News, notes and everything else.

Keeping a personal journal is just one use for 280daily. As you may have seen, it can also be used for travel, business, sport, food, targets and a backwards to-do list. Don’t limit yourself to these uses, feel free to find your own.

If you are thinking of keeping a personal journal there are certain things you should think about.

How is a journal useful?

• Keep organised
• Focus your mind
• A personal reminder
• Treasured keepsake
• Stress reducer
• Goal marker

What medium should I use?

280daily isn’t for everyone, 280 characters can be limiting. 280daily was created because consistently keeping a full-blown journal can be unrealistic, intimidating and can too quickly become a chore. The idea of keeping up with 50 words a day is an accessible task for anyone, depending on whether the idea of journaling/keeping a diary or archiving your life is something you’d like to do. In most cases, 280 characters should be all you need. There are certain cases where 280daily just isn’t appropriate. For example, sometimes journals are used as a form of therapy, which requires excessive amounts of writing.

If you’re not in the business of 280 characters, there are a number of ways you can keep a journal, you might consider scrapbooking, letter writing or just use an old fashioned notebook.

Where should I write my journal?

Although 280daily can be used on the move, we primarily intended entries to be written on a laptop computer in an area you’re comfortable in. 280 characters is short, taking the time to write properly will leave you with a journal worth having, maybe try and find a quiet part of the house where you know you won’t be disturbed.

What do you want to convey to future you?

It’s easy to blurt out your thoughts and feelings, but with just 280 characters, it’s important to think about what you want to convey to yourself when you re-read the entry in future. Do you want to express your feelings, what you did, what you’re looking to achieve in future? 280 characters will help limit your excess. Focus on the positives, but don’t ignore the negatives.

Who are you writing for?

280daily allows you to export your entries to PDF along with book, print and spreadsheet. You should think about whether you want this to be just for you, or whether you want to eventually share it with your family. If you are planning on sharing with friends, be careful not to over share, a worst case scenario would be talking negatively about the very person you are sharing your journal with.

When should you write?

It’s generally thought the best time to write a journal is before you go to bed, the events are fresh in your mind and if you’ve had a good/bad day, you’re likely to want to write about it as soon as possible. Alternatively you could take a step back, let the days events settle and write your entry the next day.

It doesn’t need to be beautiful.

It’s easy to become obsessed with keeping your journal looking beautiful and can detract from the actual content. Using a computerised journal will take away the issues involved with making changes. Similarly, don’t worry about spelling mistakes and grammar too much.

Keeping your journal safe.

One of the issues with keeping a physical journal is keeping it safe and away from prying eyes. 280daily is a great way to keep your thoughts, feelings and events safe.

In summary.

Remember that a journal is an free gift to your future self. You will undoubtedly find things you have long forgotten!