you did on past days
When you need to back-fill your one-line journal, you can reference several places:
- Your calendar. Always a great spot to remember what you did that day. One might say you could even keep your one-line diary on an actual calendar. Not a bad idea!
- Exercise journal. I keep track of my bicycle runs on Strava. Often I’ll put notes on there where I went.
- Swarm (foursquare). Another source for where you went that day.
- Twitter, Facebook, other social media.
- Your photographs. Always a good source for your historical record of what you did that day.
- Evernote. I save articles into Evernote. By looking through this archive, I can see what I was researching that day.
- Screenshots. If you’re like me, you take screenshots ALL THE TIME on your computer. I use the Mac’s screenshot function to record activities.
If all these services could talk to each other, that would be great to have a daily summary across all services. For now it’s a hand-curated list with the one-line diary.
If you need a list of all the days for a Google doc, here’s a handy list you can copy and paste: Monday, May 1, 2017: Tuesday, May 2, 2017: Wednesday, May 3, 2017: Thursday, May 4, 2017: Friday, May 5, 2017: Saturday, May 6, 2017: Sunday, May 7, 2017: Monday, May 8, 2017: Tuesday, May 9, 2017: Wednesday, May 10, 2017: Thursday, May 11, 2017: Friday, May 12, 2017: Saturday, May 13, 2017: Sunday, May 14, 2017: Monday, May 15, 2017: Tuesday, May 16, 2017: Wednesday, May 17, 2017: Thursday, May 18, 2017: Friday, May 19, 2017: Saturday, May 20, 2017: Sunday, May 21, 2017: Monday, May 22, 2017: Tuesday, May 23, 2017: Wednesday, May 24, 2017: Thursday, May 25, 2017: Friday, May 26, 2017: Saturday, May 27, 2017: Sunday, May 28, 2017: Monday, May 29, 2017: Tuesday, May 30, 2017: Wednesday, May 31, 2017: Thursday, June 1, 2017: Friday, June 2, 2017: Saturday, June 3, 2017: Sunday, June 4, 2017: Monday, June 5, 2017: Tuesday, June 6, 2017: Wednesday, June 7, 2017: Thursday, June 8, 2017: Friday, June 9, 2017: Saturday, June 10, 2017: Sunday, June 11, 2017: Monday, June 12, 2017: Tuesday, June 13, 2017: Wednesday, June 14, 2017: Thursday, June 15, 2017: Friday, June 16, 2017: Saturday, June 17, 2017: Sunday, June 18, 2017: Monday, June 19, 2017: Tuesday, June 20, 2017: Wednesday, June 21, 2017: Thursday, June 22, 2017: Friday, June 23, 2017: Saturday, June 24, 2017: Sunday, June 25, 2017: Monday, June 26, 2017: Tuesday, June 27, 2017: Wednesday, June 28, 2017: Thursday, June 29, 2017: Friday, June 30, 2017: Saturday, July 1, 2017: Sunday, July 2, 2017: Monday, July 3, 2017: Tuesday, July 4, 2017: Wednesday, July 5, 2017: Thursday, July 6, 2017: Friday, July 7, 2017: Saturday, July 8, 2017: Sunday, July 9, 2017: Monday, July 10, 2017: Tuesday, July 11, 2017: Wednesday, July 12, 2017: Thursday, July 13, 2017: Friday, July 14, 2017: Saturday, July 15, 2017: Sunday, July 16, 2017: Monday, July 17, 2017: Tuesday, July 18, 2017: Wednesday, July 19, 2017: Thursday, July 20, 2017: Friday, July 21, 2017: Saturday, July 22, 2017: Sunday, July 23, 2017: Monday, July 24, 2017: Tuesday, July 25, 2017: Wednesday, July 26, 2017: Thursday, July 27, 2017: Friday, July 28, 2017: Saturday, July 29, 2017: Sunday, July 30, 2017: Monday, July 31, 2017: Tuesday, August 1, 2017: Wednesday, August 2, 2017: Thursday, August 3, 2017: Friday, August 4, 2017: Saturday, August 5, 2017: Sunday, August 6, 2017: Monday, August 7, 2017: Tuesday, August 8, 2017: Wednesday, August 9, 2017: Thursday, August 10, 2017: Friday, August 11, 2017: Saturday, August 12, 2017: Sunday, August 13, 2017: Monday, August 14, 2017: Tuesday, August 15, 2017: Wednesday, August 16, 2017: Thursday, August 17, 2017: Friday, August 18, 2017: Saturday, August 19, 2017: Sunday, August 20, 2017: Monday, August 21, 2017: Tuesday, August 22, 2017: Wednesday, August 23, 2017: Thursday, August 24, 2017: Friday, August 25, 2017: Saturday, August 26, 2017: Sunday, August 27, 2017: Monday, August… Read more »
I’ve been doing a one-line diary since 2008. Before I picked up the one-line diary again this month, my most recent entries were from September last year–eight months ago!
My wife is part of the inspiration for me to continue the one-line diary. She recently started a tinybean journal. I really haven’t explored tinybean too much yet, but on first glance it looks like a place to share quick memories. My one-line diary is like that! Only I keep it private to myself. With tinybean you can share your memories with a select group of people. Perhaps some of my one-line entries will make it into tinybean entries. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your system, Matt! I’ve been keeping handwritten journals most of my life, but the amount of time between entries can vary quite a bit. At the end of January, however, I started a #100DaysofDailyJournaling project. Originally I wanted to do three morning pages every day, but I soon realized I’d have to lower the bar to make it sustainable. So I told myself I just had to write SOMETHING, whether it’s a single word, phrase, sentence or multiple pages. When I miss a day, I try to never miss two days in a row. Today is Day 96, so I’m almost there!
To help remember, could you set a daily alarm on your phone—and when the ding or song plays, that’s your reminder to write a sentence if you haven’t yet?
With a physical journal, I just let it live on my bedside table, and thus see it every morning and night—the visual is enough of a reminder for me.
Good luck with your move!
One of the things to be careful with doing a one-line daily diary: don’t get a case of the do-sies! Every day you record what you did. You want to feel like you did a lot that day. Heck, some days you just want to feel like you did SOMETHING.
But not every day can be a significant day. There may be people out there who say “make every day memorable.” Yeah, yeah, that’s a nice idea, but there has to be some days where you just enjoy the day for what it is. If you feel like you have to DO something EVERY day, then you’ll get anxious about getting something done. That anxiety will take over, and eventually freeze you up. At least that’s what happens to me sometimes.
So don’t feel like you have to do something every day, otherwise you’ll get a case a case of the do-sies!
Lately I’ve been pre-filling the lines in the future. It’s rather odd seeing things that are about to happen. It’s like looking INTO THE FUTURE. It’s one thing to look at a calendar for upcoming events, it’s another thing to look at your diary at future entries.
(It’s about time that I learn to stop typing “it’s” as a start to a sentence.)