At the end of every quarter, I host a link up called What We Learned for all of us to share what we learned in the past season. One of the most common comments I get from people is Oh! I keep meaning to join you but I have no idea what I learned recently!
Let’s be real – most of us most of the time are just trying to make it through the week without running out of clean underwear. How can I expect us to learn things, much less remember what they are!?
Enter today’s post.
The problem isn’t that we aren’t learning. The problem is we forget.
I tend to make things super hard and think I need to have elaborate systems in place to do things. But simple is good and right and just my style.
So today I’ll share with you how I keep track and remember what I’m learning.
And you’re gonna be all, Duh, why are you even wasting my time with this?
And I’m gonna be all, I know! It’s so obvious and dumb right?!
And you’re gonna be all, Yes and I have a way better way of keeping track of what I’m learning.
And I’m gonna be all, Of course you do! Please tell us in the comments!
But first, this.
Why is it important to keep track of what you’re learning?
I once wrote that my job as a writer is to pay attention to what’s happening around me and to pay attention to what’s happening within me.
True, but that’s also our job as humans.
When I go through life in survival mode for too long, I feel like I’m only half-human – forgetting appointments, forgetting to laugh, forgetting my name. I basically walk around with a list of to-dos scribbled on the back of a crumpled receipt in the bottom of my purse and a low-grade panic in the pit of my soul.
Have you been there?
The practice of paying attention serves as an anchor for the soul in a fast-moving world.
Instead of waiting for the world to stop so we can catch up, we slow ourselves, look around, and name what we see.
“In a profound way, our intentionality is a key ingredient determining whether we notice God everywhere or only in church or only in suffering or nowhere. It all depends on how we choose to fashion our world.”
Elizabeth Dreyer, Earth Crammed with Heaven
When I’m paying attention to the public road I’m walking and my private world within, I tend to be more patient, more kind, more willing to give myself and others grace.
Looking back in a sort of monthly version of The Daily Examen, we imperfectly practice paying attention to the things we’re learning. Sometimes they are profound and life-altering. Other times they are simply fun facts or silly tips. Either way, recording them is evidence of our living.
Here are 6 ways I practice paying attention – good for both my writing and my soul.
Bullet Journal
If I had to estimate, I would say ninety percent of my note-taking I do with pen and paper. I know technology and robots have made our lives so much easier with apps and capturing lasers and memory gadgets and what-nots, but I learn best by actually writing things with my hand in my janky handwriting.
The Bullet Journal isn’t a specific journal, it’s a note taking system created by Ryder Carroll. My friend Kendra told me about it right now I use this Miquelrius soft bound black journal with graph paper lines, although you can use any journal you like.
I keep it with me always, which is key for keeping track of what I’m learning.
In it, I record daily tasks, books I want to read, and other kinds of to-dos, always with an antennae up for a new thought, a different perspective, or a fun new fact I didn’t know. When something comes, I jot it down using WWL (What We Learned) as a signifier. At the end of the month, I look back through that month’s notes for WWL.
I told you I’m holding nothing back. All my secrets are out!
If you have a favorite robot mind-reading Jetsons app you use for note-taking, tell us in the comments! The point is not the particular capturing system, the point is to do something that works for you.
Social Media
When I’m crafting my post for What We Learned, I always browse through my Twitter / Instagram / Facebook updates for that month – this always helps to trigger moments or thoughts I had throughout the month that may be worth remembering.
Books
I’m usually reading several books at once – fiction for before bed, some kind of memoir, and a few non-fictions. At the end of the month, I’ll thumb back through the books I’m reading and take note of what I underlined.
This one is from John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping, a book I finished last week and keep going back to. I usually read with a pen or pencil close by and have no problem writing in books. But if the book isn’t mine or is from the library, I use my Bullet Journal to capture quotes.
Quotes
If a quote really sticks out and I want to for sure remember it, I also record it in my bullet journal and mark them with a Q. If it makes it to the journal with a Q then it’s important.
Tip: ALWAYS put who said it, where they said it, and on what page. I didn’t do this in college and I have journals filled with quotes from people that I can’t use and can’t go back to because I have no idea who said them.
