What are some life hacks that you practice?
Journaling has always been the “the one that got away” for me. I’ve known of its benefits for ages: stress reduction, self-reflection, a healthier gut flora. But I was never able to find a way to make it work… until a few weeks ago.
Every time I would start a journaling practice, it would fizzle out in no time like a bad high school crush.
I didn’t like writing in a journal. It’s ergonomically challenging to slouch and press down with your pen at this age. Not to mention the small voice that kept insisting: “Hey… me again… sooooooooo are we still really committed to this whole leaving our deepest darkest thoughts lying around thing?”
In an effort to get it to back off, I bought a cheap tablet that I kept on airplane mode. It took so long to fire up that all of my entries started with a rant about big tech. Alas, friction is the nemesis of healthy habits.
I was about to give up altogether when the instructor in one of my courses assigned us a daily writing practice: Reflect on your day and ask yourself, if you had to do a 2-minute standup comedy from the day, what story would you tell?
This has hit the sweet spot for me. It feels like a joyful rubix cube for my brain to play with every evening. I don’t write anything fancy… one of my entries said nothing more than this:
How we still make friends in the same way that kids do: OMG you like unicorns! I like unicorns!!! Wanna be best friends forever??? :) Just replace “unicorns” with whatever adulting rabbit hole you’re in at the moment (meditation, scrapbooking, colourcoded spreadsheets) and perhaps tone down the second sentence slightly.
As for those moments when I do need somewhere to release intense emotions, existential spirals, or conspiracy theories about how my gut flora is plotting against me… I have one of those LCD writing tablets. Perfect for getting your frustrations out without leaving the evidence lying around.
