In my case, I'm a computer science undergrad and only just picked up the habit of writing down my thoughts. This developed naturally as I hit the physical limits of my short term memory.

I'm not much for creative writing and the thoughts I record are not "private" in a personal sense. I'm still going through my "growing" phase both in my writing media and pens. (I'll probably be buying a Binderised Pelikan M200 soon and I've just ordered an Apica journal)

Now that was a long way around to the question: What are you writing in your journals and in what field are you working?

I'm curious to find out what people are doing at work when they refer to using journals at work.

-Zac

No journals at work here... I work in an open-plan environment which discourages personal activity. We don't browse the web in our lunch-break, and we don't write in journals.

I'm curious too - do a lot of people journal in the workplace?

I am not my job, so I would not do a journal at work (I would never write about me in such an unsafe place). Also, I hate the word "journal", especially as a verb. And I'm not even a prescriptivist.

I am a writer (not employment-wise), I mean writing is what I like to do, so I write. I write poetry, with pretty pens and ink, on pretty paper bound in pretty books. Then, I hide it, and rarely read it again.

And, for the psych majors, I have white walls in my place. No pictures, no art, just naked white walls. White blinds, no curtains.
Take THAT, Freud, Maslow, and Chomsky (Chomsky?)!

Interesting, but completely understandable that some people don't write at work. I have the luxury of being the only one from my department in my building (CTS is what we were called last year, this year we are ITS, go figure) so I have a real office with a door and everything, and a locking desk. In the age of cubeville I feel rather privileged to have these things, so I also feel generally safe writing in a journal at work. I do not, however, leave it in the open. Rather I keep it locked in my desk drawer when not in use.

As to what goes in it, I have to say that, like others have already stated, I write what's on my mind without concern for style or purpose, and rarely go back and read what I've written. I tend to flow from idea to idea without the need for smooth transitions as I don't write stories or anything like that. As a side note, my wife writes fiction (fantasy genre in Tolkien's world) but never writes in a personal journal.

- R

I've recently started a new journal "strategy." For a long while I've been held back by ... well ... ya know ... ISSUES. But now I just IDENTIFY them rather than try to resolve or understand them. Example:

Old style: my dog is so screwed up, it's like what he wants to do is go home and be in the deep swaddling of his beloved den pack as a pup but he knows that he can't ever get back to that, so instead he whines and that gets on my nerves because I can't get my work done, all I hear is whine whine whine ...

New style: my dog is whining. This interrupts my work. I have theories about the dog's reasoning, but it's more important for me to understand why it so easily interrupts me.

I've found that the new "identify" rather than "investigate" method leaves me both with greater understanding, and with a greater rather than a lesser sense of sanity and calm when I'm done journaling. The old style used to actually ratchet up my unhappiness in some ways, and actually exacerbated rather than healed some problems. For this potential reason, I always hesitate to whole-heartedly endorse "journaling" (I too hate that usage as a verb) for all circumstances. Given that it can be done poorly, and in a detrimental manner, I'd only endorse it if it is carefully and well directed by a competent psychologist, as an adjunct to valid therapy, should either be indicated.

No, I can't write in a journal or any other kind of day-book (or night-book, for that matter) at work, except as pertains to work issues. One of the smartest things anyone ever recommended to me, was that I just jot down, about every fifteen minutes, anything that happened. So I have a spiral binder at my workplace of nothing but a series of events listed by date and time. "Monday. 10. emails from Zapruder. Looked at films. 11. finished Perkins pancakes. 12. Long call to mom. 2. Meeting about finances." Etc. Extremely helpful. (Probably will come in very useful when I'm on the clock as a lawyer, if that ever comes to pass, too.) Ya clip a nice pen to the notebook, so it's always there. Change the ink daily and you have a pretty reminder of your fountain's vagaries.



The empty room sounds delightful. I like to live like that, too. I always have everything in its place, and containers for each discrete project. When I'm not working on one, it's back in the box, bin, filing cabinet, or wherever it goes, and the only thing out on the desk is the stuff I AM working on. Yeah, take THAT, Freud. Maslow? Chomsky? More like Jung ...