Photos
Browsing through the photos on my phone almost always reminds me of at least one thing I learned that month. If something is lovely, fun, thoughtful, or significant in some way, I generally snap a photo of some aspect of it. So my phone photo album is a good trigger to help me remember the past month. 
The Morning Page
I have an on-again off-again relationship with The Morning Page. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way
“Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning . . . They provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand.”
I’ve written about how the Morning Page can become a sacred space and I believe it’s true. It’s a good way to uncover things that are hovering just beneath your awareness. I don’t do them every morning, but when I do I will browse back through them to see if those sloppy pages offer any insight to something I’ve been learning.
While I use my Bullet Journal for most of my note-taking (sermon notes, book prep, to-do lists, blog planning), Morning Pages is the only writing I do in a separate notebook to keep my mind focused on writing without the distraction of flipping through yesterdays to-do list.
Also if I lose my Bullet Journal, the strangers won’t have access to my crazy, which is basically what comes out in The Morning Page.
So there you go, six ways I keep track of what I’m learning. I do use my phone occasionally to record thoughts or bits of thoughts – either with the notes app or the voice recorder. But mostly I just use pen, paper, photos, underlining, Morning Pages and good old fashioned window-staring-outing.
We’re all at different spots on the journey, and these end of the month posts are a way to reflect, share, and celebrate on purpose. We do these at the end of every quarter (usually the last day of the month if it’s a weekday) and I hope you’ll join us. It’s never too late to start paying attention.
On a monthly basis I also write a letter from The Bench, a newsletter-like secret note of hope and courage for the weary soul. I typically include one thing I’m learning but elaborate on it more deeply than I do in the monthly What We Learned posts. If you want to be sure to get the next letter, simply sign up here.
Melody says
February 13, 2015 at 12:17 PMThat was lovely. Beautiful. Inspirational. Thanks for taking the time to write that all out and for the courage to let us peek behind the curtain. So thankful for your encouragement in all our lives!
Christina says
February 14, 2015 at 3:10 AMI second this… love the various snapshots going into this post!
Donna says
February 13, 2015 at 12:38 PMI love the Bullet Journal. I can totally see how it would help me to be more organized. Thanks for sharing.
Marcy says
February 13, 2015 at 12:44 PMI love this! Though I have a different problem — I remember lots of things I learned most months, but forget to start putting a post together until the last minute, and run out of time. I’m kind of afraid that if I follow a process like this my posts will go from long to epic looooong. 🙂
I guess I do similar things, though I hadn’t made it very systematized yet. I shall steal this, despite my fears. 😀 My other biggest difference is that right now a lot of my thinking and writing is digital, on a little Chromebook. (Like, a LOT. I had insomnia this morning, got up at 4:45 Pacific Time, and now, four hours later, I’ve run the battery down from 100% to 42%.) I use WorkFlowy (workflowy.com) for notes in general, 750 Words (750words.com) for morning pages. I just now added a tag to WorkFlowy for #ThingsILearned! I’m excited about this! Now to build the habit of remembering to use it…
Darla Trendler says
February 13, 2015 at 1:15 PMI am so happy to see you writing about a bullet journal. I just started a bullet journal a week ago and so far I love it. Thank you for your reminder about paying attention. I try to look back each day on the tender mercies (small but very meaningful blessings) I have received from God. Writing them reminds me that He is in the details of my life and is my way to show Him that I am grateful for everything He blesses me with.
Amy says
February 13, 2015 at 3:10 PMThis! This is what I need! I notice things all the time, but then I forget. Thank you for this! (And please, PLEASE, self, please don’t wait for the “perfect” journal to start this – you have a stack already, waiting for you to record your lessons.)
