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by ZackOfAllTrades 5418 days ago
I've kept a diary of sorts most of this year. Every night before I go to bed I try to fill a notebook page with all my thoughts from the day. Think about what I want to do tomorrow.

What I ended up doing by mistake which I really like is that when I get to the end of a diary, I have usually written only on the front side of pages. So I start writing on the back sides of the pages and I watch as my life unfolds in reverse. I can see how I felt yesterday, then 3 days ago, then 5 days ago, and then it gets to several months. And I am looking back on how I thought/felt and seeing all these patterns. You start looking at what you wrote in a different like. Patterns, like maybe a person in your life being sad often or a certain idea that you keep writing about, start to really emerge clearly.

I think it is a worthwhile habit if you want to understand your mind. It also helps me sleep most of the time by letting me get stuff out of my head.