A few shots from some winter sun in Nottingham, and my Ricoh GR iiix.
This year was the second year I set myself a goal. One that was born out of a frustration that my attention being stolen from me and my concern that I needed to get it back. 2022 my goal was to watch more movies. Like most New Year’s resolutions, it failed miserably in the first few weeks. Whereas reading, that’s my thing!
Setting a goal always seems a bit strange to me. I followed in the footsteps of Matt Birchler for movies, and was encouraged by micro.blog to set one for reading. The trouble was I had no idea what to set it at. I had been using the excellent Epilogue app for a while, but not long enough to track a whole year.
I honestly had no idea how many books I could read in a year, and even setting a goal based on books read seemed strange. Some books are easy to polish off in a day or so, whereas some I have read required a long slog of considerable effort. I thought about hours of reading, but that seemed like a chore. I could think about counting pages turned, I guess, but that’s more work than I want to put in. So books read is a happy medium.
I settled on 30. It was a bit finger in the air, sitting a long way below the extreme levels I have seen online, and also felt achievable. 30 books was a little over 2 a month and with a long backlog of purchases I felt confident.
That realistic goal setting turned out to be the perfect motivation. Once I had worked my way through the books I had waiting, there was a considerable lag in the middle of the year. However, with confidence in my heart and the positive results I was experiencing, the motivation to read even a few pages a day really helped.
I finished the year completing 38 books. There were a few re-reads in there, but they all make up a fairly eclectic bunch that I have mostly enjoyed. Check them all out below.
More than the small feeling of satisfaction having met a goal set 12 months ago, is the difference it has made to my mind. I feel like I have made a small win in the fight for my attention. Taken back, something that I felt I was losing control of, and learnt plenty of lessons along the way. I love reading now more than ever, and I owe a thank you to the micro.blog community that pushed me there.
Finally launching with iOS 17.2 Apple’s new journal app immediately received criticism. Whilst some of it was valid, most of this focused on features Apple did not promise. It delivered a very barebones app that gives me the impression it was for nothing more than showing off the new Journaling API. My thoughts are a lot more positive, and I thought I would run through how I use it.
I have been journalling on and off for a while, but only really got serious in January 2023. Adopting Day One to type out morning pages and other entries pretty religiously. Due to my short relationship to journalling apps, some may claim this restricts the validity of my opinions. I’m not on a two thousand day streak or anything, but I will leave the level of authority I write with up to you.
The reality is, the iOS Journal app is absolutely fine. It’s not as complex as some on the market, but I think that is the biggest positive. As much as I like using Day One, Apples app is actually a much better option for most people. It removes all the things that power users may need, like tagging and multiple journals, but replaces it with a much simpler experience.
In many ways, it reflects Apple’s user interface design perfectly. Removing as much complexity as possible to “tap thing, do action”. There are some great prompts and selections to fuel the content of your entires, from the aforementioned API, but all you need to do is tap the plus sign and start writing.
This wonderfully simple interface makes me want to save more things. Record ideas, things I have done, and a lot more. There is no worrying about what journal to put it in, or styling to mess about with, just saving numerous things effortlessly. As you can see from my screenshots, I’ve taken to adding thoughts on how my training runs have gone, some podcast notes and even some blog post ideas — all in one place.
The app is not perfect, there’s no Mac or iPad app to start with. You could achieve the same result by simplifying Day One, as it also has access to the new Journalling suggestions, found by starting a new post and tapping the magic wand icon. I, personally, don’t need all the extra bits that Day One offers, so I can remove another cost from my subscriptions and still get all the benefits of journalling. If I can work out what to write!
For years, I’ve been trying to figure out why my handwriting is so bad. Seriously, it’s like what you’d expect from a three-year-old. I often blame my years in higher education – anyone who’s been through it knows that, unless you really put in the effort, your handwriting just stagnates after school. Everything has to be typed up neatly before submission, making pen and paper seem redundant.
I’m digressing a bit, but that’s usually my go-to explanation when, much to my dismay, someone catches a glimpse of my writing. This issue really came to the forefront recently when I had to write out some Christmas cards, a task I normally leave to my wife, who has flawless handwriting. Confronted with the task of writing on the cards, I was appalled at the mess I’d made.
What’s odd is my fondness for jotting notes in a physical notebook. The brief notes and thoughts I jot down often require some deciphering, but it’s when I have to write at length that my handwriting really deteriorates. Whenever I write morning pages, I choose to type them, contrary to popular advice to write them manually. I attribute this to my ability to type quickly enough to keep up with my thoughts, a realisation that recently struck me as the real issue.
Before I started using Day One in January last year, I watched every review and setup video available. Many emphasised the speed of typing over handwriting, and I agreed. My hand couldn’t match the pace of my thoughts, which I saw as a drawback. So, I decided to subscribe and type instead of writing by hand. In reality, I didn’t need to speed up my writing to match my thoughts; instead, I needed to slow my thoughts to match my writing pace.
This shift transformed an already effective practice for the better. My hand stopped cramping, and my words became clearer as I stopped rushing. Most importantly, I slowed my thought process to match my handwriting pace, allowing me to maintain and focus on my thoughts longer. In my haste to express and release them, I hadn’t been giving them the necessary space. Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle with what to write half the time, but now, I relish the process of slowly and thoughtfully putting pen to paper.