Well I meant more of what type of writing are people doing at work, not necessarily personal but what kinds of things are people doing. Something in line with are people that are writers writing in a journal first, then typing up their work. In my case, my work journal is more of an account of things I did or things that happened while I was working.

That was what I was trying to get an idea of . I'd find it foolish to write in a personal journal at work, similar to spending large amounts of time writing personal emails at work.

-Zac

I used to be a technical support guy who repaired computers and peripherals back in the day when a mini-computer was the size of a refrigerator and a 300 Megabyte disk drive was like a small, top-loading washing machine. The systems I worked on had maintenance manuals that would fill a six-foot shelf. Too much information. Couldn't find what I needed fast enough in all that. I kept a notebook full of register assignments, cable diagrams, switch settings, jumper assignments, revision level compatibility, interrupt vectors, backplane pin assignments, machine language instruction set, handwritten diagnostic programs.

This was all boiled down into a 6" X 8" three-ring notebook. The pages were individually cloth bound so they couldn't tear out. When I had to fly somewhere to fix a machine, the notebook went into my carry-on bag. The notebook was backed up on paper and on microfilm.

I didn't keep a journal at work. I didn't write down symptoms and fixes for them, and then try to repair things by referring to a database of some kind. You can't get anywhere like that, contrary to what a business-suited prevaricator thinks (AKA an administrator). You have to know how the equipment works in small detail, at least one level lower than the level you repair to.

I once knew a guy who did journal at work. He wrote down everything he was told to do, everything that happened that kept him from doing it on time, and everything he actually did. He included names, dates, everything. He called it his "Doomsday Book". He lasted until the first real downsizing of the company.

Paddler

I do IT support.

My "journal" is actually a Moleskine 18-month weekly planner, but I keep *much* more than just my schedule in it. As support calls come in via email, verbally over the phone or in passing in the hallway - I write them down. This is due in part to have a record of them (we don't have job ticket tracking software because we're just a two person team) and to make sure I can refer to what I've been doing on any given day if asked - and I *have* been asked several times over the years, so it's cheap insurance.

I also keep a running tab on data and file recovery efforts as required for auditing purposes, specific settings and other detailed info I don't want to always access a computer to find, major projects and purchases to keep tabs on, all the machines I touch on a rotating basis, important vendor contact and warranty info, checklists, etc. And because I have it all organized just the way I want it, I can find everything literally in seconds. Much faster than a PDA, Tablet PC, or any other electronic device I've ever used.

I'd be lost without my "journal".

Agreed. I work as an on-call computer guy on the side and I keep information like that about different types of machines that have characteristic issues (ie: Dell laptops, HP desktops, Apple laptops) etc.

I work as an engineer at a company that makes deep sea robotics. I use my (fish engraved) large squared Moleskine to jot down just about everything that I do. I record the setup and results of tests that I run, take notes in meetings, write down all "to do" items (marked with a --> so they are easy to spot), log each phone call with vendors or field support techs, and record misc. useful information that I use often. I date every entry so I can figure out when I did something, or conversely, look up something that I know took place around a current date. I typically go through one to three pages per day.

Also the pocket at the back is useful for keeping spare business cards, receipts, a couple of post-its, etc.

My last semester of college I took a class called "Lifelong Developments in Engineering" that covered some of the more "meta" subjects concerning a career in engineering (Learn to play golf. Really. They said that). One of the things they suggested was to keep a dated daily log, in ink, in a journal with numbered, non-removeable pages, filling both sides of every page. If an issue ever came up where you needed evidence in court, you could refer to the log. They then cited several cases where it came in handy (I believe it was the Space Shuttle O-ring and something to do with BART in the San Fracisco Bay Area).

A lotta sketches and story ideas. Purely a creative vessel for me.

