Start journaling
How to start journaling, with picks that keep it small. Carl Pullein presents journaling as a habit worth building, and a one-sentence journal is suggested for nights when worries replay. Day One and BrainDump are the apps, and a Kurzgesagt video makes the case for gratitude. 7 picks from the Bez Tytułu newsletter, in reading order.
The picks
Journaling: Get Started the Easy Way
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #173
Carl Pullein presents journaling as a life-changing habit that can improve mental health and preserve a life story. The 12-minute video explains how to get started. Pullein, who makes productivity content, links to a free productivity course, a free Areas of Focus workbook and a weekly productivity email. He also recommends notebooks and fountain pens, and links a paid Time and Life Mastery course.
Journal what you noticed each day
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #225
The speaker recommends a one-line nightly journal, 'Today I noticed,' to let the brain file away experience instead of looping.
The speaker recommends a one-sentence journal for nights when worries replay, using a line that begins "Today I noticed," such as a quiet morning or a friend's voice note. This kind of cognitive reappraisal, the speaker says, helps the brain file the day away instead of looping it. The point is paying attention to small moments, not fixing life.
Key points- Use it when thoughts loop in bed or feel heavier than the day really was
- Examples include a friend's laugh on a voice note or the first sip of tea
- Noticing won't fix your life, but reminds you it is already happening
Day One: Journaling App
Tool · dayoneapp.com · Issue #197
Day One is a journaling app for recording thoughts, moods, and memories, with photos, videos, drawings, or audio in each entry. An On This Day view resurfaces past entries, and the app offers passcode and biometric locks, end-to-end encryption, automatic backups, and data export. It is free to download, with an optional paid Gold plan. Day One is part of the Automattic family.
BrainDump: A Daily Reflection Prompt App
Tool · braindump.club · Issue #233
BrainDump is a daily reflective writing app that offers one prompt a day, with streak tracking, awards and AI coaching. It is built around a community of reflective writers.
An Antidote to Dissatisfaction
Watch · youtube.com · 10 min · Issue #48
A 2019 Kurzgesagt video arguing that gratitude counters dissatisfaction, the common feeling that one's success, relationships or possessions fall short. Gratitude is presented as one of the strongest predictors of how happy people are, and it is linked to making friends and coping with hardship. The description also promotes the creator's gratitude journal.
Write harsh thoughts, answer as your wiser self
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #146
Write down harsh thoughts, then answer them as your wiser adult self, twice a day for six months.
The speaker describes writing down harsh self-talk, then answering it twice a day as a wiser adult self would, for six months. Next came a raw inventory of every relationship and an unpacking of childhood, which felt painful but freeing. The speaker then spent a month alone in a cabin in Vermont with no phone or computer, journaling, and reports feeling clear, energetic and expansive afterward.
Key points- Write the negative thoughts, then reply as your higher, wiser self would
- The speaker did this twice daily for six months, which was hard at first
- Unpacking every past relationship and childhood memory freed him, he says
FutureMe: Letters to Your Future Self
Tool · futureme.org · Issue #186
FutureMe lets you write a letter to your future self and have it delivered by email on a date you choose, from six months to ten years away or a specific date through 2076. Letters can be kept private or posted publicly and anonymously. The site says it has sent over 20 million letters, and a Premium tier adds images, videos and files.