How could you journal to help with research and projects?

Is journalling something that could help you with your research or work projects? (I am going to declare my bias and say that for many, yes – if it’s in the right format!)

I thought it might be helpful to show you how short and simple my page layout is.

As we know from my recent post on self-efficacy beliefs, we tend to do the things we believe we CAN do, and we avoid or procrastinate on things we don’t believe we can do.

(Totally rational and no judgement – just what seems to happen…me included!)

With journalling, the following barriers can get in the way for neurodivergent folks with executive functioning challenges:

1 If it feels too complex (or you don’t know the HOW yet)
2 If it feels too hard
3 If you don’t know what the possibilities are
4 If you think something will take a really long time

Now, as a coach, I believe that the best way to eventually embed journalling that works for you is to…FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

So that means that what I will show you is simply an example, and you may choose to ignore it, adapt it or adopt it according to your needs and preferences.

Nevertheless, you should be able to see from the picture that my one-page daily journalling has

– structure (how/what to write)
– simplicity (very simple)
– doesn’t take long (5-10 mins)
– is useful (at least to me – feels rewarding and relevant)

I’ve been using this system for 3 months now.

You will notice that I count my habit streaks for some of my habits. This is motivating for some but demotivating for others. As such, one lookout is to only do that IF it helps you and propels you forward.

Don’t include anything in your journal that makes you feel disheartened.

That being said, when it comes to ensuring you’re “doing the do” on longer-term projects and research pieces, it can be helpful to set a regular daily habit of just engaging with your research for 5 minutes every Monday to Friday, for example.

That makes 25 extra minutes in a working week. Over a 48 week year, that’s 20 hours!!

With 20 extra hours on research, what difference would be made for you? Just something to think about…

So with all this in mind, something like my system COULD help you to remove the barriers in 1-4 in your own good time.

So if you want to start journalling or become more consistent about doing it, how does this post help you?

What are you thinking you could do with your own journal to lower those barriers to engaging with journalling?

How might journalling help your projects and research move forward?

If you are not sure, and would like to talk this through, this is exactly something you can do with

• a mentor/supervisor
• collaborators and co-creators
• a journal (think through, reflect)
• a coach like me

If you want to work with me over 6-8 weeks to put this in place and see real, concrete progress on something you’d like to accomplish, ask for a free consult.