Derek Sivers has published a post about journaling. This is a timely insight as I have been on a bent exploring tools for capturing my own thoughts, including the use of a personal wiki, DEVONthink and TheBrain.

Derek says:

For each subject that you might have ongoing thoughts about, start a separate “Thoughts On” journal.

He goes on to explain:

Sometimes I think I have a new thought on a subject, so I open up the file and write it down, then afterwards I see I had that same thought a year ago and had forgotten about it.

This is a great use of a wiki, that can be tended to and developed. Each page can represent an idea which can be built upon over time, and it can cross-reference other online sources if need be.

My only problem is that while most of my thoughts can live comfortably in a wiki in the public domain, some probably shouldn’t. This leads me to a solution such as TheBrain, or more boringly, a text file.

TheBrain excels at making the connections, but taking notes is its area of greatest weakness.

I’ve used Day One for my regular journal for many years. While I’ve tried expanding its use into other areas of journaling, I forget that I’ve set them up, and so it hasn’t become a habit.