Reading Jeremy's post about keeping his personal journal helped clarify some of the thoughts I've been having about mine.

Some Entries from My Personal Journal:

On Tuesday the 12th of November, 2024, I started what I hoped to be a new habit. That is writing a personal daily journal. Over the weeks, I expanded my aspirations to include a daily check list of activities I wanted to do.

I've been consistently keeping a personal journal for years. I write primarily using Org-journal, a Daybook.org file, and a paper notebook. My problem isn't that I don't journal enough, but rather that I can't decide where to journal.

I'll never give up paper notebooks, so let's not even consider that. I like how my brain feels when writing on paper. I love the resulting artifacts, too. Flipping through old paper notebooks is an experience that can't be replicated using digital tools.

However, I don't love writing by hand for too long. My hand cramps and I become impatient. I'm faster using a keyboard and it's easier. Also, it's much easier to read things I've typed :). Combined with the other benefits of digital, I doubt I'll ever give up my digital journals, either.

As for digital, my Daybook.org and my Org-journal files compete for attention. Sometimes I write an entry in my Daybook, then add a bunch of notes below it. Org-journal also gets longer notes, sometimes with very similar content. It's confusing.

I'm thinking I'll limit using the Daybook.org file to only include simple date-based headings that show up in my org-agenda as short, log-type entries. e.g. "Shoveled the driveway" or "Canceled my subscription to SomeApp". Org-journal will include more day-to-day narration, like "Went to grocery store for pop and coffee. I'm trying the local 'Rowsers' coffee for the first time." So, log-adjacent, but with more :). I'll think of it like this: Daybook is what happened, and Org-journal is about what happened and what I thought about it.

This means that my Org-journal will include a lot more mundane things from my day than it has been, but I think that's fine.