Sometimes people ask me where I get my writing ideas from. The question often comes after I’ve suggested starting a blog so they can share their ideas with the world. “I’m just not sure I have anything to share”, they confess. “If you asked me to write something now I don’t think I could.”

My follow-up question is always, “how do you take notes on your life?”

The answer is often, “I don’t.”

Interesting ideas can be kind of random. They can hit you anytime: during meditation, walking, showering or on the brink of sleep. Problem is, if we don’t record the idea down it gets lost, disappeared into nothingness. We may as well have never thought of it at all.

If we’re interested in examining our thoughts, it’s critical that we practice being receptive to them. And a great way to do this is to develop a habit of rigorous documentation. There are many ways to do this, but my personal system predominantly uses words in both digital and analog formats.

The digital format is with Notion. It’s simply a page titled the page of that month and contains every random passing thought that interests me. This is my first line system of roughly shoving ideas in, making sure they don’t escape. New months get a new page. I always have this Notion tab open on my computer so I can reach it if I’m online. If I’m out in the world, I pull open the app on my phone and quickly jot something down. Notes from podcasts and audiobooks go in here too.

The analog format is with my journal. This is where most of the organisation happens – where I think about the scattered ideas that have hit me and try and connect the dots. Where did that idea come from? Why did I respond in that way? How can I apply this to my life? This is a much slower practice with pen and paper that requires time. But usually, it’s this deliberate reflection that makes the biggest difference.

Going back to the start: the vast majority of my posts here were first written in my journal. When I sit down to write, it’s very rare that I have to conjure up something from nothing. There’s usually a lot of page-flipping and reading my notes, wondering if this idea is worth sharing, too personal or requires further development.

It doesn’t really matter how you take notes on your life. I know people who draw, take photos or record videos. They might only occasionally write words down. That’s fine. The point is to find a way to record what you’re seeing, thinking or doing right now so it doesn’t get lost when you need to give a recount of your life.

Now, some people with sharp brains and great memories might think, “Okay, I resonate with this goal of living an examined life. But recording things down? Surely you can just remember things?” To which I’d answer:

Yes, it’s entirely possible that you tightly hold onto an interesting thought and never let it go. This often occurs in “lightbulb moments” we hear about, usually in the shower, where an idea hits you so strongly that it knocks the wind out of you.

But firstly, there are countless interesting thoughts that are so very subtle; ideas that just tickle your soul. If you’re distracted and numb to this, the thought will disappear into nothingness. The second problem is that your memory is falliable. Nobody’s memories are perfect. We’ve all forgotten things before, whether it be names, dates or events. You have no idea how many thoughts you swear you’d remember have been lost.

One of the saddest things about life is how little of it we remember.