It started innocently with a question I had a few days ago regarding Journal Entries versus Timelines. My query had my thought process straining to get the difference between journal entries and a timeline or bullet journal tags straight in my mind. A Timeline seems full of nonsensical time-coded entries that, if anything, track only the span between moments. On the other hand, traditional journal admissions are intended to record the deep thinking that supposedly occurs when I ponder a topic. Unfortunately, in my exploration, I have destroyed the very thing I sought to improve; I'll explain.
For years, I have kept a daily journal. Its layout has changed over the years; however, the paramount consistency has been some form of Timeline, i.e., a running accounting of the hours in the day, including Pomodoro Technique time and breaks, meals, naps, and watching TV. The Timeline is far from a perfect record, but it is a general accounting of my day. [^1]
Over the years, I developed a category called Threads [^2], i.e., conversational threads with myself, which are closer to traditional journal entries expounding on my hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations. In the past year, I have added two additional sections:
I have recorded the news articles or blog essays I have read during the day.
I have captured any potential information discovered through my readings into my Zettelkasten archive.
I created a footnote section to aid in understanding my current thinking or cross-reference other related material.
Over the past two weeks, through the use of an Obsidian plug-in called dataview, I've discovered I no longer need the daily journal. In fact, the daily notes journal may have been hindering my productivity all along. Instead, I can keep track of a running Timeline by year. Bullet journal entries don't require separate individual files attached to a particular day. These Timeline entries can exist as one long stream of consciousness and may perform better in a single file. [^3]
A single Timeline format also accomplishes another concern I've had regarding the boring timeline structure: entire journals can potentially be discarded due to the tedious nature of the material. [^4] Keeping the Timeline and Journal entries separate allows future readers a choice.
Using the dataview software, I created a separate Articles and Blogs quick entry system, allowing me to capture metadata and summaries in the Reference Material section of my database. However, reference material is only suited for what can be connected rather than the material contained within the archive. Therefore, there is no need to keep track of readings daily.
I capture a Daily Unforgettable Journal picture and trip reports for blogs and essays; however, I suspect these can be handled satisfactorily by the Obsidian plug-in, which leaves me with, well, nothing remaining to enter in my Daily Notes Journal.
The "Threads" section of my journal is the area that holds the most significant potential benefit—the diary entries themselves. Short, sometimes impassioned pleas regarding sleep, exercise, or reverenced awe after a hike or tall mountain ascent do not arrive in my brain on any regular schedule. The frustration with "Threads" hasn't been the written material. Instead, the frustration centers around the knowledge I repeat myself over the years, and each entry is contained within a separate Daily Notes file.
The question that nags at me is; am I not learning? How do I intertwine my discussion threads so that they flow along a standard string? In other words, if I was trying to figure out a way to sleep better ten years ago, seven years ago, last year, and last week, along with research material on the subject, how can I tie these disjointed journal entries and articles into a joint discussion that points toward an acknowledged outcome?
Keeping the information in separate files [^5] but combining them into a single folder will allow technology to manipulate the data for my benefit. [^6] I am still determining the results and form they will eventually take. However, I have discovered that entering a Journal Thread only when inspiration strikes is more efficient than accumulating days of blank material. I am confident that continuing my old record-keeping Daily Notes methods will not provide the solutions I look for in my future journal entries.
Written December 30, 2022
Footnotes:
The popular term is Bullet Journal
Short for Discussion Threads
https://jamierubin.net/2022/01/25/practically-paperless-with-obsidian-episode-15-daily-notes-as-an-index-to-my-life/
Blog essay On Keeping a Personal Journal: https://lindasbrickbarn.com/steves-trip-reports/2022/11/2/on-keeping-a-personal-journal
Metadata is required for technology to sort at the file level.
Obsidian plug-in Graph Analysis and Dataview.