Bitesize journaling
The routine act of writing down what’s on your mind holds many benefits which include increased wellbeing and the freeing up of headspace, especially for those with lots of ideas whirling around in their head, who feel a bit overwhelmed and want to work through thoughts and feelings more clearly. Emptying your head of thoughts can help establish more control, build self-awareness, help trigger fresh ‘mental cascades’ and encourage new internal associations to be made, which in turn encourages us to integrate new ideas in with our existing thinking. However, it can be hard to make the time each day and find the discipline to write down what’s on your mind and starting with a blank page or screen can feel daunting.
Bitesize journaling can help. Instead of writing in long prose, simply empty your head in short snippets, and in any order. The use of a digital tool can also allow your ideas to be revisited at any time; helpful for when you want to step back and come back afresh later to spot recurring themes and make sense of what’s been on your mind.
Thinkfully’s Webapp is founded on the fundamental principles of how the brain works at its best. The thinking canvas is built up of hexagon spaces to allow for greater connections to sit around and between ideas. It has simple core features such as drag and drop to help you play around with your thoughts, colour options to create themes and the ability to turn ideas into gems. It is optimised to enable you to empty your head swiftly and easily into bitesize pieces, allowing you to see more clearly what's there.
The simple act of externalising thoughts can change the way we hold ideas together and help us make sense of ideas that are otherwise held internally, are less tangible and often harder to process. It creates a space to see ideas more objectively and reflect on what’s really there. This makes it ideal for bitesize journaling. When thoughts and feelings are held in bitesize pieces, we can organise and bring elements of ideas together in new ways that bring greater insight and meaning and help us to spot patterns in our own thoughts and feelings. This is something that’s often harder to do when journaling in longer prose which often needs re-reading and picking through to review what’s there.
Get started
Take 5 mins a day for 5 days. You can decide to take these 5 minutes at the same time each day, or simply when the opportunity arises. Use the same canvas each day. Using the Webapp's timer feature, set it to 5mins. Empty your head of whatever is in your mind, it could be anything. Keep going for the full 5 mins. If you run out of things on your mind, simply wait to see if anything else emerges. If, at 5 mins you are still writing, be sure to finish the thought you've started.
Group your ideas. At the end of the session, look at what you have written and compare it to previous days. Use the drag and drop to move hexagons around on the canvas so you group together those ideas which are similar and keep apart those ideas that are different. There is no right or wrong way to group your hexagons, go with what feels right for you. Colour code your groups to help see themes emerge more clearly.
Be curious. Over the course of the week, see what patterns take shape. Be interested in the size of the different groupings. Identify where there is repetition and overlap. Spot where the ‘one off’ thoughts are. Be curious about how the groups morph and take shape over the 5 days. Which ones develop most? Which are the most repetitive and constant?
Get to your gems. After you have completed your final 5 mins on Day 5, identify the most important or standout idea within each theme and use the 'gem' highlighting feature to capture it, or if you prefer, create a new entry that captures the most important point from that group and turn that into a gem. These will be your most important takeouts for the week. Finally, ask yourself what connects the gems? There may be something or there may not be, but it can be useful to ask or ponder the question in the back of your mind as you go about your day-to-day.