From: Craig Maloney Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2018 13:57:56 +0000 (-0400) Subject: More about journaling X-Git-Tag: 0.5.0^2~61 X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=b2849517e8917af5fb3573646e841f53de65854a;p=themediocreprogrammer.git More about journaling --- diff --git a/chapter03.md b/chapter03.md index 465109e..8e90568 100644 --- a/chapter03.md +++ b/chapter03.md @@ -54,12 +54,10 @@ Mistakes also act as a reminder to pause for a moment and not get too wound up i ## Journaling our mistakes -### FIXME +There's value in not making the same mistakes twice. Knowing that we repeated the same failure is useful because it gives us a pattern to understand. We can see that doing this particular thing gives us a failing result. We can then see what caused us to do the same thing and plan for how to mitigate it. This can be part of the learning process as long as we don't fall into a spiral of self-recrimination when we realize that we've made the same mistake again. -There's value in not making the same mistakes twice. Understanding that we've repeated the same failure is useful because it gives us a pattern to understand. We can see that doing the same thing again gives us a failing result. This can be part of the learning process as long as we don't fall into a spiral of self-recrimination when we realize that we've made the same mistake again. +One trick that I use more infrequently than I would like is journaling. Keeping a journal of what happened and how we fixed it is one way to explain to someone else (often ourselves) about what happened. Explaining what happened allows us to become a teacher to ourselves and others. It reinforces our learning process. Writing down what happened in a way that others can understand allows us to arrange the thoughts in our head in a way that is clear and understandable. When we articulate our own thoughts about what happened and codify them we start to understand our own thoughts and can shake loose other ideas about how to fix this and other problems. We give ourselves the pause we need to fully understand what happened and how best to move forward. We become our own sounding-board for ideas on how best to proceed. -One trick that I use more infrequently than I would like is journaling. Keeping a journal of what happened and how we fixed it is one way to explain to someone else (often ourselves) about what happened. Explaining what happened allows us to become a teacher to others and ourselves and reinforces the learning process. Writing down what happened in a way that others fan understand allows us to become more clear to ourselves on what we understand. When we articulate our own thoughts about what happened and codify them we gain an understanding into our own thoughts and can shake loose other ideas we might have that might not normally be available. We become our own sounding-board for ideas on how best to proceed. +This isn't about keeping a record for posterity so we can look back at a list of failures and beat ourselves up about the past. It's a way to teach ourselves and maximize the learning process. It's about giving ourselves the freedom to be the instructor to our future self so we can be more aware when a mistake is about to happen and understand how to correct for it. This allows us to focus on the moment just long enough to understand what happened, what we did to correct it, and how we can best proceed from here. It also helps us to locate where our gaps are and the next actions that we'll need to take in order to shore up those gaps. -This isn't about keeping a record for posterity so we can go back and find opportunities to beat ourselves up about the past. It's a way to teach ourselves and maximize the learning process. It's about giving ourselves the freedom to be the instructor to our future self so we can be more aware when a mistake is about to happen and understand how to correct it. It allows us to focus on the moment just long enough to understand what happened, what we did to correct it, and how we can best proceed from here. It also helps us to locate where our gaps are and the next actions that we'll need to take in order to shore up those gaps. - -We'll talk more about journaling in later chapters but I fully recommend a journaling habit if for no other reason than it gives you a willing apprentice to teach, even if that apprentice is only yourself. +We'll talk more about journaling in later chapters but I fully recommend a journal habit if for no other reason than it gives you a willing apprentice to teach, even if that apprentice is only yourself.