Lynn Morrissey says
February 13, 2015 at 3:18 PMHi Miss Emily,
This idea journal is a wonderful idea. I’ve done something similar at year’s end by bullet-pointing the “highlights and lowlights” of my year, either at the end of a journal or the beginning of a new one. It gives me perspective of what I have learned over the course of a year, but I wish I would have thought to do it month by month or even day by day. Do you do this daily? I think you may have implied so. And how do you find specific ideas, quotes, etc. Do you have any way to categorize them by theme other than writing Q? The only problem I find with written journals is that it’s difficult to find specific things. Generally I make a kind of index for special items in my journal that I want to retrieve, and I number the journal pages. Still, with many journals, it is difficult sometimes to find that for which I’m searching. And as for books: I too write in books. I highlight passages with yellow china markers and underline in ink and dialogue in writing with the authors. Oh my! They’re quite a mess sometimes. I’m now purging a ton of books, and the downside is that I have to throw those out which are heavily marked, or where I have written things too personal for public consumption. But the other downfall is that often I write that a passage might be good used in something I am writing or in a journaling workshop. But I’ve failed to make that notation elsewhere–say, in a computer version of a workshop. So now it’s really difficult to go back and find materials that might fit into given projects. I’m going to correct that in the future. I would add, too, Emily that on writing quotes from books, I include not just author, page #, and title, but year of publication, publisher, and city of publication–anything I think a publisher would require in the notes section of a book. It just saves tons of time to have to locate books, especially those I might get from the library. Thanks for a terrific post!
Blessings,
Lynn
Teresa says
February 14, 2015 at 12:38 PMGreat idea to put all the info a publisher might want with your quote! I remember from college papers how painful gathering all that info can be!
Also, there is a website about the bullet journal that gives you all the basics for setting one up. I think I’m going to try it this year. it is bulletjournal(dot)com
Lynn Morrissey says
February 14, 2015 at 2:53 PMHi Teresa,
I learned it the hard way! So now I include everything! 🙂
Emily says
February 13, 2015 at 3:24 PMThis is great. I listen to podcasts while I’m at work – I repair books at NCSU Libraries, so I am mostly doing work with my hands, which means I have lots of time to listen. There are things that people say that hit home to me all the time that just fly right in and out of my brain because I don’t write them down. I would like to do better at documenting these ideas.
I just started using an app called HeyDay at the beginning of the year. It pulls in the pictures you took during the day and you can add comments to them at the end of the day. My memories are very triggered by photos, so this works well for me. I can’t wait to get to the end of a year and be able to scroll back through. It’s like an automatic scrapbook.
I also have a question for anyone who Bullet Journals. I make handmade journals for sale on Etsy, and I’ve been playing around with creating a journal specifically for Bullet Journaling, but I’m not sure the right number of pages to include.
My question is this: How often are you using up your journals? How many pages would you say you use in a month?
Thanks for the reminder to make an effort to hold on to the things that are digging into our hearts and minds!
Jerralea says
February 22, 2015 at 12:36 PMI’ve been using a bullet journal going on my second year now. I’ve been using an average of 10 pages a month BUT lately I’ve been inspired to write even more things down so it might be as much as 12 from now on.
Amy says
September 19, 2015 at 11:16 AMHow can we get your journal?
Archer says
February 13, 2015 at 3:29 PMI loved this post! I had that same graph paper journal in college and I filled almost every page. I think I need to get another one now….
Jenna Hermle says
February 13, 2015 at 3:33 PMLike Marcy, I have been using WorkFlowy as well, and I love the fact that I can use it in a browser on my computer, or if I’m away from my computer, use the app on my iPhone and have the data synced between the two. It has become my mobile brain, and I love it.
It’s amazing how something so simple can be so powerful!
Marcy says
February 13, 2015 at 3:57 PMI know! Some days it feels like the invention of paper, to me. 🙂
Emily L says
February 13, 2015 at 3:52 PMI loved this. I’ve been starting to realize how often I rush around with a crumpled list on an envelope and a low grade panic, as you said…. thinking about how I want to stop and come to stillness but I dread the deluge, so I don’t, which compounds the cycle. I think I shall have to start a bullet journal and morning pages of some kind. Thank you for sharing your wise practices.
Suzy says
July 27, 2015 at 11:39 AMlove it – I’m not the only one with scribbles on envelopes!
Francesca @verriwell.com says
February 13, 2015 at 5:37 PMLOVE this post! I can’t wait to try Bullet Journaling. I am a professional organizer and am always looking for new way of keeping track of all that floats in my mind and helping others do the same. This year especially I am in need of tracking more – there is just more I want to remember and write about and it is just not easy. I’m going to give it a try! Thank you. And as always, gosh Emily, thanks so much for all you do. You are just so good for my soul. <3
Susan Shipe says
February 13, 2015 at 5:44 PMI am using one journal this year. ONE. It is a planner, day journal, list maker, lots of blank pages, and a bible chapter list (I don’t follow the reading schedule). I put everything in this one book. IF I have a book for this and a book for that I end up scattered and disorganized. ONE book. So far it is working well for me!