I have a "master" journal that goes everywhere with me. Since I have a private office in a very small company, I do write in that journal periodically while at work. There are other "task specific" journals that I keep as well. One is a work related journal, kept in my briefcase and not my desk, where I record my thoughts on projects, challenges, business tips I hear about or even some brainstorming on company issues. This journal also has my notes documenting conversations and understandings with other people. I do not record privately sensitive notes in that journal. The master journal has quotes and thoughts that strike me as pertinent and worth remembering as well as my impressions of events and news. This is a private journal in that it is not shared openly. At times it seems to be a catch all and at others there is a definite trend going on. The most prized journal I keep is a "prayer" journal. This is where I record prayer requests for myself as well as others. I record answered prayers also. It is a joy to review this book. /Craig

I've shared this link before, but when this question comes up, I think this is a great starting point.
One of my co-workers has written a book called:
_How to Make a Complete Map of Every Thought You Think_

The online version is available here:
http://www.speakeasy.org/~lion/nb/

It's got a lot of great ideas that are applicable to journaling.

I make up stuff, really outlandish stories in graphic detail...


and leave the notebooks lying around.








(Not really, but now I have an idea....)

What fun to be the one who goes where you have been. /Craig

Free-flowing writing that stems out of Julia Cameron's morning pages. I write any time anywere, even at work. Sometimes, writing down interesting thoughts and ideas. But mostly just writing my thoughts, watching them, catching them, and putting them on paper. Any time when I feel bored or sad or wanting something I have no idea what. When I wait for my order in a restaurant to be delivered. On business trips, in airplanes. When I wait for a meeting to start when people arrive or when the meeting becomes unbearably boring and then I take very "personal" notes. On a date, if it becomes rotten. At a party, if it stinks.

To some degree, it's my meditation practice. I never feel shy to wip out my Moleskine and write.

Still writing my morning pages. But never have time to read them.

ooops

I find the fellow hysterical to the point of Tourette's. Is he for real? Well, this much is funny enough:

Heh... Lion is 100% for real (yes, his name is really Lion). I asked him once why he put his cell number on his home page. He responded that he has never gotten a call that he didn't want.

He's a great guy and has some really good ideas. Take 'em or leave 'em.

-m

[ I always have everything in its place, and containers for each discrete project. ]

now that's plain crazy.

Awesome... just awesome! :-)

Hmmm, looking for my 10 year old copy of `The Artist`s Way`... Morning Pages, I recognize those! ;-)

A friend of mine gave me that book years ago. It was fun. I should blow the dust off and read it again!

Chris

I teach at a College in Atlantic Canada, but my background is in IT and Project Management, so I am always caught in that left brain, right brain thing.

At work, I write in Meade (or similar) books in which I record everything from every meeting, to dos, etc., using various colour inks, then transcribe them into Outlook (my notebook does a poor job of speaking up and reminding me of things...). My co-workers have stopped staring at my fountain pens and just think I am cute and quirky (at least, I hope that`s what they thnk... ;-)

At home, I use a Moleskine and `let er rip`as to what I write. Basically, anything I feel like writing, but nothing that could get me divorced or more than a couple of years in jail... ;-)

Chris

i love vintage pens--conklins are a favorite. but parkers and sheaffers are my special pens. have fun on the board!

It's a mind dump -- everything, anything, and often a lot of nothing...

Locations of the bodies (overseas in WGS-84 Format DD.MM.SSS, but in the UK I still use OSGB36).

I'm terribly bad about keeping track of the bodies.

Me too...

At work, I used a HP Jornada 720 handheld computer. It has a full keyboard that is just large enough to touch-type on. All notes went into that thing. When I returned to my desk, I plugged it into "Mama" (the desktop Babbage A.E.) and uploaded to a Word file. No transcribing! I let the two computers fight it out. Then, all I had to do was cut and paste and gussie things up. Pen and paper are OK, but transcribe? Come on! That's conduct unbecoming a techie.

Paddler

Heh, I still take most of my notes on anything related to computers or really anything with pen and paper just because I can't get the flexibility I want in a text editor or word processor. The word processors and text editors are for making it look nice once I've got the ideas hashed out :-P.

