JOURNALING BECOMES A LONG-TERM STRATEGY PLAY
About fifteen years ago I started writing my thoughts down in Moleskine pocket plain notebooks. The classic black Moleskine notebook is a portable 3.5 x 5.5–inch journal made with a durable thread-bound binding and offers 192 plain (blank) acid-free paper pages.
Moleskine hardcover journals also have a built-in elastic closure that holds the cover closed when not in use, a cloth ribbon placeholder, and an expandable accordion pocket for holding tickets, notes, and clippings.
I spend around $10 US every time I buy one and I can’t seem to go anywhere without them.
I start each day putting pen to paper, even though I have no idea what I’m going to write about. Then throughout the day, any time I have a thought, witness an interesting exchange, or see something that might be fodder for a great blog post, I jot it in my always present notebook.
As expected, the act of writing notes to remember later or revisit after a plane ride certainly pays off in the near term when I use those notes in my writing and other projects.
As much as I like the feel of each brand-new one, it turned out that they actually become much more valuable to me over time. See, once I fill one up, I stick it on a shelf or in a box for safekeeping. At this point, I have dozens and dozens of them tucked away in my office.
I’ve found that the collective act of writing something, even surprisingly random thoughts, makes me a better writer. At least that’s my view.
And the real surprising payoff for the time and money invested comes from my once-every-six-months-or-so sit down to rummage through shelved Moleskines. I can’t tell you how often a seemingly silly note, jotted one early morning months or even years ago, can explode into an obvious course of action.
I’ve made this practice such a strong habit; I don’t feel like I’ve started my day without a fix of journaling.
John Jantsch is a marketing coach, award-winning social media publisher, and author of two best selling books, Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine.