Su says
September 9, 2015 at 8:50 AMCan you share where you got this journal/day planner? I need that too. . one book.
Amy says
September 19, 2015 at 11:17 AMYes please share the journal!
Daphne Massaro says
March 1, 2019 at 7:14 AMYes, please share your journal. I am a paper calendar addict; I will find all these wonderful paper calendars; buy them and its March 2019. I find it hard to keep my work and home journals separate; I work in healthcare so I need to be careful due to HIPPA. I love to read and take notes, highlight! Thank you!
Monica says
February 13, 2015 at 7:10 PMThank you so much for sharing this!!! I’m inspired and cannot wait to start my bullet journal. I think the most important is to be on the lookout…waiting and watching always with my antennae up.
Jean Wise says
February 13, 2015 at 7:43 PMI wondered how you kept track of this and do enjoy this series you do. love having a peek into your process. Thanks
Deena says
February 13, 2015 at 7:46 PMDear Emily, Oh, if I had had the focus you have years ago… I have over 20 journal of my child rearing years…my sanity logs. This year I decided to go through them and rewrite the story with a clearer prespective. I plan to destroy them when I am done to symbolize giving the past hurts to God. One volume that is okay for the kids to read will remain.
Currently I have a diet journal, a 1,000 gifts journal, a sermon and blog journal (like for quotes and special sriptures), and a notes book in my purse for ideas that catch me away from home. I have started keeping screen shots and photos in a tablet my son bought me.
My blog is thought and updates of the kiddos. Facebook is just for encouraging and enjoying family and friend photos, I don’t get caught up in the political stuff.
Shalom
Emy nester reorganization for 2015.
Cherie says
February 28, 2015 at 2:25 PMIt is a tricky thing to keep a journal. I also worry about my unfiltered thoughts being read if I weren’t around. It’s cathartic writing, but also so personal.
Su says
September 9, 2015 at 8:52 AMI’ve made a pack with a friend that we will burn each other’s journals when we die .
BethShereyf says
February 13, 2015 at 9:14 PMi love bullet journaling. It has been the best thing for me and helps keep me sane lol. I’ve noticed though I only use it for post it’s filled with notes, quotes, and recipes. I’m thinking of just converting it to a notebook since I don’t seem to need to track daily task. Most of my task are pretty much the same daily. Great post.
Lynn says
February 13, 2015 at 11:24 PMLove this! I also keep a journal…..or steno pad for ideas and my to-do lists. It helps me to write things down too! I love technology and will use my notepad on my iphone sometimes, but that’s usually if I don’t happen to have my journal handy.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Caroline Starr Rose says
February 14, 2015 at 12:07 AMIf you’re interested, children’s author Kate Messner has written a post on bullet journaling:
http://www.katemessner.com/bullet-journaling-childrens-author-version/
Vanessa says
February 14, 2015 at 8:06 AMFantastic post! I used to always keep a notebook with me at all times and write down all the random thoughts that came to mind, things people said that stuck with me, ideas or just things that inspired me. I’ve been slacking on this but this post is a great reminder. I also prefer hand writing everything. I Seem to learn better that way.
Teresa says
February 14, 2015 at 12:42 PMAs someone who writes on whatever scrap of paper happens to be handy, I think it is time I bite the bullet (journal, that is) and get myself organized. Thanks for the reminder that I want to try this. And, thanks for sharing your system with us – it’s always great to see how another’s thought process works.
John-Peter says
February 15, 2015 at 8:22 AMYou are extremely organized! In a vintagey, cool way — I noticed the moleskin-like journal. My brush with genius or death might come from the Morning Page if I ever try it. Until I risk finding out which, I’ll probably still be using the notes section on my phone.
Thanks for the reminder that chatting at my mind is a necessary part of chatting at the sky!
Emily says
February 15, 2015 at 2:43 PMi always appreciate when people share the way they “organize” their thoughts and words. I haven’t found a way that works too well for me yet so I enjoy new ideas to try!
