Keeping a Journal

HOW I USE MY JOURNAL

 

Whenever I see people keeping journals I deeply wonder about them. In my head, they must be extremely deep, have existential thoughts and powerful opinions which force them to be set apart from other “normal” individuals like all of us. They are the type of people who have another side to them, which they keep hidden from their friends. Perhaps, they will end up being great people who change the world and their journals will be found and published long after they have passed.

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Though keeping a journal is an idea that I feel can be very much romanticized in today’s society, they can also be used as a practical tool for planning and keeping track of one’s life. In fact, I myself have been keeping a journal for the past few years. As you may have guessed, my journals will never be read by anyone, they aren’t anything exciting, filled with deep philosophical problems. More often than not I write about my feelings, make some long-term plans of where I’d like to be, or simply plan my week and give myself a to-do list.

Though they might not be grand, keeping a journal has helped me have clearer thoughts, know where I stand in life or even simply during the week, and helps me navigate my life where I would like it to be.

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Here a few of my tips for keeping a great journal:

 

First off, I like to keep two journals. One is a small pocketbook agenda and the other a thin notebook which usually has a beautiful thin cover. (Though it’s the inside that counts, it never hurts to look at something you find beautiful.

The agenda is used for remembering important deadlines, travel plans, appointments and different miscellaneous events. Really, what goes in the agenda is anything with and expiration date, that has to be executed in a timely fashion. Specific things that always find their way into my agenda are lunch dates, application deadlines, job requirements and homework and exam dates.

Now that I’ve gotten the logistics out of the equation, I get to focus my actual journal on more substantial issues.

 

Emotional Support

To begin with, I make an effort to write in my journal every morning. This might be as soon as I wake up, after my morning workout, with my breakfast, or even in my first class of the day. I like to document my mood, and go quite in depth about how I feel that day. This doesn’t mean that I psychoanalyze myself every morning, but rather that I try to understand if what I’m feeling is sadness because I feel lonely, or because I feel incompetent, for example. The way I benefit from this little exercise is that I now become more aware of how I feel and can place myself into a certain perspective, in the right frame of mind. If I’ve understood that what I’m feeling is sadness because of loneliness I find a time in my day where I can reach out to friends and socialize. Similarly, if I feel incompetent, I try to understand what it is that makes me feel incompetent and fix it. A recent example was the fact that I was behind in readings and went over my weekly budget. As soon as I’ve identified the issue I can now move on into organizing my following week into being more budget friendly and limit my outings to give myself more time to study.

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Though this is not rocket science and people can usually go through these thoughts without a pen and paper, putting it on paper actually makes the thought more concrete. Seeing it on paper immediately makes it a fact rather than simply an idea. I find that when I simply think of these issues instead of writing them down, I find myself thinking of the same things all day, even though I’ve concluded countless times on what it is that I’ve had to do. On the contrary, writing it down and closing my journal gives me a sense of closure, as if now, I have to move on, stop wondering and simply act.

It might be that sometimes; the feeling you have cannot be dealt with actions. In such cases, my journal stops being a planner and transforms itself into a diary. Instead of expecting myself to do things, I simply let go, pour my heart out, close the journal, and proceed with a little less weight on my shoulders.

 

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Budgeting

As a college students, I’ve come to the realization that budgeting myself and keeping track of my finances can be pretty hard at times. New York is definitely an exciting city and the numerous activities, countless hours of window shopping, and parade of new restaurants make it difficult for me to set my priorities and decide where I wish to spend my money. Because of that, I keep a page in my journal dedicated to all the things I wish to do that week. Whether that is getting a new pair of pants or trying out a new restaurant, seeing my “wish list” on paper helps me easily choose my priorities and helps me understand how much money I have to put aside for each activity.

In addition to my wish list, I keep a tab on things I hadn’t expected which caused me to spend money I hadn’t planned. For example, my phone screen cracking on the first week of school.

 

Meal Planning

Meal Planning ties in with budgeting if you prepare your own food in school. I’m lucky enough to have an apartment with an equipped kitchen I love spending time it. This means that there are plenty of things I would love to make daily, making my trip to the grocery store quite an expensive one.

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To deal with my cooking ambitions, I have devised a journaling technique to keep me from spending too much, while keeping me interested in my cooking and my food.

More precisely, I go to the grocery store every Sunday night, give myself a budget and pick out a number of different ingredients I would like to eat that week. Then, I write all my ingredients in my journal and devise a weekly plan of what I will have for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the week. All the while making sure that I use up all my ingredients during the week, as I do not allow myself to go to the grocery store again that week.

What I strive for is creating a meal plan that is both exciting for me to cook, time sufficient, budget friendly, and healthy.

 

Overall, keeping a journal can be a great way to organize your thoughts and your life. Of course, you can fill it up with a simple to-do list that you enjoy checking off every time you complete a task. However, as you have seen from above, I enjoy planning in my journal even more than that.

 

 

By Marina Theophanopoulou

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Marina Theophanopoulou is a Campus Clipper publishing intern who is studying Philosophy and Sociology as a junior at NYU. Passionate about healthy, food and wellness, Marina aspires to make others think of food in a more holistic way. For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services. 

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

 

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