by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
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| OhLife |
I’ve always loved keeping a journal and started keeping one when I was in fourth grade.
There’s nothing fabulously interesting in my diaries, but it provides snapshots of long-forgotten days.
I wrote daily as a teenager. I read those posts now and I can barely identify with the content or the person who wrote the entries. Was that me? It’s a horrifying, fascinating read in a
deer-in-the-headlights kind of way.
deer-in-the-headlights kind of way.
Since having children, my journaling has
been sporadic. I would love to say that
I have a wonderfully detailed account of my children’s early years. I don’t. And I’ve meant to journal more.
been sporadic. I would love to say that
I have a wonderfully detailed account of my children’s early years. I don’t. And I’ve meant to journal more.
While reading blogs last month, I came
across a post by Hannah Braime on the Lifehack site: 5
Killer Online Journaling Tools You Should Try Out. One of the journaling programs they mentioned
was the free site OhLife. She hooked me when she used the word simple to describe it. Who has time for complicated when you’re trying to establish a new habit?
across a post by Hannah Braime on the Lifehack site: 5
Killer Online Journaling Tools You Should Try Out. One of the journaling programs they mentioned
was the free site OhLife. She hooked me when she used the word simple to describe it. Who has time for complicated when you’re trying to establish a new habit?
Once you sign up, the site sends you an
email every day (at whatever time you specify) and asks “how did your day
go?” You email it back and it stores the
information privately on a cloud. At the
bottom of the emails they send what you were doing that time last week (or last
month or last year, if you’ve been with the journal that long.) OhLife also encourages you to write only a
sentence if that’s all you want to write…and to
skip days, if needed.
email every day (at whatever time you specify) and asks “how did your day
go?” You email it back and it stores the
information privately on a cloud. At the
bottom of the emails they send what you were doing that time last week (or last
month or last year, if you’ve been with the journal that long.) OhLife also encourages you to write only a
sentence if that’s all you want to write…and to
skip days, if needed.
You can attach a picture to each post, if
you want to enhance your post.
you want to enhance your post.
You can also download a .txt version of
your journal if you want to make sure you have a backup in case for some reason
the site discontinues. I ordinarily
wouldn’t even think about this possibility much, but the sudden discontinuation
of Google Reader has made me a paranoid user in all aspects of my online life.
your journal if you want to make sure you have a backup in case for some reason
the site discontinues. I ordinarily
wouldn’t even think about this possibility much, but the sudden discontinuation
of Google Reader has made me a paranoid user in all aspects of my online life.
I’ve really enjoyed OhLife and have recommended it to several of my family and friends. I’ve apparently become an OhLife evangelist.
Getting the emails seems to do the trick
for me in terms of keeping up with it. I haven’t missed a day yet. I type
quickly and it’s much easier to remember to write an entry if I’m being
reminded each day. And it’s not like I
don’t check my emails. :) Although I
like the idea of writing in a physical
journal each day and I still love pen and paper…it just doesn’t seem to come
together for me or fit into my busy schedule like it used to.
for me in terms of keeping up with it. I haven’t missed a day yet. I type
quickly and it’s much easier to remember to write an entry if I’m being
reminded each day. And it’s not like I
don’t check my emails. :) Although I
like the idea of writing in a physical
journal each day and I still love pen and paper…it just doesn’t seem to come
together for me or fit into my busy schedule like it used to.
Journal uses for writers? For one, establishing a daily writing habit, if you’re
not a daily blogger. Journaling can help
you warm up, too, if you write afterward. Introspection. It can be therapeutic, if you sometimes
have stressful days. You could also use
it to track progress on various projects…meeting your daily word count goal or
looking into finding a cover designer and formatter, or tracking queries.
not a daily blogger. Journaling can help
you warm up, too, if you write afterward. Introspection. It can be therapeutic, if you sometimes
have stressful days. You could also use
it to track progress on various projects…meeting your daily word count goal or
looking into finding a cover designer and formatter, or tracking queries.
Or, if you’re like me, it’s nice to have
a searchable memory. :) My memory is abysmal and is certainly not
getting any better the older/busier I get.
a searchable memory. :) My memory is abysmal and is certainly not
getting any better the older/busier I get.
One thing I know as a lifelong
diarist—don’t try to catch up. It’s just
too frustrating to try to cover everything
in a journal. Just jump in where you are
now. Sometimes simply making a list of the day’s highlights is a nice change,
if you don’t have much time.
diarist—don’t try to catch up. It’s just
too frustrating to try to cover everything
in a journal. Just jump in where you are
now. Sometimes simply making a list of the day’s highlights is a nice change,
if you don’t have much time.
Do you keep a journal? Ever used an online journal? If you do journal, what do you get out of it?