-Zac

I write, sketch and put pictures in my journals. It is kind of interactive and for my remembering too. I also write letters that I clearly never intend to send and write out philosophical ideas and thots to help me work thru them and to make my ideas and thinking more exact. I have heard it said that reading broadens you and writing makes you exact.

Observations, sighing over fountain pens, sketches of small nearby objects, ideas for articles, drafts of articles, rants it would be unwise to post in the blog, reflections on reading, and assorted grumblings at colleagues. (Especially the dead ones -- an exasperating view from 1923 will always be the same, with no chance to ask the the fellow what he was thinking or why he didn't know better.)

-Kushana

EVERYTHING! I take meeting notes and agendas, write down ideas, write prose, and draw sketches...

I am one of those wacky pastor types so I write a lot of research notes as well as pieces of my sermon for the weekend.

I really depend on my journals....

I have a LiveJournal where I write about the day-to-day things I want to share with friends.

The only paper journal I have right now is my "creative diary," wherein I write about what I did creatively that day, and any thoughts I had on the process.

I also write my stories on paper now, currently in spiral-bound notebooks. Some people might consider that a type of journalling.

heh, Paddler, just noticed this reply...

Well, the deal is, I have a laptop for work that I use in a docking station at my desk and also carry around to some classes for lectures (normally for the programming classes, since I'll have a set of problems and sample solutions to show how I solved them), but normally, I prefer to teach using case studies, examples, experiencial learning, and a few notes (I pity my replacement if I ever have to go on long term sick leave or take a job somewhere else...).

I find my Dell laptop a little too big to haul around everywhere for meetings. The College isn't a "techie"-only campus, so it would still be outside the norm for a techie instructor like me to show up for a meeting with a laptop unless we were making real-time document changes.

I do use the my personal Blackberry for making follow up meetings from within a meeting (just add a new calendar event and everything is updated!), but I still write the data into my notebook for safekeeping.

I have used Jornadas, Palm Pilots, and many other things in my day, and found they are all lousy at taking any real length notes. My iPod Touch might work, but the keyboard that pops up isn't that great for fast typing either... I have seen me empty a FP converter in a single lengthy meeting and dig into my portfolio for my backup...

Chris

Currently I am running two journals.

• Journal One is a record of the day's more interesting events and thoughts
• Journal Two is a 'historical journal' - snippets from my past (not in any chronological order).

I keep these journals

• because like writing
• so that my children or grandchildren can have a good laugh should they discover these journals some day

.

My journal is just for work, events, discussions, calls, agreements and meetings.

I fill my pen 2/3 times a day. A 150 cc bottle of ink lasts a month.

http://tinyurl.com/2dgg5v

I keep a journal of the everyday, mundane issues...the traffic on my commute, the dinners, the books I'm reading, vacation plans, the issues that develop in the day-to-day process of living. It's not exciting at all, but years from now it will mean something to my daughter and son. I use (all of) my fountain pens to write in these pages, changing pens and/or ink color from day to day. The journal I'm now using is supposed to last a year, but brevity was never my strongpoint. In the past, I used looseleaf because I could add a page at a time, but ultimately that didn't seem to work well. Pages lost, misplaced. As of 2008, I'll write in a bound journal. I fully expect and intend these pages to outlast me.

Lots of thoughts and unmentionable things.

My notebooks aren't really journals as such. They're more than that. Really, they hold just about everything one could possibly think of. In general, everything that I can get out of my head goes down on paper in my notebook. It's my brain dump. It's where I take care of the noise of excess thought, work out ideas, do formal writing, deal with emotional issues, etc etc etc. You name it, it's in my notebook. There are two exceptions.

The first exception is a Rhodia pad or something similar, where I put down short term notes that I know I'm not going to need later on, prompts to do certain things, etc. It's my dirty little notebook that lives in my back pocket.