Barb says
February 15, 2015 at 5:58 PMI like your janky handwriting. Nothing better than our own scribbles to help us remember and process what we have learned. Not to mention how way more personal it is. Imagine someone you love reading that bullet journal of yours, what a window into the heart and soul. Thanks for sharing.
Jenny says
February 18, 2015 at 9:04 AMDefinitely going to start one of these journals. thank you!
Lauren says
February 18, 2015 at 11:56 PMAh, this was so good and helpful. Thank you!
Jerralea says
February 22, 2015 at 12:45 PMGreat ideas here! I was excited to realize I already use some of these tools: bullet journal, a monthly quote list, and a monthly folder of pictures specific to that month. So, I might just join in on What We Learned. I’m all about reflection!
Laura says
February 22, 2015 at 1:50 PMI wrote last month asking about your process. So happy to read this today. Thanks, Emily!!!
April says
February 24, 2015 at 5:28 PMEmily,
I love this post! I especially love the concept of writing in the morning just to sort out thoughts that has nothing to do with sounding pretty (or coherent!).
Cherie says
February 28, 2015 at 2:17 PMI loved this peek into your thought organization. You’ve inspired me to rehabilitate my note-keeping. I’m guilty of the multiple notebook/envelope/scrap paper way of being. And it’s really not working.
Samantha Livingston says
March 5, 2015 at 7:06 PMI’m a big window-starer-outer too and I’m so glad to know it’s a thing! 🙂
Dianna says
March 30, 2015 at 12:24 PMThis is just what I needed! I literally just had the thought of keeping track of what I learn through out the week and then your email came into my inbox. Thank you so much!
Emily says
March 30, 2015 at 12:54 PMThat’s awesome! Good timing indeed.
Damaris Arteaga says
April 23, 2015 at 12:41 PMThank you for writing this. I like how you CHOOSE to be mindful. I’ve been carrying a journal around that I’ll only write in when I feel like it and a blog that gets equally neglected. When really, writing and reflection releases so much of my soul, that I should be more intentional and loving with it. Thanks for the reminder and practical, helpful tips. I’m turning off “survival-mode.” 🙂
Cara@TheHomeLearner says
August 14, 2015 at 9:21 AMI just wrote a post explaining how to set up a bullet journal, step-by-step, and I included a link to this post because of your clever letter key. Simple. “Q” for quote. Love it. Thanks for writing this, your encouragement to learn, and showing your unique style.
Nolo says
September 19, 2015 at 8:46 AMIf you have a quote but don’t know the source, you could type it into google and see what comes up. Just an idea. =)
emily freeman says
September 19, 2015 at 9:44 AMha! Yes – that doesn’t always work. Ask me how I know.
Diane W Bailey says
October 26, 2015 at 8:37 AMMy morning routine is to grab coffee Bible and journal each morning. There I wait for my soul to be fed and made wiser by God. Then, on paper with pen I pour out my thoughts to God and write my impressions of those thoughts.
I love podcasts to hear new information to inspire me as well as NPR
Monica says
January 16, 2016 at 12:15 PMI probably have too many journals to keep track of what I want to remember, but it is working for me right now. I have a counting my gifts journal that I use every morning, a reading log to keep track of the books I read, a movie journal (to help me remember that movie I just saw last week!), a quotes journal, a journal I write in every week after I bring a book cart to a soup kitchen (to help me remember who I talked to and their stories and the books they have requested), and I guess what you would call my bullet journal for all the little things I used to write down on small pieces of paper. I know I could keep track of all of these on my computer, but I much rather want to hold paper and pen to do my remembering!
Jess says
August 20, 2016 at 1:42 PMEmily-
I thoroughly enjoyed a taste of your posts at chatting at the sky, still moments. I like the way you have your site organized and the information makes sense to me. No one wants to live with their soul in a hustle that is the truth. I found the idea of monthly reflecting on what we learn to be priceless, in this season of my life. Thank you, Keep up the quality website!
Jess
Lisa Swanson says
January 1, 2017 at 10:05 AMThank you for the moments of joy that you create contentment in my heart! Thank you for sharing your gift of loving others! A thankful heart in Montana : )