How I Journal for Mental Clarity (very simple)
How I Journal for Mental Clarity (very simple)
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This is a simple breakdown of how I journal for mental clarity. I don’t spend more than 5-10 minutes on it a day. This originally began as a bullet journal and has slowly evolved into what it is today.
A spotify playlist that I curated for your listening pleasure while journaling in the morning/evening โ https://spoti.fi/2RfkJke
The journal I used in this video (this is an affiliate link) on Amazon โ https://geni.us/lFhBu0
My Newsletter ๐ฆโ https://www.nathanieldrew.com/newsletter
My Podcast / Second Channel โ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZbOmMsPgxuWmj5pGymAOnA
Instagram โ https://www.instagram.com/nathanieldrew_/
My online courses โ https://www.nathanieldrew.com/onlinecourses
My Patreon โ https://www.patreon.com/nathanieldrew
My gear ๐ท โ https://www.nathanieldrew.com/my-gear
Timestamps:
0:31 – overview
2:24 – part I (daily tracker)
6:17 – part II (weekly reviews)
8:17 – par III (monthly resets)
Thank you so much Nathaniel. Finally I found one of the detailed video on how to declutter mind in a journal. I often have too much in my mind and without shedding off daily , weekly or monthly. I have not been shedding loads off my shoulder which makes me sleep deprived with lot of health issues every now and then. I was not getting to know how to manage journaling well. Keeping many different journals was not working for me. In my gratitude i am gona mention ur name this time for this wonderful guide on journaling.
Great video. Struggle with all this due to the anarchy of a young family ha. I’ll try these
"I’m going to keep this as precise and succinct as possible." Nathan just failed.
Thanks for the video.
Yes enjoying morning ๐ nand night ๐ , siesta (noonish rest ) wasn’t only common with the Spanish but with Muslims , some indigenous Americans and others. Yet it takes discipline and planning. Also set your schedule with the light and darkness i.e more active with light more chill with darkness.
Best To Everyone.
Really simple… Actually it`s life changing video, am gonna try dude !
the way he speaks and delivers his thoughts is awesome, calm and steadiness in his voice brought smile on my face ….. btw its the first video i saw that made me to hit tat subscribe button โค
I don’t journal, but I achieve mental clarity when I go and have a cigarette on my balcony. Every time. It’s like something to do with removing myself from the day and having a short break that makes my mind much more clear and I usually leave with at least one good idea or understanding afterwards. That’s also why I can’t quit smoking.
6:00 In Argentina we also take naps (or siestas)!!
Biphasic sleep, but push it around. I sleep 11p-3, maybe 4a (wake naturally, no alarms). Then work like a beast, run, shower, more work then sleep again for 1.5-2hrs from 9/10a depending on when i feel groggy. By lunch ive typically covered my daily work commits so i can do human life things until later 3/4/5p. Get a second bout of creative work done after dinner. It can seem awkward if you want to keep evenings open for social but a little planning goes a long way.
I like how you write your "y"s
You are a very neat and organized person, not everyone is like that.
Thank you
Nice video ๐ I journal since 2020 and found it a very powerful tool being a freelance musician. I also got rid of the daily logs eventually, landing on a weekly log – something you are actually encouraged to do as a bullet journalist: customize. Regarding the balance of creativity during night hours and productivity during morning hours: I implemented the habit of not using any device with a display anymore from 8pm on – which is 2 to 3 hours before my common bed time. I did so in order to improve my sleep cycles. And it worked. Apart from that I found that this leaves me with three hours on my hands that I often use for writing music, writing lyrics or drawing. So this habit helps me with creativity that is not relying on a computer AND improves my sleep. ๐
thank you so much for your time
Great Playlist on Spotify!
BUT What is the song on this video at 1:31
Thanks this has some practical advice and I like your set up. Also you might want to try a smartsleep wakeup light and get your vitamin D checked if you are having troubles getting out of bed specifically in winter.
Howdy Mr. Drew! Love the video and simplicity of your system! If I may ask what makes you choose Moleskine over any other brand? Iโm not biased just curious. Thank you for your time, and may God bless you!
I journal regularly since I was 16 years old. My biggest break through was that what I decided to write didnยดt have to align with what others think is good. I remember that as I was reaching my 20s, I got swayedd by the hustle culture and tried to use organizing and journaling to build my "new self". I never actually got anywhere and reach very few of my goals. Later I realized that they werenยดt really my goals. They were just some things I heard were supposed to be good for me. I suffer from a serious mental illness and I made peace with the idea that I will never be one of those 25 years old CEOยดs or "boss girls" or whatever people call those exceptional individuals who wake up at 5 am, meditate, exercise, have their matcha latte and then spend the rest of their day producing something and wiritng gratitude lists (although I have nothing against any of those things).
