If you're having trouble actually doing the [[§ Journaling MOC|journaling part]]—as in, you sit down and you're not sure what to write—then you might want to try a technique called speed journaling[^1]. This is basically just [[Quick capture your trip notes|quick capture note-taking]], but *after* the moment in which the experience happened, such as later that night. The point here is avoid anything even slightly resembling perfectionism. **Don't think, just write.** Write all the ideas, thoughts, and details out on paper as fast as possible. This is stream of consciousness brainstorming. Don't worry about minor misspellings; as long as you know what word you meant, it's fine. If you can't find the exact right word for how you felt in a moment, add some idea-adjacent words in parentheses and consult the thesaurus after your trip. The most important part here is to simply vomit words onto the page before your brain has a chance to edit, analyze, or [[Avoid the inner censor|censor]] anything you might write. These are *intentionally imperfect* notes, but they will serve as [[Memory triggers]] that will help you fill in the gaps later. Speed journaling can be useful because it can break through blank page syndrome and allow you to capture notes that you otherwise wouldn't. It can also reduce emotional friction around journaling, since it reduces the anxiety of getting it just right. Because these are just quick notes, you'll need to revisit them in order to both [[§ 1.4 - Reflect|reflect]] and rewrite them into a more useful format, but you can save that step for a more appropriate time. [^1]: I first encountered this idea from [Dave Fox on Globejotting](https://www.globejotting.com/speed-journaling/). --- Posted: November 1, 2020 Updated: July 2, 2023