The second exception is still early in its experimental stages. This is more like a lab notebook, and it's where I'm trying to focus most of my academic, analytical, and design-oriented thought/notes. Sort of a DaVincian notebook in ways. It's my way to separate mental upkeep (brain-dumping) from the more useful notes I put down on everything from architecture to product design to art theory to software concepts etc etc etc.

That's the short version. I always have some kind of notebook at hand, and it's not always the right one so there's some crossover between notebooks of different roles, but you get the idea. I'm the sort of person that never, ever stops thinking even when I want to, so there's always plenty to take out of the cortex and put in ink. If it's been too long or there's a lot going on in my head, I may put down 30 pages in one sitting. It varies wildly, though there seems to be a directly proportional relationship between how much I write and how well I'm doing in life at any given point in time, so it's something I try to keep up with daily.

Everything, dated.

All things personal and professional go inside a single Moleskine (pocket). The only other paper "bucket" I use is a Filofax. Both are always with me. This way, I can find almost immediately what I am looking for, as I always remember (more or less precisely) the date I wrote it

At least, it works fine for the past 6 years

I record the day's experiences, my thoughts on various events/items/things that have happened to me. I tend to waffle on for pages and pages and sometimes I think I get quite creative and poetic...

My longest entry so far, I think, is the 24th of April, 2008. Nine A5 pages. I headed into the CBD that day and spent all day wandering around town. Sat down on various benches and steps to write down my experiences in the city. Here is a "small" sample of my waffling and meandering, stream-of-conciousness thoughts in this entry (quoted word-for-word. Original spelling & grammar retained):

"...The Melbourne Central Business District is an amazing place during the daytime. I thought you went to work at nine, paused at 1:00 for lunch and then continued working until 5:00 and that at other than those three times, the streets would be quiet and empty. Not so!! The city, it appears, is a living, breathing, benevolent (**Not sure why I put that in there, just did**) giant that is always awake. Perhaps it lulls in its activity at times, but it never stops completely. Cars and trucks drive all over the place. Trams rattle through intersections and alarm-bells clang and jangle at random.

Thousands of people dressed in all kinds of clothes fill the foothpaths, rushing, running, walking, strolling, meandering all over the place. Businessmen, office-workers, repairmen, council-workers in yellow and orange vests. Mothers out for a coffee & scroll with their friends, pushing strollers and perambulators filled with so many pounds and ounces of slumbering or crying flesh..."

Sorry for wasting all your time, but I thought I should share it.

I do not journal. I tried many times but just can't seem to ever get in the flow. I would do a couple of weeks and then forget to bring the journal/moleskin book and then give up. I have about half a dozen of half started books like that and which are just gathering dust.

In my bag, I have one notebook for work and one for home. Right now the work one is a ecojot one - was tipped by an FPNer in the forum and it is really nice and very available in Canada. I love the whimsical covers and the paper is really nice. I carry the workbook around at meetings, audits, reviews, etc. All that engineering realm work stuff. I write everything longhand and I just discovered that I rather like the fact that the ecojot notebook does not have any lines. So I can write in different sizes, draw schemas (I am very visual) and flowcharts. I also can write straight without lines with no effort. After the meetings, etc. I go over the notes and for my work, they translate into tasks to track, more meeting dates, engineering documents to write/update online, audit reports to create, etc. I like raising eyebrows with my fountain pens and my cool notebooks.

Even though I love gadgets, I just love the pen to paper feeling. I have a PDA but it is mostly for contacts and calendar. I tried to use a logitechpen but just hated the ballpoint that it comes with. I since then gave it away. I liked the idea of having automatic transcribing to computer but until the pen is more ergonomic (too large to fit my little hands) and maybe a fountain pen... There is no reason why a fountain pen cannot be used but I fear that there is not a large market for that in the geek world. One can only hope but I digress.

For my home book (just realized that I really do not like the word "journal" - at least in English - as another FPNer mentioned earlier in the post), it is in lieu of a to-do list. I could use the PDA but then could not show off the cool looking notebook nor the pens. LOL.

Jennie