Mom's habits / journaling – tips please

This is what I do, but I am sort of a ‘natural’ journaler – ie, I’m wired such that I can’t remember anything unless I write it down, therefore it follows pretty naturally that anything I want to remember, I will write down. =) I don’t really have any kind of particular system, but I do have three different notebooks that I kind of keep. All of them are just simple composition books from the store, although if I get given a ‘pretty’ journal as a gift I’ll use that until it’s full. The first is my ‘devotional’ journal – in which I write thoughts from my Bible reading, prayers, quotes from inspirational books (not CM though, I have a separate notebook for that), notes from sermons or seminars, etc. I used to try to keep seperate sections but that drove me batty (especially if one section filled up faster than the others), so now I just keep it chronologically – as in a write the date and then record there “whatever” for the day – whether it be notes from the Bible or another book, prayers/prayer requests, notes from a sermon, etc. The second notebook I keep is to jot down ideas for school – tentative schedules, lists of resources to look into further, etc. The last notebook is just my CM notebook. There is so much rich stuff in these that I got a separate notebook to record it. Also helps me to remember what I’ve read since I tend to move through these books very slowly as I have time, and sometimes I couple weeks can go by that I don’t read anything from CM at all. Just depends on how much time we have and what I’m in the mood to read when I do get some time.

As far as time – I generally try to get up before the kids for Bible reading/devotions, my hubby is thankfully very willing to help out with kids and breakfast in the morning to help make this possible for me. If something happens and I miss a day though, I don’t sweat it and pick up where I left off the next day. As far as other recreational type reading, I usally read at least a little bit before bed. There’s not always time for a lot, especially if I’m tired!, but I can’t NOT read, so I make time for it. I sometimes get a few moments for personal reading during our quiet hour in the afternoon, although lately I’ve found myself falling asleep more than reading….

HTH some,

Jen

I have never journaled at all.  I just don’t enjoy it.  Recently however, after re-reading lots of habit training stuff, I have realized that I need to work on the habit of attention when I read.  I do not pay attention and I allow my mind to wander.  In an effort to curb that, I have started writing down notes from what I read.  So I’ve only been doing this for about a week, but WOW, what a difference it makes in my retention.  I encourage you to go for it and just do it.  

So far, here is what I’ve done.  I made two books from scratch using the front and back of a cereal box for covers which I decoupaged using mod-podge and scrapbook papers.  I punched holes in the covers and used book rings to bind them into books.  I made pages out of plain scrapbook paper or cardstock.  These are where I write quotes I want to remember from books.  In addition, I made some pages out of nice lined paper and stuck those in there as well.  At the beginning, I have a table of contents that I can add to as I add to the book.  I wanted to make my own books using the book rings so that I could add, subtract, or rearrange pages as I fill the books.  I don’t like binders so I didn’t want to use that… hence the need for making my own.

I have made one for Bible study.  One section is for Hebrews because that’s what we’re working on in Sunday School.  One section is for the book I’m doing with a study group.  

I have one for Education.  I have actually been working in this one all summer so it is getting quite full.  It is so helpful to have all of my “helps” in one place.  I have quotes in there, my year-by-year plans for each grade level, a section on habit training where I have lots of notes from books I’ve read, a section for booklists that I am having the kids work through.  

I have made one for books I’m reading with the kids for Literature.  I have a table of contents where I can list each book.  Right now I am reading four books along with them simultaneously so it really helps me to be able to keep track of what’s going on in each book.  I read a chapter and write 1-2 sentences about it in my book.

I have made one for Science books that I am reading along with my kids.  Right now we are working through two books.  In my table of contents I have “Usborne Book of the Microscope” on page 1 and “The Storybook of Science” starting on page 11.  I left blank pages to fill behind each one.  For the microscope book, I take extensive notes, make drawings, etc.  For the S.O.S. book, I write 1-2 sentences for each chapter and occasionally add great quotes. (I did use a spiral for this notebook because I had a really cool science-y one.)

I don’t know if any of this info is helpful to you at all, but hopefully something will give you an idea to piggyback off of.  I know that, for me, if the book is not asthetically pleasing, I will get hung up on that.  If it is not organized the way I like it, I will get hung up on that.  Here is a blog post that gave me some inspiration and the little kick start that I needed to get going.  http://stonesoupforfive.blogspot.com/2012/01/diy-legacy-bible-journal.html