像任何習慣一樣，寫日記說起來容易做起來難。我試了好幾年（童年臥室裡所有半空的筆記本都可以證明這一點），直到我在國外讀大學併在一份旅遊日記上寫文章時，我才形成一個持續的習慣。在那段時間裡，有些東西發出了咔嚓聲，我回到美國後一直保持著這種聲音，在那裡，它從我去過的地方和吃過的食物的目錄演變成了一個透過感受工作、擴充套件問題或隨機觀察併為自己設定目標的地方。

儘管如此，我還是不想每天都寫作，即使我確實有什麼想說的話。有時我開啟日記，盯著空白的頁，希望能有一些聰明的想法發生在我身上，這樣我就可以為後人寫下來。

如果你偶爾也很難弄清楚你想寫什麼，我建議你閱讀本傑明P。哈代，這是充滿了偉大的建議，如何建立和堅持的習慣。我特別喜歡這三個提示，當你在頁面上找不到任何東西時（強調我的）：

• Start with gratitude and appreciation for everything happening in your life. Take plenty of time to reflect on and write about all the details of your life and relati***hips. Write about all the people who matter to you. Write about how far you’ve come. Write specifics about what is happening, and what has happened, since the last time you had a recovery session. Recording your history is a crucial component of journal writing. It provides context to your ideas, goals, and plans.
• Be radically honest with yourself about what’s going on in your world in your journal. After you’ve just expressed gratitude and appreciation for the brilliance (and struggles) in your life, you need to be honest with yourself about where you’re not showing up. While in a peak state, you need to commit to making specific changes. Write down the key changes you need to make to achieve your dreams and ideals. Write down everything that comes to mind. Journaling is a powerful therapeutic and healing tool. While writing about the things you need to change, openly write about the frustrati*** and difficulties that have led you to where you are. Write about why you’ve struggled to make these changes in the past. Be very honest and vulnerable with yourself. No one else is going to read what you’re writing. The purpose of this writing is for you to get clarity, and to re-establish your priorities and focus. If you can’t be honest in your own journal, how can you expect to be honest in the rest of your life?
• Write about your big picture dreams. These could be framed as your life vision, your 3–5 year goals, or your goals for the next 3–12 months. It’s good to take some time and think about what you’re trying to do from the big picture before you zero-in on the specifics right in front of you. A key component of writing big-picture is that it reconnects you with your ‘why.’ It’s very easy to lose sight of your why during your daily routine and busyness. Additionally, there is a huge difference between ‘means’ goals and ‘ends’ goals. And your ends goals are the things that truly matter to you. They are the things you want in and of themselves, not because they will enable you to do what you really want. For example, getting a college degree so you can get a great job is a means goal. But what is the end? The end is what really matters, and you can save a lot of trouble by beginning and continuing with the end in mind. You can avoid pursuing goals that are societal expectati***.

我想指出的是，雖然我在日記中寫下了我的目標，哈代強調日記是為自己設定目標的一種很好的方式，但你不應該感到有壓力去利用自己的目標來提高工作效率。這可能是一個好處，如果你選擇這樣使用它，但最好的方式使用你的日誌是你想要的。沒有規則，正如哈代指出的，沒有人會讀你的日記。

你可以做你自己，或者弄清楚自己是誰。在這樣一個時代，生活的方方面面似乎都能發揮作用，最大限度地提高效率，這就是自由和治療。

自由撰稿

如果你想要更抽象的東西，可以試試自由寫作，自由寫作是一種日記形式，你可以連續寫一段時間，而不必擔心拼寫、語法，甚至，如果你想“主題化”的話，你可以一直寫到一個固定的時間結束。

當我沒有太多的話要說，但仍然覺得有必要寫日記的時候，我會使用Writelight，這是一個網站和應用程式，可以給你隨機提示。你可以選擇你想連續寫作的時間（比如5分鐘、10分鐘甚至20分鐘）和一個主題（以符號的形式呈現，比如手電筒或咖啡），Writelight會給你一個句子長度的提示。

例如，當我選擇七分鐘和小鳥時，提示是“我應該關註什麼？我現在應該把註意力集中在這些事情上的原因是什麼？“如果我選擇10分鐘和一隻貓，提示是“如果我整個上午都是自己的，我會把它花在做……”（老實說，我不確定第二個選項有多重要，但選一個很有趣。）

一旦你放鬆了，繼續寫作就更容易了，不管你是在Writelight提示符上超過了時間限制，還是換了更個人化的東西。別擔心，如果你每隔幾天或幾個月只寫一次日記，這畢竟是你的出路。