Hobonichi Journal

Over the last year or so, the amount of handwriting I do in a given day is limited. I spend most of my time writing on computers. The ease with which I can type is a boon. I can note down more thoughts in a given period of time when I am typing. I have had few causes to write with pen and paper. With that said, I have a great appreciation for analog writing. I have a whiteboard on which I sometimes jot ideas. While I was working on the search engine crawler for IndieWeb Search, my whiteboard became invaluable. I had an urge -- verging on a need -- to write and draw out my ideas, away from computers.

This week, I decided to buy a Hobonichi journal / planner, which arrived in the post today. I bought the original version. My impetus was that I am interested in once again writing down more, particularly the tasks on which I need to work in a given day. Thus far, my system for writing TODOs has involved using a single markdown file on my computer. While this system has been incredibly effective for me in the past, I find there are deficiencies. Many personal tasks don't make their way onto the TODO list because they come to mind when I am away from those markdown files. I usually open my computer with a task in mind so I forget about the TODO.

Furthermore, my personal TODO lists have very much erred toward the immediate tasks: what shall I do this day, or what tasks will I need to work on in the coming days. For tasks further in the future -- such as remembering to take the bins outside on the prescribed cadence, or various other life admin tasks -- my TODO list is less effective.

Thus, I am going to start writing out tasks in my journal / planner to see how the process goes. I sat down earlier this evening to write down tasks and I recalled some things that had been in the back of my mind, left unenumerated anywhere, to write down. For instance, I remembered that I need to fix the related article links at the bottom of my blog posts; this task has been on the cards for at least a few months, but I forgot to add it to my TODO list.

Having the space to sit away from my computer and ask myself the question "what do I need to do?" gave me a lot of clarity and helped me document some tasks that I need to do. I have a lot of ideas on what I can do with the journal. I can note down tasks and ideas but do so in a visual way. I found myself drawing little images to accompany some tasks I wanted to do or did today. I don't usually do this, but with paper in front of me I felt free to do so. I'll report back as I continue using the journal / planner.

Tagged in journaling.