I donยดt need to be productive, I just want to be alive and go as far between my episodes as I can. My older brother who was also consumed by this hustle culture was giving me books on time management, investing, psychology etc. so I could "make something of myself" and sometimes it made me feel like I was nothing (although I know he just wanted me to be successful). But I decided I donยดt want to make something of myself…I am already something, maybe itยดs not as cool and exceptional as most people would like, but whatever. Since I realized this I started planning around MY actual goals which was something like "wash dishes every day" or "do not buy that beer while youยดre in a supermarket" because those were things I actually needed to fix. For those who are like me, itยดs okay to not have any super productive goals, sometimes just journaling about what happened to you during the day, how you felt and what you thought is enough. Having goals is cool but if they make you feel like a loser itยดs time to reconsider.
2 minutes in and I hate the idea. Seems soonobsessive and a painful hassel.
๐๐ I’ve also noticed that I can be more productive at night. But! After 10 years of freelancing. I came to the conclusion that at the moment when I am as productive as possible, it is necessary to stop work on a schedule. For example, I used to often work at night, it’s convenient and productive, it lasts all day and ends at night. So in order to be even more productive, you need to stop doing things at 18.00 hours. Even if there is exactly 1 hour of work left. We should stop working anyway. And then the next day to continue working according to the schedule. The fact is that when a person works late with maximum productivity, later the subconscious mind will begin to demand rest equal to the work done. And the subconscious mind will spoil your whole working days. I.e. You overworked for 6 hours in the evening, and your subconscious demanded rest for the next whole day, this is 8 hours of working time.
Watching this three years later and hearing him say โIโd like some more stability in my lifeโฆโ and then realizing he uploaded this about a month before the world shutdown is wild. Great video Nathaniel. Thanks for all the wisdom you put out.
Thank you, thank you for showing us your "looks like it was made my a human" bullet journal. I’m a recovering perfectionist and seeing someone else not have a Pinterest-perfect beautiful bullet journal really helped me remember that it’s ok to do it that way.
I tried to keep a diary before, but didn’t understand how to manage to do this. But your video made it clear for me. Thank you!
Enjoyed your video. My thought to offer is this: Jesus Christ is the answer. Seek him out. Repent and believe. He won’t fix your life overnight but if you yield to him you will secure your eternal destination.
Adorei seu mรฉtodo ๐ me ajudou demais, jรก que sou mais visual
The guy who invented bullet journaling is probably so annoyed that everyone made his system into exactly the opposite of what he intended
1:47
the daily tracker
weekly reviews
and monthly reset process
1:56 don’t bloat your journal
Daily to do list
I am going to write about the things why I think like that about something
2:31 to visually see consistency when it comes to habits
2:40 I list of the days of
and then the most important valuable task
4:13 my main objectives in 2024
5:38 just the act of tracking the things has help me improve the situation
6:21 part 2 is weekly tracker which I used to review how the last week went
6:54 what is my emotional state during the task and after the task
I don’t think you’re old fashioned. I’m visual too. And I think it’s very exciting and sexy!!! Thanks Nathaniel xo
Dude i love how you organize your journal. Structure is one of my problems and its so cool to see how you get it done. Love it bro
It’s 3 years but have you tried sleeping with a sleeping eye patch?
I would like to see a few of what you wrote to use as an example. I am new into this and extremely confused.
great video!!
Thank you so much for this very inspiring sharing! I’m using Bujo the traditional way, but I’m thinking of giving it a more reflective, mindfulness meaning. You showed me a handful of ideas on how to do that!
conscience = 10 min video
For the night an day problem (which im sure youโve solved three years later lol) Iโve found that staying up all night is actually amazing. I work graveyard shifts (1800-0600), which in turn means i sleep all day (usually 0830-1530) regardless if im working the rest of the week. Everyone thinks its really hard, and its honestly the opposite. I get to be awake when i enjoy being awake-at night- and i get to see the sunrise everyday. Not for everyone, but might be worth trying if youโre a freelancer!
some input here from someone with OCD: being organized/introspective/biochemical data tracking/etc. can be a great tool, however…it can become your "idol". That is my personal story. I was so hyperfocused on productivity/"biohacking"/etc. and I noticed that it became everything I did and I felt like a slave to the data/info. Bottom line: all in moderation.
