I’ve written about the Levenger 5 Year Journal in the past (almost a year ago to the day). Yesterday, during my guest appearance on the always excellent podcast, The Pen Addict, I mentioned it once again and it seems to have garnered renewed interest.
In that earlier review, I said this about its intended use:
“For those not familiar with how a 5-Year Journal works, there are Pages for 366 days, including February 29, with 1 page per day, with 5 line entries – one for each year. It allows just enough to highlight the bullet points of a busy day but forces brevity. It is like Twitter for a private and bygone era. There is no pressure to catalog every detail of life or how you are feeling. Want to simply write a single thought or idea? Well, that is OK too. The beauty is that, those who have felt the pressure of maintaining a journal in the past (like myself) will likely feel far less so with such a low barrier to entry. Take just a few seconds at the end of the day and write what strikes you.”
And, while that is the intended use, I can think of a whole bunch of other things it can be (and has been, for me at least) used for. Here are some ideas and examples:
- Use it as a “Something new I learned today” log.
- Use it to record the weather for the day and start to notice patterns and trends over time.
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Write down your 3-5 most important tasks for the day (hint: My dash/plus system is perfect for this.)
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Log your workouts or diet.
Basically, anything one could think of needing daily tracking for and you can fit it into five standard ruled lines, the 5 Year Journal is perfect for. And, because each page contains up to five years of entries, it is a great way to be reminded of year-over-year progress.
Also, here is something else that applies to journals in general but is especially true of this one: Don’t be afraid to stick stuff in them that is a token of the day. Did you get a good fortune in your fortune cookie at lunch? Tape it in on that day. Go see a great concert or movie? Stuff the ticket stub between the pages. It adds character and helps to bring the day back to life when you inevitably come back across it next year.