Elizabeth – I think journaling has a lot to recommend it. It certainly helps to jog the memory and the older I get the more mine needs to be jogged. I like your description of journaling as a ‘warm-up’ too. A lot of the teachers with whom I work use it in that way in the classroom. I’ll have to check out OhLife; it sounds like an interesting way to get some daily writing discipline.
I’ve kept journals off and on during the years. I started two journals each for my children in which I write down special moments that strike me, what they’re like at that particular age, what their favorite things are. I tend to get out of the habit easily, though, and let a long time pass and then feel too embarrassed to write in it again. I feel like I’m always apologizing for how long it’s been since I last wrote.
I love journaling. :)
I’ve been journalling since I was a child. It helps me make sense of my life. I have a “note” feature on my mac that sits on the dock, very visible and I post on that frequently. I also have a physical paper and pen journal (my favorite, actually) for deeper journal entries.
Karen
I kept one as a teenager (and would be equally horrified to read those now) but outside of writing down dreams, I don’t keep one now. I think I remember best with photos, and the thousands and thousands of images I’ve taken reveal where I was in my life at the time.
What a great idea. I’ve never heard of OhLife before now. I like the concept of daily journaling, and it’s been strongly encouraged for me in terms of a great way to achieve a daily “brain dump” for clarity in a number of areas. Going to check it out. Thanks for the tip! :-)
Hi Elizabeth .. this is a great idea and obviously suits you – and I can see advantages.
I’ve kept the post open and some of the others to get back to after the A-Z finishes!
Cheers Hilary
Margot–I know what you mean. I think most of my memories are locked away in a dormant part of my brain…
Diane–You know, you *could* do OhLife with a photo a day and your email as a caption. Might be interesting.
Ellen–Oh, and do I need a brain dump! Too much stuff rattling around in my head.
Hilary–Thanks! Good luck with the rest of the challenge. :)
Momlarky–I did that a few times myself in the past. Then I just thought…okay, I’m probably apologizing to my future self. Doesn’t make any sense. So, even if a year or two went by, I just picked back up again with no note about the time between entries.
Teresa–Ha! Figured you did, Journaling Woman! :)
Karen –I like that you use your journal to make sense of your life and to be mindful. Mine seems to have all kinds of random things in there, but I’d very much like to take a mindful approach to it.
Worked, blogged, watched a movie, and played my guitar. I think that would be my entry almost every day.
How wonderful! I love to journal, doodle n’ sketch~ And gather words for poetry!
Nice to meet you-
Thank you for this :D
Visitng from A to Z.
Love you blog and will come back to spend more time here in the future.
I’m doing less with journals lately but getting more consistent with my daily writing, in part thanks to this challenge.
That’s some built-in accountability feature with OhLife! And the simplicity of it appeals to me, too.
Barbara
Honoring W Blogs in this A to Z
The Daille-y News
I couldn’t get the delete feature to work. That would be “love YOUR blog.”
Barbara
Honoring W Blogs in this A to Z
The Daille-y News
I keep a writer’s journal in a moleskin. I write down those observational bits that might seem of use sometime. I really don’t go back and read the notes, though.
The good ones stick around in my mind.
I do however leave copious notes as to what my intent was when I close out a writing session. That sort of journal really helps with the consistency.
Online? Not so much. Paper works well when the power is ut and the power is frequently out for me in the spring.
I used I Done This (https://idonethis.com/) for everything I accomplished when I first started using it. Nowadays I only use it for important business accomplishments.
Proactive nudges are golden when it comes to journaling, or even writing.
Alex–Ha! Yes, my days are fairly predictable, too. It’s all about carpooling here and cooking this and doing laundry and writing 3 pages and scheduling tweets. :)
Ella–Gathering words would be a fun addition to a journal, I’d think. You could use it in so many ways!
Barbara–Thanks so much for coming by to visit! And congratulations on your A-Z–I know y’all are getting close to the finish line now.
I blogged daily for a long time and really enjoyed it. My schedule got too wacky to be able to support a daily blog in the last year, but sometimes I miss that daily focus on it.
j–Even the good bits in my memory get foggy and soggy. I have to outsource my memory. :)
Power going out frequently? Ugh. Hopefully not for long stretches. I’m all right as long as everything is charged…I’ve gotten fairly addicted to my internet.
Joel –I haven’t heard of that! Okay, I’ll have to check that out. I always have a huge list of stuff to do.
I’ve never heard of this! But I created a fake on line journal in one of my novels :)
I journal about twice a week, but I’m weirded out about keeping it online. I’m old school, using cheap composition books and a ball point pen.
Julie–I can understand that. I thought it would actually weird me out a lot more than it did…I’m thinking I’ve gotten so used to a keyboard now that it’s second-nature…sort of sad, in a way.