Great video!! I also made a journaling vid on my channel is anyone is interested, would appreciate any feedback/constructive criticism!
Awesome insights, I totally agree this method is so valuable for reflection, yes, so helpful! Thank you!
I rarely comment on YouTube, but I feel this is important to share. Iโve watched so many videos on how to set up my journal or even try a planner. Everything was so overwhelming with the designs and different setups. I was ready to give up on the research, and then this video pops up and changes my mind. Simple, easy, sustainable for my lifestyle. Definitely starting this asap! Thank you!
Great!
he’s so fine wtf
i love this video and i live journal. weirdly, i even write longhand/script when i journal. it makes the process aesthetically pleasing & also meditative
"How unrealistic and honest you can be with yourself."
This was helpful thank you for sharing
i get daily siestas, i work a very physical job on purpose because it combines fitness with making money and catching up with podcasts or reviewing language lessons. the job causes me to crash about 2pm, the job only takes 4 hours per day so you can easily work as a freelancer around it, and its extremely flexible work so you can take time off for projects.
Thank you. You have made an impact on my thinking and journaling.
my problem is I take too long writing stuff down so I feel like im not being productive when I am journalling and end up missing alot of days
Personally, I benefited from some of the latest mood-tracking apps such as MoodScriber which come with mood calendars and journaling features to give a view on the progress I’ve made and identify potential triggers behind stress and anxiety. You could give it a try!
I started a similar form of journaling 2 month ago. But I’m having it digitally in Excel, so it’s easier to import weather conditions or moon phases to check on the actual effect it has on you. Also I have found a website which publishes daily information about the effect of the weather on weather-sensitive people.
Besides my daily habits und daily achievements, I include some 1 to 10 scales about my mood, stress level, energy-level, ego-depletion, … stuff like that.
What I have noticed is that writing things down at a later time kinda distorts the picture as the memory retrospectively makes everything brighter than it actually has been ๐So writing the diary promptly is one of the habits I keep tracking.
I actually like to sacrifice my evening’s "creativity" for the morning’s clarity. It’s a good deal for the mental health. Also I believe you can bring both together by just limiting your evening. Just like you are already trying by turning the lights off at 10:30pm. I would go even earlier, since my creativity time starts at about 8pm.
For me, going to bed late has a bitter taste, since I only THINK, that it’s some kind of productively spent time. Whereas it actually is not. At least not for me ๐
For me, the journal is not about improving myself. I don’t intend getting a push, even though it does have this effect.
My intention is to figure out how my energy level develops over the day with a specific workload and working-model.
I’m no freelancer, but I do have quite a freedom of how to arrange my own time. No one will force me to get up in the morning, nor hinder me to stay up late ๐ Therefore I’m first trying to find out my optimum work-life-time distribution over the week and I already did have some mind-blowing insights from that! So it’s definitely worth of having such a tool and using it regularly!
Thanks for you video! Based on the title I was just hoping you actually found some way to organise your thoughts in a better and more stuctured way than I did ๐
My main problem is that I focus on too many things at the same time, whereas in fact there is only one most important thing at a time. Unfortunately the journal doesn’t provide a solution for this kind of mental obscurity.
About being active and productive in the night hours – maybe my comment will not be too popular, but two years ago i started to study Chinese medicine, and now I understand, why we are starting to be very productive in the late evening/night hours. Maybe will be interesting for someone. In chinese medicine the day is devided into 12 time periods (2 hours each), in which some certain organ is in its most/less active condition. From 23:00 to 1:00 is the time of the most activity of liver and from 1:00 to 3:00 is the time of the most activity of gallbladder. These two organs are part of one system Liver/Gallbladder, which is responsible (in emotional aspect) for inspiration, or so called ethereal spirit. In ideal world we should sleep at those hours, because our brain and nervous system should put the news, knowledge, information, that we have got during a day, into some system. So, when we sleep, the liver and gallbladder are working very actively to help us with this. If we donโt fall asleep at those hours, some can feel, like they have โlost the sleepโ. Maybe before we were feeling, that we are kind of tired, maybe a little bit sleepy, but at these hours we are getting a โsecond breathโ and new energy, so we feel very productive. It can sound good. But this system is also responsible for the stressโฆ
To be honest, it is a very long topic, i will just leave it like this here. If someone is interested, you can find info about it in internet. I just wanted to try to explain a little bit this feeling of a sudden activity in the night ๐