Two different journals in one? (jlai.lu)

submitted 1 week ago by Libb@jlai.lu to c/journaling@sh.itjust.works

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This year, I wanted to start keeping a reading journal.

That’s certainly not a revolutionary idea, but I still managed to get stuck on a simple technical consideration: should I use a dedicated journal? Or write them in my existing journal, next to my usual entries? But then, how would I be able to easily spot my reading entries and distinguish them from the journal entries?

In the end, I decided I would do everything in my existing journal but that I would write reading entries in a different color from standard journal entries. It’s simple enough while still making it very easy to instantly tell them apart.

What would you do?

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[-] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 day ago

I keep a factual list of books I have read, and keep it in an excel spread sheet. But my intentions may be different from yours.

I keep the list for a few reasons, one is that I wanted to read more. Hard to know if I'm reading more if I'm not tracking how much I'm reading.

Another reason is I wanted a list to refer back to. People ask for recommendations, it's nice to have a list I can go through and see what I've read.

And the other reason is that I want to be able to search for a book to see if I have read it (and how long ago). I also wanted to be able to access the list from anywhere, so it needed to be on my phone or in cloud storage.

My personal list is not about reviewing the book or thoughts on the book, it's simply a list of books I've read, along with dates I started and finished.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 2 points 1 day ago

I keep the list for a few reasons, one is that I wanted to read more.

I remember, that was many years ago, my reading had dropped to almost nothing like with almost all my activities that were not related to work. I was persuaded I was too busy and had no time available for them, that I had better/more important things to do. Indeed, at that time I was very busy with a very demanding job but much more than being busy I was... not very well organized and I wasted a lot of time and energy and it showed. I started to use lists a bit like buckets I would fill (freeing my mind while doing so), simple lists of whatever were my goals and what was the next action I should do for every single one of them and to regularly review those lists. The review part was the real key, allowing to quickly check how things moved along, see where I failed, and adjust what needed adjustment. To say this helped me a lot would be a gross understatement. Lists are a blessing when they're accompanied by regular reviews.

And the other reason is that I want to be able to search for a book to see if I have read it (and how long ago).

Indeed. I also want to be able to search even if my system is analog. That's one of the two jobs of my Zettelkasten (an index card system) in which I index every meaningful bit of info, including journal entries I consider potentially useful and now book review entries. Even if it's 100% analog it's a great system that works wonders, I would not want to change it, but I must say it's still not as instant to find anything as using Ctrl/Cmd-F ;)

My personal list is not about reviewing the book or thoughts on the book, it’s simply a list of books I’ve read, along with dates I started and finished.

I understand that, my approach is not as precise (no clear start/en date but I'm still able to rely on the dates in my journal) , I will have to see if it's an issue and if I need more.

[-] Dave@lemmy.nz 1 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Lists are a blessing when they’re accompanied by regular reviews.

I have also learnt the value in lists! I keep todo lists among other things, and find my time is quite a lot more productive than it used to be.

That’s one of the two jobs of my Zettelkasten (an index card system) in which I index every meaningful bit of info, including journal entries I consider potentially useful and now book review entries. Even if it’s 100% analog it’s a great system that works wonders, I would not want to change it, but I must say it’s still not as instant to find anything as using Ctrl/Cmd-F ;)

Yes that's great. The other thing I mentioned is it's always with me (via my phone), and another is that it's house-burned-down-proof. I know it's not the same as physical paper, but I'm quite a digital fellow. It's been over 5 years since I printed anything at work (I'm not even set up to use the printers), and I think it's been over 10 years since I had any habit of keeping anything I've printed. For personal things, my printer is used more for scanning than printing, and when printing it's usually to print something for the kids. I had terrible handwriting as a kid (still do, as did my dad, and his parents before him) and so I guess I've avoided writing with a pen most of my life (which of course hasn't helped the situation). I'm also a terrible typist but I have no excuse for that one.

I understand that, my approach is not as precise (no clear start/en date but I’m still able to rely on the dates in my journal) , I will have to see if it’s an issue and if I need more.

I kept the dates because I wanted to see how long it took me to read a book in addition to when I read it. It also created a bit of pressure, "I need to stop browsing Lemmy and go and read some of that book otherwise I'll have to write that it took me 6 months to finish it".

[-] sortofblue@lemmy.nz 2 points 4 days ago

I keep everything in chronological order and usually just put the review on a different coloured background. I like the idea that my opinion of a book is coloured by whatever else is going on in my life so keeping it in order makes sense and it means I can explain to myself why a re-read might hit different later.

I have a digital scrapbook for a journal though so things are easy to insert and re-sort compared to a paper notebook.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 1 points 4 days ago

I have a digital scrapbook for a journal though so things are easy to insert and re-sort compared to a paper notebook.

It sure helps :)

Thx for sharing!

[-] iii@mander.xyz 8 points 1 week ago

A different color pen :)

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 6 points 1 week ago

I may not be neutral here, but I like your idea ;)

[-] Pronell@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Flip it over. You'd write on the back of other used pages and upside down, so it's clear which notes belong with which.

[-] Libb@jlai.lu 7 points 1 week ago

That's clever! And since I will have no shame stealing your idea, this also means I could easily have at least three different kind of entries in a single journal :)

this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025

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